reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
8 V.S.A. § 4471
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4471. Articles of incorporation, constitution, and laws; amendments

§ 4471. Articles of incorporation, constitution, and laws; amendments|(a) A domestic society may amend its articles of incorporation, constitution, or laws in accordance with the provisions thereof by action of its supreme legislative or governing body at any regular or special meeting thereof or, if its articles of incorporation, constitution, or laws so provide, by referendum. The referendum may be held in accordance with the provisions of its articles of incorporation, constitution, or laws by the vote of the voting members of the society, by the vote of delegates or representatives of voting members, or by the vote of local lodges or branches. No amendment submitted for adoption by referendum may be adopted unless, within six months from the date of submission thereof, a majority of all of the voting members of the society shall have signified their consent to the amendment by one of the methods herein specified.(b) No amendment to the articles of incorporation, constitution, or laws of any domestic society may take effect unless approved by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation who shall approve the amendment if he or she finds that it has been duly adopted and is not inconsistent with any requirement of the laws of this State or with the character, objects, and purposes of the society. Unless the Commissioner of Financial Regulation disapproves an amendment within 60 days after the filing of it, the amendment shall be considered approved. The approval or disapproval of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation shall be in writing and mailed to the secretary or corresponding officer of the society at its principal office. If he or she disapproves the amendment, the reasons therefor shall be stated in the written notice.(c) Within 90 days from the approval thereof by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, all amendments, or a synopsis thereof, shall be furnished to all members of the society either by mail or by publication in full in the official organ of the society. The affidavit of any officer of the society or of anyone authorized by it to mail any amendments or synopsis thereof, stating facts which show that they have been duly addressed and mailed, shall be prima facie evidence that the amendments or synopsis thereof, have been furnished the addressee.(d) Every foreign or alien society authorized to do business in this State shall file with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation a duly certified copy of all amendments of, or additions to, its articles of incorporation, constitution, or laws within 90 days after the enactment of same.(e) Printed copies of the constitution or laws as amended, certified by the secretary or corresponding officer of the society, shall be prima facie evidence of the legal adoption thereof. (Added 1959, No. 197, § 11, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; amended 1989, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 38; 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012.)
8 V.S.A. § 4472
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4472. Institutions

§ 4472. Institutions|(a) It shall be lawful for a society to create, maintain, and operate charitable, benevolent, or educational institutions for the benefit of its members and their families and dependents and for the benefit of children insured by the society. For that purpose, it may own, hold, or lease personal property or real property located within or outside this State, with necessary buildings thereon. The property shall be reported in every annual statement but shall not be allowed as an admitted asset of the society.(b) Maintenance, treatment, and proper attendance in any such institution may be furnished free or a reasonable charge may be made therefor, but no such institution shall be operated for profit. The society shall maintain a separate accounting of any income and disbursements under this section and report them in its annual statement. No society shall own or operate funeral homes or undertaking establishments. (1959, No. 197, § 12, eff. Nov. 22, 1959.)
8 V.S.A. § 4473
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4473. No personal liability

§ 4473. No personal liability|The officers and members of the supreme, grand, or any subordinate body of a society shall not be personally liable for payment of any benefits provided by a society. (1959, No. 197, § 13, eff. Nov. 22, 1959.)
8 V.S.A. § 4474
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4474. Benefits

§ 4474. Benefits|(a) A society authorized to do business in this State may provide for the payment of:  (1) death benefits in any form; (2) endowment benefits; (3) annuity benefits; (4) temporary or permanent disability benefits as a result of disease or accident; (5) hospital, medical, or nursing benefits due to sickness or bodily infirmity or accident; (6) monument or tombstone benefits to the memory of deceased members not exceeding in any case the sum of $300.00; and   (b) Such benefits may be provided on the lives of members or upon application of a member, on the lives of the member's family, including the member, the member's spouse and minor children, in the same or separate certificates. (1959, No. 197, § 14, eff. Nov. 22, 1959.)
8 V.S.A. § 4475
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4475. Benefits on lives of children

