Opinion ID: 1320184
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Trustees' Duties

Text: We hold that the 1745 Trust Deed did not impose any duties upon the trustees, George Pawley and William Poole. Pawley and Poole were colonial appointees given the authority to accept conveyances of land for the purpose of establishing parishes. When named trustees to the 1745 Trust Deed, they were acting as appointees of the colony, not as trustees with traditional duties. This conclusion is supported by the relevant legal realities of that time. The court of appeals in All Saints correctly stated that in colonial times, churches could not be recognized by the government until they owned property, and they could not own property until they had been officially recognized. All Saints, 358 S.C. at 225, 595 S.E.2d at 262. As such, a colonial practice arose in which a settlor placed property in trust for a congregation until such a time as the government recognized the church. Id. (citing Town of Pawlet v. Clark, 9 U.S. (Cranch) 292, 330, 3 L.Ed. 735 (1815) (holding no parish church ... could have legal existence until consecration and consecration was expressly inhibited unless a suitable endowment of land.)). Pawley and Poole did not have any duties relative to the trust, but simply acted as custodians of the property at issue until All Saints Parish was officially established. This conclusion is supported by language of the 1745 Trust Deed which did not expressly impose any duties upon them, nor is there any evidence in the record which suggests that either of the trustees performed any acts relative to their office as trustee. Further, Percival and Ann Pawley were not traditional settlors of a trust. Rather, they sold the property at a price far above nominal value. They were clearly sellers of property to colonially appointed commissioners for the establishment of a parish, purposes specified by the colonial government.