Pastor, Church & Law

Officers, Directors, and Trustees—Personal Liability

§ 6.07

Traditionally, the officers and directors of nonprofit corporations performed their duties with little if any risk of personal legal liability. In recent years, a number of lawsuits have attempted to impose personal liability on such officers and directors. In some cases, directors are sued because of statutes that provide limited legal immunity to churches (addressed in section 6-08).

As a general rule, directors are not responsible for actions taken by the board prior to their election to the board (unless they vote to ratify a previous action). Similarly, directors ordinarily are not liable for actions taken by the board after their resignation. Again, they will continue to be liable for actions that they took prior to their resignation.

A number of state laws permit nonprofit corporations to amend their bylaws to indemnify directors for any costs incurred in connection with the defense of any lawsuit arising out of their status as directors.

The more common theories of liability are summarized below.

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