Church Officer and Director Liability
Church board members are often surprised to learn they can be personally liable despite the corporate shield. Here’s what fiduciary duty, duty of care, and duty of loyalty actually require.
Category Archives: Church Formation & Governance
Corporations in Suspension: What California Churches Need to Know
A corporation in suspension can’t legally sell, transfer, or sign contracts for real property — and its tax-exempt status may be at risk. Here’s what triggers corporations in suspension, the actual penalty amounts, and how to get revived.
Endowments
Endowments are money or property given to a church with the understanding that the principal stays invested rather than being spent, while the investment earnings support the church’s programs or operations over time. That basic idea is simple. What trips churches up is that endowments aren’t just a financial arrangement — they’re a legal one, governed by a specific California statute that limits how and when the church can actually spend the money. The Law Behind Endowments: California’s UPMIFA California governs institutional endowments through the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional […]
Conflicts of Interest in Church Governance
Understand what conflicts of interest look like in church leadership, and how a clear disclosure policy protects both the board and the congregation.
Unincorporated Associations
How unincorporated associations work under California law, when members can be held personally liable, and when a church should incorporate instead.
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.
Principal and Agent in Real Estate
How California law defines the principal-agent relationship in real estate, the difference between general and special agents, and when an agent can be held personally liable.
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