§ 4475. Benefits on lives of children|(a) A society may provide for benefits on the lives of children under the minimum age for adult membership but not greater than 18 years of age at time of application therefor, upon the application of some adult person who has an insurable interest, as its laws or rules may provide, which benefits shall be in accordance with the provisions of subsection 4474(a) of this title. A society may, at its option, organize and operate branches for such children. Membership and initiation in local lodges shall not be required of such children, nor shall they have a voice in the management of the society.(b) A society shall have power to provide for the designation and changing of designation of beneficiaries in the certificates providing for the benefits and to provide in all other respects for the regulation, government, and control of the certificates and all rights, obligations, and liabilities incident thereto and connected therewith. (1959, No. 197, § 15, eff. Nov. 22, 1959.)
8 V.S.A. § 4476
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4476. Nonforfeiture benefits, cash surrender values, certificate loans, and other options

§ 4476. Nonforfeiture benefits, cash surrender values, certificate loans, and other options|(a) A society may grant paid-up nonforfeiture benefits, cash surrender values, certificate loans, and such other options as its laws may permit. As to certificates issued on and after November 22, 1959, a society shall grant at least one paid-up nonforfeiture benefit, except in the case of pure endowment, annuity or reversionary annuity, contracts, reducing term insurance contracts or contracts of term insurance of uniform amount of 15 years or less expiring before age 66.(b) In the case of certificates other than those for which reserves are computed in accordance with subsection (d) of this section, the value of every paid-up nonforfeiture benefit and the amount of any cash surrender value, loan or other option granted shall not be less than the excess, if any, of (1) over (2) as follows:  (1) the reserve under the certificate determined on the basis specified in the certificate; and (2) the sum of any indebtedness to the society on the certificate, including interest due and accrued, and a surrender charge equal to two and one-half percent of the face amount of the certificate, which, in the case of insurance on the lives of children, shall be the ultimate face amount of the certificate, if death benefits provided therein are graded.   (c) However, in the case of certificates issued on a substandard basis or in the case of certificates, the reserves for which are computed upon the American Men Ultimate Table of Mortality, the term of any extended insurance benefit granted including accompanying pure endowment, if any, may be computed upon the rates of mortality not greater than 130 percent of those shown by the mortality table specified in the certificate for the computation of the reserve.(d) In the case of certificates for which reserves are computed on the Commissioners 1941 Standard Ordinary Mortality Table, the 1941 Standard Industrial Table, or such later tables as are authorized for use by domestic life insurers, every paid-up nonforfeiture benefit and the amount of any cash surrender value, loan, or other option granted shall not be less than the corresponding amount ascertained in accordance with the provisions of the laws of this State applicable to life insurance companies issuing policies containing like insurance benefits based upon such tables. (1959, No. 197, § 16, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; 1985, No. 111 (Adj. Sess.),§§ 2, 3, eff. April 8, 1986.)
8 V.S.A. § 4477
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4477. Beneficiaries

§ 4477. Beneficiaries|(a) The member shall have the right at all times to change the beneficiary or beneficiaries in accordance with the constitution, laws, or rules of the society. Every society by its constitution, laws, or rules may limit the scope of beneficiaries and shall provide that no beneficiary shall have or obtain any vested interest in the proceeds of any certificate until the certificate has become due and payable in conformity with the provisions of the insurance contract.(b) A society may provide for the payment of funeral benefits to the extent of such portion of any payment under a certificate as might reasonably appear to be due to any person equitably entitled thereto by reason of having incurred expense occasioned by the burial of the member, provided the portion so paid shall not exceed the sum of $500.00.(c) If, at the death of any member, there is no lawful beneficiary to whom the insurance benefits shall be payable, the amount of the benefits, except to the extent that funeral benefits may be paid as hereinbefore provided, shall be payable to the personal representative of the deceased member. (1959, No. 197, § 17, eff. Nov. 22, 1959.)
8 V.S.A. § 4478
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4478. Benefits not attachable

§ 4478. Benefits not attachable|No money or other benefit, charity, relief, or aid to be paid, provided, or rendered by any society, shall be liable to attachment, trustee or other process, or to be seized, taken, appropriated, or applied by any legal or equitable process or operation of law to pay any debt or liability of a member or beneficiary, or any other person who may have a right thereunder, either before or after payment by the society. (1959, No. 197, § 18, eff. Nov. 22, 1959.)
8 V.S.A. § 4479
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4479. The contract

