Court Opinion

ID: 9588927
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 23:39:43.864451+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:03:29.790342
License: Public Domain

Undercofler, Presiding Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority opinion. It is my opinion that Presbyterian Church in the U. S. v. Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church, 225 Ga. 259 (167 SE2d 658) (1969) abolished the principle which implied a trust upon local church property for the benefit of the general church where there exists a connective form of government. Georgia has adopted what is known as the "formal title” doctrine. Essentially this limits a title inquiry to the relevant deeds and related documents. Property Rights — Church Property, 52 ALR3d 324, 346. The deed here was delivered in 1852 to trustees for the "Methodist Episcopal Church at Mount Pleasant Academy.” There is nothing in this deed or this record to indicate that any trust was established for any beneficiary other than the local church when this deed was delivered or thereafter.
I am authorized to state that Chief Justice Nichols and Justice Jordan concur in this dissent.