Key point. Some deeds to local church property contain restrictions on the conveyance of the property. In some cases, a violation of these restrictions may result in a reversion of the property to a state or national church agency.
An Arkansas court ruled that title to a church's property reverted to a national church when local church trustees attempted to convey the property without permission of the national church as required by a restriction in the deed to the property.
In 1973, a couple transferred real estate to the trustees of a Church of God congregation. The deed stated that the trustees could not "sell, convey or encumber" the real estate without the written consent of the national church. In 1993, the trustees conveyed the property by quitclaim deed to a second group of trustees acting on behalf of the local church, and a month later this group of trustees conveyed ...
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