Law Commons^™

The Schofield/Gunner Decisions And Episcopal Church Property-Splitting Litigation: Considering Proposed Improvements To The Litigation Process And The Neutral Principles Of Law Doctrine, Ten Years On, Timothy D. Watson

William & Mary Business Law Review

In recent years, the Episcopal Church in the United States has seen a spate of parishes leaving the Church. Many of these departing parishes have attempted to take property with them as they leave and continue to operate independently or realign themselves with a different denomination. The Episcopal Church maintains that this property is held by the parishes on behalf of the national Church, and has generally been successful in obtaining a return of the property through legal action. In deciding these suits, state courts have skirted carefully around the contours of ecclesiastical questions; many state courts, following the Supreme …