# Otto Bremer Trust *Minnesota charitable trust; respondent in a 2019–2025 Attorney General proceeding under the Supervision of Charitable Trusts and Trustees Act.* The **Otto Bremer Trust** is a [[Minnesota]] charitable trust. From 2019 through 2025 it was in litigation with the Attorney General. The matter, *[[In re Otto Bremer Trust (Attorney General petition)]]*, was brought in Ramsey County District Court under the Supervision of Charitable Trusts and Trustees Act, Minn. Stat. §§501B.33–.45.[^1][^2] A Ramsey County order removed the trustee on April 29, 2022. The removal was affirmed in January 2023, and the [[Minnesota Supreme Court]] affirmed it in February 2024.[^2] The project's merged master, *How Minnesota Got Here*, lists the trust in what it calls the Minnesota "apex layer" of private and community foundations. In that layer, its source dossier puts Bremer's assets at about $1.42 billion.[^3] The master describes the Bremer litigation as "the one documented external check in eighty years of the apex era." It says that in this case the backstop of the Supervision of Charitable Trusts and Trustees Act "fired once".[^3] ## Litigation ### Proceedings The case record lists the matter as a state civil proceeding filed in 2019 in Ramsey County District Court, with later proceedings in the Minnesota Supreme Court.[^2] On April 29, 2022, a Ramsey County order removed the trustee.[^2] The removal was affirmed in January 2023, and the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed it in February 2024.[^2] The record states the case's status as of those dates. It does not name the court that issued the January 2023 affirmance. It also does not set out the grounds stated in the removal order.[^2] ### Statutory basis The petition relied on the Supervision of Charitable Trusts and Trustees Act, Minn. Stat. §§501B.33–.45.[^1] An earlier copy of the merged master cited §501C.1201, the Memorial Fund provision. During validation, the cite was corrected to §§501B.33–.45.[^2] ## Context The merged master's Minnesota apex layer has six members: the [[Minneapolis Foundation]], the [[Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation]], and the McKnight, Bush, Northwest Area and Otto Bremer foundations.[^3] The master puts their combined assets at about $9 billion on the latest filings. Its validation gives a range of about $8.9–9.6 billion, depending on whether book or fair-market value is used. Within that total, Bremer's line item is about $1.42 billion.[^3] For this layer, the master identifies the 2019–2025 Bremer litigation as the only documented external check.[^3] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - The Attorney General litigated with the Otto Bremer Trust from 2019 through 2025.[^2] ### What - The trust was the subject of an Attorney General proceeding under Minn. Stat. §§501B.33–.45, which ended in the trustee's removal.[^1][^2] ### Where - Ramsey County District Court issued the removal order. The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed it.[^2] ### When - 2019: proceeding filed.[^2] - April 29, 2022: trustee removed by Ramsey County order.[^2] - January 2023: removal affirmed.[^2] - February 2024: removal affirmed by the Minnesota Supreme Court.[^2] ### Why - The merged master cites the litigation as the backstop of the Supervision of Charitable Trusts and Trustees Act.[^1][^3] ### How much - According to the merged master's source dossier, the trust's assets are about $1.42 billion on the latest filings.[^3] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *Minn. Stat. §501B.33* — text and history line of the Supervision of Charitable Trusts and Trustees Act, Minn. Stat. §§501B.33–.45, the instrument cited for the petition. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/501B.33 [^2]: Case record SA-5, *In re Otto Bremer Trust (Attorney General petition)*, Ramsey County District Court; Minnesota Supreme Court, and *How Minnesota Got Here* (merged master, footnoted), note 31 — filed 2019; trustee removed by Ramsey County order Apr. 29, 2022; affirmed Jan. 2023 and by the Minnesota Supreme Court Feb. 2024; statute cite repaired from §501C.1201 in validation. Both give the Revisor page as their primary source. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/501B.33 [^3]: *How Minnesota Got Here* (merged master, footnoted), section on the private allocator layer — apex-layer membership and the source dossier's line items (Bremer ~$1.42B; aggregate ~$9B, validated range ~$8.9–9.6B); the Bremer litigation as "the one documented external check in eighty years of the apex era." No URL for these passages is in the pack.