§ 4479. The contract|(a) Every society authorized to do business in this State shall issue to each benefit member a certificate specifying the amount of benefits provided thereby. The certificate, together with any riders or endorsements attached thereto, the charter or articles of incorporation, the constitution and laws of the society, the application for membership, and declaration of insurability, if any, signed by the applicant, and all amendments to each thereof, shall constitute the agreement, as of the date of issuance, between the society and the member, and the certificate shall so state. A copy of the application for membership and of the declaration of insurability, if any, shall be endorsed upon or attached to the certificate.(b) All statements purporting to be made by the member shall be representations and not warranties. Any waiver of this provision shall be void.(c) Any changes, additions, or amendments to the charter or articles of incorporation, constitution, or laws duly made or enacted subsequent to the issuance of the certificate, shall bind the member and the beneficiaries and shall control the agreement in all respects the same as though the changes, additions, or amendments had been made before and were in force at the time of the application for membership, except that no change, addition, or amendment shall destroy or diminish benefits which the society contracted to give the member as of the date of issuance.(d) Copies of any of the documents mentioned in this section, certified by the secretary or corresponding officer of the society, shall be received in evidence of the terms and conditions thereof.(e) A society shall provide in its constitution or laws that if its reserves as to all or any class of certificates become impaired its board of directors or corresponding body may require that there shall be paid by the member to the society the amount of the member's equitable proportion of the deficiency as ascertained by its board, and that if the payment be not made it shall stand as an indebtedness against the certificate and draw interest not to exceed five percent a year compounded annually. (1959, No. 197, § 19, eff. Nov. 22, 1959.)
8 V.S.A. § 4481
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4481. Accident and health insurance and total and permanent disability insurance certificates; filing and approval

§ 4481. Accident and health insurance and total and permanent disability insurance certificates; filing and approval|(a) No domestic, foreign, or alien society authorized to do business in this State shall issue or deliver in this State any certificate or other evidence of any contract of accident insurance or health insurance or of any total and permanent disability insurance contract unless and until the form thereof, together with the form of application and all riders of endorsements for use in connection therewith, has been filed with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. Each filing of a policy, contract, endorsement, rider, or certificate shall be accompanied by payment to the Commissioner of a nonrefundable fee of $50.00 per filing submission.(b) The Commissioner of Financial Regulation may from time to time make, alter, and supersede reasonable regulations prescribing the required, optional, and prohibited provisions in the contracts, and the regulations shall conform, as far as practicable, to the provisions of chapter 107 of this title. Where the Commissioner of Financial Regulation deems inapplicable, either in part or in their entity, the provisions of the foregoing sections, he or she may prescribe the portions or summary thereof of the contract to be printed on the certificate issued to the member. (Added 1959, No. 197, § 21, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; amended 1989, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; 1991, No. 166 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 38; 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012.)
8 V.S.A. § 4482
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4482. Waiver

§ 4482. Waiver|The constitution and laws of the society may provide that no subordinate body, nor any of its subordinate officers or members shall have the power or authority to waive any of the provisions of the laws and constitution of the society. The provision shall be binding on the society and every member and beneficiary of a member. (1959, No. 197, § 22, eff. Nov. 22, 1959.)
8 V.S.A. § 4483
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4483. Reinsurance

§ 4483. Reinsurance|A domestic society may, by a reinsurance agreement, cede any individual risk or risks in whole or in part to an insurer (other than another fraternal benefit society) having the power to make such reinsurance and authorized to do business in this State, or if not so authorized, one which is approved by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation; but no such society may reinsure substantially all of its insurance in force without the written permission of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. It may take credit for the reserves on such ceded risks to the extent reinsured, but no credit shall be allowed as an admitted asset or as a deduction from liability, to a ceding society for reinsurance made, ceded, renewed, or otherwise becoming effective after November 22, 1959, unless the reinsurance is payable by the assuming insurer on the basis of the liability of the ceding society under the contract or contracts reinsured without diminution because of the insolvency of the ceding society. (Added 1959, No. 197, § 23, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; amended 1989, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 38; 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012.)
8 V.S.A. § 4484
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4484. Annual license

§ 4484. Annual license|Societies which are now authorized to transact business in this State may continue such business until May 1, 1960. The authority of the societies, and all societies hereafter licensed, may thereafter be renewed annually, but shall terminate on the first day of the succeeding May. However, a license so issued shall continue in full force until the new license is issued or specifically refused. The society shall pay to the Commissioner of Financial Regulation $300.00 for a license fee for the year of registration and $300.00 as a renewal fee for each year thereafter. A duly certified copy or duplicate of the license shall be prima facie evidence that the licensee is a fraternal benefit society within the meaning of this chapter. (Added 1959, No. 197, § 24, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; amended 1965, No. 56, eff. May 14, 1965; 1989, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 25(b); 1991, No. 166 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 38(a); 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012.)
8 V.S.A. § 4485
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4485. Foreign or alien society; admission

