First Presbyterian Church of Roseville v. Presbytery of Sacramento
In this appeal of a summary judgment granted to plaintiffs in an action concerning disputes over real property between local churches and a national church (Presbyterian Church U.S.A. or PCUSA), we hold the plaintiffs (local churches) summary judgment motions failed to establish as a matter of law that their amendment of their own articles of incorporation effectively revoked a trust created in the national churchs constitution, and the local churches fail to establish on appeal that no trust was validly createdPCUSAs regional . administrative bodies defendant Presbytery of Sacramento (Presbytery) and intervener Synod of the Pacific (Synod) appeal from summary judgment entered in favor of the local churches, plaintiffs First Presbyterian Church of Roseville (Roseville) and Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church (Fair Oaks). The trial court held that, if the local churches held their real property in trust for the national church, such trusts were revoked by the local churches amendment of their articles of incorporation. Court shall conclude reversal is compelled by (1) Corporations Code section 9142, which requires that the trust be revoked in the same manner in which it was created, and (2) a California Supreme Court decision (Episcopal Church Cases (2009) 45 Cal.4th 467) which issued after the trial courts ruling in this case
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