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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Maryland Court Regains Control of Author’s Trust

(CN) - A Maryland court properly regained control over the trust of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Katherine Anne Porter, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals ruled.

Porter gained acclaim for "Flowering Judas and Other Stories" (1930) and "Ship of Fools" (1962). Her "Collected Stories" won a Pulitzer Prize in 1966.

When she died in 1990, her literary works were placed in a trust for the benefit of the University of Maryland at College Park.

The Montgomery County Circuit Court controlled the trust until 2007, when it accepted a termination notice from trustee Barbara Davis.

However, the court regained control several months later, after the Maryland Attorney General accused Davis of committing a breach of trust by not informing the other trustees of her actions, which included a transfer of all trust funds to the Katherine Anne Porter Foundation.

Judge Eyler upheld the court's resumption of control over the literary trust.

"There was overwhelming evidence," Eyler wrote, "of the trust's being terminated without any knowledge on the part of the University, (other trustees), and the State of Maryland."

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