§ 4485. Foreign or alien society; admission|(a) No foreign or alien society may transact business in this State without a license issued by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. Any such society may be licensed to transact business in this State upon filing with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation:  (1) a duly certified copy of its charter or articles of incorporation; (2) a copy of its constitution and laws, certified by its secretary or corresponding officer; (3) a power of attorney to the Secretary of State as prescribed in section 4489 of this title; (4) a statement of its business under oath of its president and secretary or corresponding officers in a form prescribed by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, duly verified by an examination made by the supervising insurance official of its home state or other state, territory, province or country, satisfactory to the Secretary of State of this State; (5) a certificate from the proper official of its home state, territory, province, or country that the society is legally incorporated and licensed to transact business therein; (6) copies of its certificate forms; and (7) such other information as he or she may deem necessary; and upon a showing that its assets are invested in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.   (b) Any foreign or alien society desiring admission to this State shall have the qualifications required of domestic societies organized under this chapter. (Added 1959, No. 197, § 25, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; amended 1989, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 38; 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012.)
8 V.S.A. § 4487
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4487. Suspension, revocation or refusal of license of foreign or alien society

§ 4487. Suspension, revocation or refusal of license of foreign or alien society|(a) When the Commissioner of Financial Regulation upon investigation finds that a foreign or alien society transacting or applying to transact business in this State:  (1) has exceeded its powers; (2) has failed to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter; (3) is not fulfilling its contracts in good faith; or (4) is conducting its business fraudulently or in a manner hazardous to its members or creditors or the public; he or she shall notify the society of his or her findings, state in writing the reasons for his or her dissatisfaction and require the society to show cause on a date named why its license should not be suspended, revoked, or refused. If on that date the society does not present good and sufficient reason, why its authority to do business in this State should not be suspended, revoked, or refused, he or she may suspend or refuse the license of the society to do business in this State until satisfactory evidence is furnished to him or her that the suspension or refusal should be withdrawn or he or she may revoke the authority of the society to do business in this State.   (b) Nothing contained in this section shall be taken or construed as preventing any such society from continuing in good faith all contracts made in this State during the time the society was legally authorized to transact business herein. (Added 1959, No. 197, § 27, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; amended 1989, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 25(b); 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 38(a); 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012.)
8 V.S.A. § 4489
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4489. Service of process

§ 4489. Service of process|(a) Every society authorized to do business in this State shall appoint in writing the Secretary of State and each successor in office to be its true and lawful attorney upon whom all lawful process in any action or proceeding against it shall be served, and shall agree in the writing that any lawful process against it which is served on the attorney shall be of the same legal force and validity as if served upon the society, and that the authority shall continue in force so long as any liability remains outstanding in this State. Copies of the appointment, certified by the Secretary of State, shall be deemed sufficient evidence thereof and shall be admitted in evidence with the same force and effect as the original thereof might be admitted.(b) Service may be made upon the Secretary of State, or if absent, upon the person in charge of his or her office. It shall be made in duplicate and shall constitute sufficient service upon the society. When legal process against a society is served upon the Secretary of State, he or she shall forthwith forward one of the duplicate copies by registered mail prepaid, directed to the secretary or corresponding officer.(c) The service authorized in this section shall be alternative to and not exclusive of any other method of service provided by law or by rule. (1959, No. 197, § 29, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; amended 1971, No. 185 (Adj. Sess.), § 20, eff. March 29, 1972; 2003, No. 70 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. March 1, 2004.)
8 V.S.A. § 4490
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 8 - Banking and Insurance|Chapter 121 - Fraternal Benefit Societies|§ 4490. Injunction

§ 4490. Injunction|No action for an injunction against any domestic, foreign, or alien society, or branch thereof, shall be recognized in any court of this State unless made by the Attorney General upon request of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. (Added 1959, No. 197, § 30, eff. Nov. 22, 1959; amended 1971, No. 185 (Adj. Sess.), § 21, eff. March 29, 1972; 1989, No. 225 (Adj. Sess.), § 25; 1995, No. 180 (Adj. Sess.), § 38; 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012.)