Court Removes Donor’s Decision-Making Authority
August 10, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
An Ohio judge ruled this week that Ruth Lilly, an heir to the pharmaceutical fortune, is mentally incapable of properly dispensing the millions of dollars she has pledged to charity, and he gave authority over her grant making to six of her nieces and nephews, reports The Indianapolis Star.
Relatives of Ms. Lilly said that she was unable to make decisions about $4.6-million she had pledged through the Ruth Lilly Philanthropic Foundation. Money pledged last year was not paid because of her “inability or unwillingness” to make grant-making decisions, they said.
In 2002, Ms. Lilly pledged $100-million to the Poetry Foundation, making her the second-most-generous donor that year, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual rankings.
