-.

Honorable 0. P. Lookhkrt, Chairman

Board of Insurance &nmnlssioners Austin, Texas
Dear Sir: Opinion No. 

## q-4149
Re: Local mutual aid associations

._. and'burial asaodiatlons organlied.under and governed by ArtXolea 5068-l azid487Sa may lawfully investtheir mortuary funds in thenaecuritles descr%bbed,inArticle 4725. Suoh association should release or convey such securities in the manner preaorlbed by law for other corporations generally.
Your letter dated March 20, 1942, submits 

### for sn opinion of this department the following questions:

z?ianieed under and'governed by Articles 5068-l and 487.5a May looal mutual aid assoolatlona and burial aseooiatrons, lawfully Invest their mortuary funds infthe seourltles described in Artlole 48757 (Sic., Artiole &72.$was apprently intended.) “2. May such associations upon the payment or sale of euoh - securktles release or convey them in the manner prescribed by law for other oorporations generally by Title 32, Ch. 3, *hen authorized by their Board of Directors and through their Rresldent with corporate seal attested by their Seoretary, or la It necessary iforsuoh releases or oonveyanoes-to be taken from each member of such associations?"
You apparently intended In question (lj to refer to the securities described in Article 472S-instead of Article k87S9 Article 4875 having been repealed.
Your letter refers us to Article 5068-1, Sections 23 and 24, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, which article and the sections thereof mentioned.authorize the organization of burial associations according to the conditions and under the regulations contained in the various provisions of Article 2875a.Honorable 0; P. Lockhart, Page 2, O-4149

One of the provisions of said Article 4875a to which you specifically refer in your letter is Article 4875a-24, which provides as follows: 'Any association organized under the provisions hereof or accepting the provisions hereof shall for the purposes of openation be and become a body corporate with authority to sue and be sued in its own name and to exercise the other powers and functions specifically herein provided, such association shall be governed by this law and shall be exempted from all provisions of the insnrance laws of this State. No law hereafter enacted shall apply to them unless they be expressly designated therein.
It is your poeition, as stated in your letter, that theabove quoted article authorizes such association to become a body corporate, and that Article 487Sa-18 described by reference the securities in which such corporate bodies may invest their surplus funds, giving rise to the necessary implication that such article carries with it the power to release and convey in the same manner as corporations generally. With this contention we must agree. Article l+875a-18 is as follows: "Any surplus funds on hand belonging to any such association must be invested if at all, 

### in such securities as the funds of life insurance companies maybe invested inJ."
One of the fundamental rules of statutory construction is that when a statute gives a right or imposes a duty,,it also. confers by implication the power necessary to make the right available or to discharge the duty; and where a power is granted and the mode of its exercise is not prescribed, it will be implied that it is nevertheless to be exercised. Lewis Sutherland Statutory Construction,Volume 2, page 947, section 510; People v. Eddy, 5'7Barb. 593. Article 5'068-1,Sections 23 and 24, adopts by reference the provisions of Articles487Sa-1 to Article 487sa-31 and makes these statutes applicable to organization and regulation of burial associations; Article 487Sa-24 provides that associations organized under the provisions of,that act become a body corporate with the authority to sue and be sued Sn its own name and to exercise the other powers and functions specifically herein granted, but not otherwise; Article I+87Sa-18provides in substance that the funds of such association or body corporate must be invested .insuch securities as the funds of life insurance companies may be invested. It is obviously wholly

### Honorable 0. P. Lockhart,Page 3, O-4149

impracticable,ifnot entirely impossible,for such assoCiatiOnto obtain the consent, the signaturesand the acknowledgementof each and evarymember of such association whenever a lienmust be released **or** 

### a deed executed; Yet in order tobe able to invest in,the securitiesauthorized it isnecessarythat they alsobe able to executereleasesand other instrumentsincidentto thebusiness ofmaking such investments,so that as to thegrant ofthis muchpower the words quoted from Article l+875a-24: "to 

### exercise the other powers and functions speoificallyherein granted,but not otherwise"were not intendedtoapply inanyrestrictive sense. You are thereforeadvised that in theopinionof this departmentyour questions shouldbe answeredas follows: 1. Localmutual aid associationsandburialassoci~ations, organizedunder and governedby Articles 5868-l 

### and 4875a 

### may lawfully invest theirmortuary funds in thesecurities describedinArticle 4725 

### provided suchmortuary funds con

### stitute surplus funds onhand,as described inArticle 4875a-18.
2. 

### Such assooiationsmay upon the payment or sale of such **SeCuritieS** 

### release or convey them in the manner prescribed'by 

### law for other corporations generally. (Article 1322) It is 

### not necessary for such releases or oonveyanc8stobe-taken from eachmember cf such aSSOOfatfOns.
**We** 

### trust that the above satisfactorilyansyersyour inquiry. YOU'SV8i-ytl'Llly ATTCRNEY GENERALOF TEXAS

RP!C:GO/cg 

### ii' Rdbert .~.,

.dherryI

BY- -'-.

Robert%. Cherry

Assistant
APPROVEDMAY 23, 1942 

### s/Grover Sellers FIRSTASSISTANT ATTORNEYGENERAL ApprovedOpinion Committee By BWB, Chairman