From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints#Name_and_legal_entities : (footnotes omitted, emphasis mine)

"In 1887, the LDS Church was legally dissolved in the United States by the Edmunds–Tucker Act because of the church's practice of polygamy. In the United States, the church continues to operate as an UNINCORPORATED ENTITY."


I mean I knew about the "Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", "Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", "Intellectual Reserve, Inc.", "Property Reserve, Inc.", and so forth.

But it had never occurred to me that THERE IS NO CHURCH.


Mind blown. (pshshshwwww)


What the sam-hell was I resigning from? An unincorporated entity? Might as well have resigned from an disembodied spirit or an imaginary friend. Did I even belong to anything? Geez.

(OTOH, that kind of is what I was resigning from, now that I think about it.)

Tyson



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2021 10:34AM by Tyson Dunn.

Spiritual incorporation.

Spiritual DEcapitation

Assuming the wikipedia article is correct, there is still a church. It is an unincorporated entity, whatever that means. That also applies to the US, so presumably in other countries, different legal arrangements have been made.

Like those software agreements that you agree to without even glancing at them, this is legal boilerplate that individual users couldn't care less about.

If there are any legal beagles here who specialized in corporate law, perhaps they can enlighten us.

Totally off topic, but thanks for using the phrase “couldn't care less” properly.

I have to assume that when people say “could care less” they don’t realize what they’re actually saying.

I think oftentimes people don't realize what they are actually saying... Including body language.

You were baptized, confirmed to, and resigned from a trademark.

From the definition I was just reading, in a nutshell, it means TSCC is a business that can buy up real estate in it's own name and it is not a nonprofit corporation.

Which brings up a question that I just now am wondering about: What about all the temple marriages? Are they legal marriages? And for those of us who have resigned, are we no longer married?

my un-legal (?) read of this is that the PotCoJCoLDS is a 'new', separate legal entity distinct from the "LDS Church" itself.

IOW, all of the property & assets we 'thought' were owned in the name of the church (the one dissolved in the 1800's) are in fact owned by the President as a sole corporation, BUT

I've read that the 1800's dissolution has been reversed.

'It takes a Village of Attorney's to answer a legal question'

my .02

Here's my take on it, which take I would change for as little as a cheeseburger today that I could pay for next Tuesday:


"Unincorporated entity means a sole proprietor, partnership or unincorporated association, club, or society."


The majority of you frowning as you read this are unincorporated entities. The notable exception being Gladys Lot, who is quite the corporeal entity.

Those of us who purchased homes did so, for the most part, as unincorporated entities. Same as when you bought cars, or toasters.


Oh, yeah, the church is a sole corporation...with corporations that report to it/him. But you all knew that.

Is an “unincorporated entity” tax exempt?

When the laws of the land allow a person or a group of people to "incorporate" (under the laws then extant) what was formerly 'unincorporated' has now become incorporated.

The purpose of 'incorporation' is to present a 'target' to shoot at when you're mad at the corporation so that the real live people involved in the formation of the corporation aren't the targets.

Corporations exist to shield the people running the corporation from civil process. But they don't work to shield people from the criminal process.

If the Ace Laundry, Corp. delivery truck wipes out a large family, the lawsuit against the business will have no effect on the people running the business, absent some extraordinary activity on their part.

When the corporation assets (and insurance policies) are exhausted, you can't then try to tap the assets of the employees, even as officers of the corporation.

That's the basic goal of corporations, to act as shields against personal liability for the actions of the corporation.

The fact that the church's corporation was dissolved by an act of Congress meant that the people running the corporation couldn't hide behind these protections offered by the act of incorporation.

in the U.S., religion gets its own niche as far as taxes are concerned, they don't have to file 501c3 or any other reporting.
We might refer to churches as 'charities' or 'tax exempt', but that's common street lingo, doesn't necessarily apply to churches.

As far as Feds v. ChurchCo in the 1800's, I've read that only 'non-religious' property - assets were seized, and those (partly?) were later returned.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2021 04:10PM by GNPE.

The church is an illusion.

For the most part, churches are automatically tax exempt by the IRS, and are not even required to incorporate. In fact, until fairly recently, in Virginia, churches weren't even allowed to incorporate.

Maybe the corporation of the church itself can only be seen with your spiritual eyes, the same way JS saw a lot of things.

The earthly corporation is real. It cashes the tithing checks, builds shopping malls, buys land, and fund influences legislation.

The money is all laundered the same.