Glossary · Settlement Funds

Cy Pres: What Happens to Leftover Class Action Money

By Steve Levine · Updated June 19, 2026 · 6 min read

Quick Answer

Cy pres (pronounced "see-pray") directs leftover class action settlement money to a charity or nonprofit whose work serves the interests of the class, used when paying the residual directly to class members isn't practical. The name is Norman French for "as near as possible." It applies to money left over after class members have been paid — uncashed checks, undeliverable mail, or amounts too small to mail economically — not to your individual share.

What Cy Pres Means

Cy pres comes from the Norman French phrase cy pres comme possible — "as near as possible." It started in the law of charitable trusts: when a trust's original purpose became impossible to carry out, courts directed the money to the nearest equivalent purpose instead of letting the gift fail. Class action law borrowed the idea for a similar problem: what to do with settlement money that cannot practically be handed to the people it was meant for.

In a class action, the cy pres recipient is a charity, nonprofit, research institution, or legal-aid organization whose work aligns with the interests of the class. The court picks a recipient that serves the class "as near as possible" to a direct payment — a privacy-research nonprofit in a data-privacy case, a consumer-protection group in a deceptive-pricing case, a nutrition-education organization in a food-labeling case.

Why Leftover Money Doesn't Go Back to the Defendant

Most modern consumer settlements are non-reversionary: the defendant agrees to pay a fixed total and gives up any claim to it. Letting unclaimed money revert to the defendant would reward it for a low claim rate and weaken the settlement's deterrent effect — the more class members who fail to file, the less the defendant would pay. Cy pres closes that loophole by sending the true residual somewhere that benefits the class indirectly instead of back to the company that caused the harm.

Cy pres is the last step, not the first. Before any money goes to charity, courts strongly prefer a second-round pro rata redistribution to the class members who did file claims. Only money that still cannot be distributed economically — after checks are mailed, re-mailed, and the per-person residual has shrunk to pennies — becomes a cy pres award.

When Courts Allow Cy Pres

Cy pres is a fallback for genuinely undistributable funds, and courts scrutinize it. It typically comes into play when:

• Per-person amounts are trivially small. If splitting the residual would produce checks of a few cents, the cost of cutting and mailing them exceeds their value.
• Class members can't be located. Some of the class is unreachable because addresses are stale or were never on file (common in privacy cases built from anonymous data).
• Checks go uncashed. A predictable share of mailed checks are never deposited; that money has to go somewhere.
• A second distribution isn't worth the administrative cost. After one or more redistributions, what remains is too small to justify another round.

Courts are far more skeptical of "cy pres only" settlements, where class members receive nothing and the entire fund goes to charity. The Supreme Court flagged concerns about that structure in Frank v. Gaos (2019) without resolving them, and several appellate courts have rejected deals where a direct payment to the class was feasible but counsel chose cy pres anyway.

How the Recipient Is Chosen

Class counsel usually proposes one or more recipients in the settlement agreement, and the court must approve them as part of the approval process. The governing standard is a substantial nexus between the recipient's mission and the interests of the class:

• Subject-matter fit. A consumer-privacy breach points to digital-privacy or security research; a wage case points to a workers'-rights legal-aid group.
• Geographic fit. A single-state class points to organizations serving that state's residents.
• No conflicts. Courts look hard at any relationship between the proposed charity and class counsel, the defendant, or the judge — a recipient tied to the lawyers picking it is a red flag.

Criticism and Objections

Cy pres is one of the more contested features of class action settlements. The recurring criticisms:

• The class doesn't get the money. A donation to a nonprofit benefits class members only indirectly, if at all — critics argue settlements should be structured to pay class members directly whenever possible.
• Conflicts of interest. When the charity is a law school, alma mater, or pet cause of class counsel or the defendant, the award can look like a favor rather than relief for the class.
• Inflated fee bases. Large cy pres figures can pad the "total value" of a settlement that class counsel then points to when requesting fees.

Class members can raise these concerns directly: you can object to a proposed cy pres recipient at the fairness hearing. The settlement notice and the official settlement website explain how and by when to file an objection.

How It Affects Your Payout

For most class members, the short answer is: it doesn't reduce your check. Cy pres applies to the residual that's left after class members are paid, so it doesn't come out of your individual share. The practical takeaways:

• File your claim. Cy pres exists partly because money goes unclaimed. Filing a valid claim form by the deadline keeps your portion in the hands of class members rather than the residual pool.
• Cash your check promptly. Uncashed checks are a major source of cy pres funds. Depositing yours before the void date keeps that money with the class.
• Watch for a second distribution. In non-reversionary funds, leftover money is often redistributed to filers before any cy pres award — your first check may not be your last.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does cy pres mean in a class action settlement?

Cy pres directs leftover or undistributable settlement money to a charity or nonprofit whose work aligns with the interests of the class, used when paying the residual directly to class members is not practical. The name comes from the Norman French phrase meaning "as near as possible" — the recipient is chosen to serve the class's interests as closely as a direct payment would.

Why doesn't leftover settlement money go back to the defendant?

In a non-reversionary settlement, the defendant agreed to pay a fixed total and gives up any claim to it. Returning unclaimed money to the defendant would reward it for a low claim rate and undercut the settlement's deterrent purpose. So leftover funds are first redistributed to class members who filed, and only money that still cannot be practically distributed goes to a cy pres recipient.

Does cy pres reduce my class action payment?

Usually not. Cy pres applies to money left over after class members have been paid — funds from uncashed checks, undeliverable mail, or amounts too small to distribute economically. In most settlements the court first orders a second-round redistribution to claimants who did file, and only the true residual that cannot be paid out goes to charity. Cy pres does not come out of your individual share.

When are courts allowed to approve a cy pres distribution?

Courts generally allow cy pres only when distributing the residual directly to class members is not feasible — for example, when per-person amounts would be a few cents, when class members cannot be located, or when checks go uncashed. The recipient must have a substantial nexus to the class's interests, and many courts disfavor "cy pres only" settlements where class members get nothing at all.

Can I object to the cy pres recipient in a settlement?

Yes. Class members can object to a proposed cy pres recipient at the fairness hearing — common objections are that the charity has too weak a connection to the class, or that class counsel or the defendant has a relationship with the recipient. The settlement notice and the official settlement website explain how and by when to file an objection.


Related Terms

About This Page

General legal-process information, not legal advice. OpenClassActions.com is a consumer news site and is not a law firm or a settlement administrator. Whether and how cy pres applies is governed by each settlement's court-approved distribution plan.

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