The Virginia Supreme Court Decision in the Falls Church Case (IV): A.S. Haley’s Analysis
The Court says that Virginia is a State that follows and applies "neutral principles of law," but don't let that fool you. What exactly is so "neutral" about (a) judges creating a trust out of whole cloth that the parties themselves never formalized, so that (b) a church like ECUSA can secure a windfall for the unjust enrichment of one of its dioceses?
Justice Powell's result rests entirely upon her finding that a "fiduciary relationship" existed between The Falls Church and the national Church. But she spends no time whatsoever in examining the particulars of such a relationship, or deciding just when and how it actually came into being.
Fiduciary relationships are very special in the eyes of the law. A fiduciary is a person or entity in whom one confides (such as a client with his attorney, a patient with his psychiatrist, or a penitent with his priest) -- or it can also be a person or entity to whom one entrusts money or property, such as a client with his stockbroker or banker. Or it can simply be the trustee who holds certain property in trust for what the law calls the beneficiary of that trust -- the person for whose benefit the trust was established.
Read it all.
Justice Powell's result rests entirely upon her finding that a "fiduciary relationship" existed between The Falls Church and the national Church. But she spends no time whatsoever in examining the particulars of such a relationship, or deciding just when and how it actually came into being.
Fiduciary relationships are very special in the eyes of the law. A fiduciary is a person or entity in whom one confides (such as a client with his attorney, a patient with his psychiatrist, or a penitent with his priest) -- or it can also be a person or entity to whom one entrusts money or property, such as a client with his stockbroker or banker. Or it can simply be the trustee who holds certain property in trust for what the law calls the beneficiary of that trust -- the person for whose benefit the trust was established.
Read it all.
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