DEFENDANT CHURCH DID NOT HAVE ANY INTEREST THE CONTESTED REAL PROPERTY UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF A CORRECTED DEED AND THE CANONS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, interpreting both real estate law and the canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church, determined a corrected deed superseded the deed which indicated the property was held in trust for defendant church, St. Matthias. St. Matthias had separated from the Episcopal Church and both the corrected deed and the applicable canons eliminated St. Matthias’s property rights:
The 1905 corrected deed removed any language indicating that the property was being held in trust for the congregation of St. Matthias. Where a deed of correction has been obtained, the corrective deed will control and the title of the grantee will be determined by the new grant … . The 1905 deed superseded the 1904 deed and was controlling.
Even if the 1905 deed did not supersede the 1904 deed, the Supreme Court was correct in holding that the ownership of the property vested in the [plaintiff] upon the separation of St. Matthias … from the Episcopal Church pursuant to the applicable canons of the … National Church … and the plaintiff Episcopal Diocese of Long Island … . By accepting the principles of the National Church and the Diocese for approximately 100 years, the defendants were subject to their canons, rules, and practices … . Episcopal Diocese of Long Is. v St. Matthias Nondenominational Ministries, Inc., 2018 NY Slip Op 00276, Second Dept 1-17-18
REAL PROPERTY LAW (DEED, RELIGIOUS LAW, DEFENDANT CHURCH DID NOT HAVE ANY INTEREST THE CONTESTED REAL PROPERTY UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF A CORRECTED DEED AND THE CANONS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH (SECOND DEPT))/DEEDS (CORRECTED DEED, DEFENDANT CHURCH DID NOT HAVE ANY INTEREST THE CONTESTED REAL PROPERTY UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF A CORRECTED DEED AND THE CANONS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH (SECOND DEPT))/RELIGION (CANONS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, REAL PROPERTY, DEFENDANT CHURCH DID NOT HAVE ANY INTEREST THE CONTESTED REAL PROPERTY UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF A CORRECTED DEED AND THE CANONS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH (SECOND DEPT))/CANONS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH DEFENDANT CHURCH DID NOT HAVE ANY INTEREST THE CONTESTED REAL PROPERTY UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF A CORRECTED DEED AND THE CANONS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH (SECOND DEPT))