Opinion ID: 2507084
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Deeds

Text: The deeds that transferred the property at issue from the individual owners to Timberridge between 1970 and 1987 do not contain trust language. The 1999 deeds then transferred the property from Timberridge to TPC Inc. and its successors, heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns in fee simple. The Court of Appeals held that the absence of any trust language in the deeds weighed against the recognition of a trust in favor of the PCUSA. Timberridge, 307 Ga. App. at 196, 705 S.E.2d 262. We disagree. It is true that neither the 1970-1987 deeds nor the 1999 deeds show an intent by the grantors to create a trust. But they also do not expressly preclude the creation of one. And it is undisputed that Timberridge affiliated with the PCUSA in 1983 and thus brought itself under the national church's constitution, which squarely states that local churches such as Timberridge hold their property in trust for the PCUSA even if legal title is lodged in a corporation. Given that provision, Timberridge would have no reason to believe that its deeds needed to recite a trust in favor of the general church, particularly the 1999 deeds transferring the property at issue to TPC Inc. Thus, the absence of language in the deeds creating a trust in favor of the national church is of limited value in deciding the question before us, and we turn to consideration of other neutral principles.