| Venue: | SCOTUS |
| Facts: | Small estate trusts are pooled into a larger fund. At some point some account got settled, and there were a bunch of beneficiaries from all over the place. Notice was given by publication and by mail. |
| Posture: | This guy gets appointed special guardian for all the persons known or unknown not otherwise appearing who had an interest in the income, and another guy is appointed to look out for people with an interest in the principal. They object for insufficient notice (due process). |
| Issue: | Can the NY court ajudicate all these claims, if notice takes place this way? |
| Holding: | No. Reversed. |
| Rule: | The means employed must be such as one desirous of actually informing the bsentee might reasonably adopt to accomplish it. The problem isn't that it fails, but because it isn't reasonably calculated to reach those who could have been informed by other means. |
| Reasoning: | The right to be heard is meaningless unless you know about it. A mere gesture is insufficient. Publication is reasonable when there are no alternatives, and for some potential claimants maybe that was the case. Nevertheless, it's not the best plan. Exceptions in the name of necessity don't sweep away the basic rule that notice is required. |
| Dicta: | |