Documents Filed with Court in Betterments Case

On Monday, September 9, South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Edgar Dickson filed the order denying TECSC’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the breakaway group under the state’s Betterments Act, as had been announced nearly two weeks ago. As was previously reported, the judge has made no ruling on the actual case and it is expected to be part of the court-ordered mediation.

Now that the motion to dismiss has been denied, attorneys for TECSC were required to respond to the initial (amended) complaint filed against the Diocese by the breakaway group (in November 2017), as a matter of procedure. This Answer was filed in the First Judicial Circuit on Wednesday, September 11, and outlines the reasons TECSC believes the lawsuit is without merit.
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Mediation between TECSC and The Episcopal Church and the breakaway group is scheduled for Thursday, September 26, and will involve enforcement of the South Carolina Supreme Court’s 2017 decision on diocesan and parish properties, as well as this Betterments case.