A cult leader has died. Some members want to go back to their families, some want to create a new movement in another city, and some have nowhere else to go. I'm finding lots of resources about the psychological impact of leaving a cult, but not so much about the legalities and practicalities. The time and place is unspecified, but loosely consistent with contemporary America. I don't want to wind up with laws that seem ridiculous, but I'm not above mixing and matching laws from different states or even other countries. If possible, I want to end up with the son and his remaining followers living in a new compound in a different city shortly after the leader's death. * How hard will it be for cult members to avoid prosecution under suspicion they were involved in the leader's abuses? Will they be able to leave soon afterwards? * Some cult members have children who were fathered by the cult leader. Will they be able to maintain custody, or will these children end up in the foster system? (I've been looking through the ICSA website, but I keep finding resources about either child psychology, or a non-cultist parent suing to take their child away from a cultist parent.) * The cult leader left a will. His home and most of his possessions will go to one of his sons. However, there are all kinds of civil suits that could potentially be rendered against his estate, including personal injury, cost of psychotherapy, sexual abuse, false imprisonment, assault, battery, and more. If the son sells the home and buys a new one, is it plausible for him to maintain his homestead exemption and not lose everything to lawsuits?
Just off the top of my head here, I'd say local/national laws will apply whether or not the organisation is a cult or whether the leader is a cult leader. In fact, I don't think 'cult' is a legal term for an organisation at all. (Do organisations register as 'cults?') "Cult" is a descriptive term outsiders will use for a group, if they think brainwashing and nefarious practices are used to gain or keep its members in line. But it's not a term that cults use to describe themselves, is it? It's probably very complicated, but my guess (and it IS a guess) is that the behaviour of any cult, leader, or member is what will attract legal issues. If the 'cult leader' was legally married, for example, the laws that govern marriage and inheritance will apply. If the cult leader fathered children by many women, this would be legally handled no differently from any other situation where children's parentage is in question, or a man has fathered (and admitted to) many children out of wedlock. If a cult assaulted, kidnapped or abused people, then assault, kidnap and abuse laws would apply. Rape as well. Cult members could be prosecuted as individuals OR as a legally constituted group—if they have been legally constituted in the first place. (For example, if the cult was registered for tax purposes as a 'church' of some sort, and given that kind of status.) Property would be registered under a name ...either an individual's name or that of a legally-constituted organisation. Its breakup would be handled accordingly. Ditto any financial 'holdings' that the cult may have. There will be a legal name attached to these (such as investments, bank accounts, etc) and those would be wound up according to the laws governing investment distribution, etc. I think you're backing up a blind alley looking for some overview 'legality' in terms of a cult breaking up and its assets being distributed, etc. You might do better to research the breakup of actual cults, and see what happened to them and THEIR holdings. That should give you lots of information you can use.
You make a good point about the existing legal status. I’ve been approaching the cult as sort of a black hole—people and resources go in, and not much comes out. But at the very least, they need to have some kind of tax status, and that means interactions with the outside world.
