What is cy pres?

Cy pres is a doctrine that lets a court direct leftover, unclaimed, or otherwise undistributable class action settlement funds to a charitable or public-interest organization whose work relates to the harm alleged, rather than returning the money to the defendant. It applies when individual distribution to class members is infeasible, for example when per-person amounts would be too small to justify the cost of mailing checks.

Courts scrutinize cy pres recipients for a real connection to the underlying claims — a privacy case's leftover funds going to a digital-rights nonprofit, for instance — and some settlements avoid it entirely with a second or third distribution round to known class members instead. The doctrine is controversial because it means money can leave class members' hands without any of them receiving it, and several federal circuits have tightened when it is permissible. It appears in a settlement's notice or the fairness-hearing motion, not in every case.

Last reviewed 2026-08-22.