The Hebrew University Association v. Nye 148 Conn. 223, A.2d 641 (1961) Yahuda and his wife Ethel owned a large number of rare books. The books were placed in a warehouse while the Yahudas looked for a University in Jerusalem to give them to. At some point Mr. Yahuda died. The Hebrew University Association (HUA) held a luncheon in their honor at which Ethel declared that she was giving the library to HUA. On other occasions Ethel repeatedly made statements and took actions to the effect that HUA owned the library. She never took a tax deduction on the donation. Ethel was still cataloging its contents when she died. Ethel bequeathed the bulk of her estate to another Jewish charitable institution. The executor (Nye) petitioned the court to determine who should get the library. If the library was owned by HUA at the time of Ethel's death, then they get it. If Ethel still owned the library at the time of her death, then it goes with the rest of her estate. The Trial Court found for HUA. Nye appealed. The Trial Court found that the statements made by Ethel at the luncheon amounted to the creation of a trust. The Connecticut Supreme Court vacated the judgment and ordered a new trial. The Connecticut Supreme Court found that no trust had been created. There was no evidence that Ethel had ever regarded herself as a trustee or assumed any enforceable duties with respect to the property. Ethel's actions were more consistent with an inter vivos gift made to HUA without any delivery. From Property Law, a gift is only valid when there is an offer, an acceptance, and a delivery. Since there was no delivery, the library could not be considered to be a fully executed gift. The Court said, "A gift which is imperfect for lack of delivery will not be turned into a declaration of a trust for no better reason than that it is imperfect for lack of delivery." The Court found that it could be argued that Ethel's actions amounted to constructive delivery of the library, in which case it would be a valid inter vivos gift. The court remanded for a new trial to determine if constructive delivery had occurred. Btw, upon remand, the Trial Court found that constructive delivery had indeed occurred, and so HUA got the books in the end. The basic rule is that you can create a trust by making an oral declaration. However, there must be clear intent to create a trust, and not just give a gift. You should never assume a trust has been created unless the donor has manifested an intention to impose upon themselves enforceable duties of a trust nature. In order to create a trust the settlor must charge the trustee with ascertainable duties. It doesn't necessarily matter what those duties are, but you have to impose upon a trustee some enforceable duties of a trust nature.