JEROME S. KALUR
ATTORNEY AT LAW

PO. BOX 72

FISHTAIL, MONTANA 59028

 

January 10, 2001 
JAN 1 '2 20m 5
The Honorable Marilyn C. Magill 
Mayor ofthe City of Mount Carroll
302 North Main Street

Mt. Carroll, Illinois 61053

Dear Mayor Magill:

As a Trustee of Shimer College, I was requested by the Board to explore the possibility of
judicial termination of the Clarence Davis Trust at the earliest possible time. As you may be
aware, Shimer College, the City of Mt. Carroll and various Masonic charities are the trust corpus
bene?ciaries named in the will of Clarence Davis. The percentage distribution would be 30%,
50% and 20%, respectively. The last accounting placed the value of the trust close to five
million dollars 

Before contacting you via this letter, I have communicated with the counsel for the trust,
a representative of the Attorney General of the State of Illinois, and the two current recipients of
trust funds on an annual basis. The counsel for the trust has advised me that the current trustee
would not be adverse to ending his responsibilities, were the trust to be terminated by court
order. The Attorney General?s trust department representative has agreed to assist an application,
via a friend of the court brief, if needed. Both of the trust income recipients have given me their
written permission to seek termination of the trust. It is now time for me to approach the City of
Mt. Carroll and the Masonic charities to secure your respective agreements.

The plan of Shimer College is as follows: Mt. Carroll, Shimer College and the Masonic
charities would agree to purchase annuities for the two Davis trust income recipients, with one?
time premium payment based upon the assigned pro?rata percentage distributions from the trust
corpus. The two annual payment recipients would be paid $10,000.00 per year for the rest of
their lives. They are currently 79 and 80 years of age. Because the trust provides that upon the
death of one, his or her ?descendants? shall receive the deceased?s annual payment, the
$10,000.00 would be paid to the descendants for a period of five years after the death, or until the
second recipient died, whichever occurred ?rst. I am obtaining bids from insurance carriers to
determine the cost of such annuities and I will supply these figures to you shortly.

Telephone: (406) 328-4604
Telecopier: (406) 328-6624

The Honorable Marilyn C. Magill
January 10, 2001

Page 2

The advantage to such an early distribution of the Davis Trust is clear. Instead of waiting
for an unknowable period, the corpus, less the annuity costs, would be available immediately to
the ultimate percentage bene?ciaries. Within a relatively short time, the advantage of immediate
receipt would exceed the one?time cost for the annuities. At the same time, the two annual
recipients would receive five times the current annual payment for the rest of their lives. The
agreement would meet and exceed the intent of Clarence Davis and, at the same time, make
immediate and substantial funds available to the City of Mt. Carroll, Shimer College and the
Masonic charities.

Before I can proceed to have Illinois legal counsel file the necessary application with the
court, I will need agreement to proceed from both Mt. Carroll and the Masonic charities. This
would include Mt. Carroll?s agreement to be a party to the dissolution petition. i would be
pleased to answer any questions you may have concerning this proposal. Because 1 will be
traveling a great deal during the ?rst four months of this year, I ask that you reply in writing.

 

SK/kmg
cc Eileen Trost, Esq.