What Defines a Church?
What defines a church matters more than most congregations realize — the answer changes depending on whether the IRS, the courts, or your local zoning code is asking. Here’s how each one actually decides.
Author Archives: admin_rcb
Property Tax Assessment Appeals
Think your property’s assessed value is too high? Property tax assessment appeals in California follow strict deadlines and evidence rules — miss either one and you lose the right to challenge the value entirely. Here’s how the process actually works.
Unincorporated Associations
How unincorporated associations work under California law, when members can be held personally liable, and when a church should incorporate instead.
How Zoning Code Affects Church Property Use
Zoning laws don’t disappear just because a church has used its property the same way for years. Here’s how zoning code affects church property, nonconforming use, conditional permits, and RLUIPA protections actually work together — and what happens when a city tries to push a church out.
Wills and Trust: 5 Key Differences to Know
Wills and Trust are often confused, but they work very differently under California law. Here’s the real difference between a Will, a Pour-over Will, and Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts — and what each one means for probate and your estate.
Lot Line Adjustments and Splits in California
Lot line adjustments and lot splits sound similar but trigger very different legal processes. Here’s how each one actually works.
Public Hearings
Public hearings come up constantly in church real estate matters — a zoning change, a Conditional Use Permit, a Planned Development, or any redevelopment of church structures often runs into the same requirement along the way. In simple terms, a public hearing is an open gathering where citizens can offer testimony or comment before a public board, commission, or agency makes a significant decision. Understanding how these actually work — and what rights a church has going into one — makes the difference between being prepared and being caught off […]
Commercial Tenant Abandoned Property California
Commercial tenant abandoned property California law changed in 2019, raising the threshold for what a landlord can simply keep or dispose of without a public sale. Here’s the current process, notice requirements, and how to avoid liability for a tenant’s leftover belongings.
Restricted Donations: Rules Every Church Should Know
Restricted donations bind a church to spend the gift exactly as the donor intended — spend it elsewhere and you risk a breach of fiduciary duty claim. Here’s how to tell a restricted gift from an unrestricted one, and the only lawful ways to change course.
Churches and Nonconforming Use
Churches and nonconforming use go hand in hand whenever a congregation predates the zoning around it. Here’s what “grandfathered in” actually protects, how a city can still end that protection, and what to check before you buy or expand.