reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
AL Code § 27-34-17 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-17 - Amendment of Articles of Incorporation, Constitution, or Laws.

Section 27-34-17Amendment of articles of incorporation, constitution, or laws. (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. Such 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 shall 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 such amendment by one of the methods specified in this subsection. (b) No amendment to the articles of incorporation, constitution, or laws of any domestic society shall take effect unless approved by the commissioner, who shall approve such amendment if he 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 disapproves any such amendment within 60 days after the filing of same, such amendment shall be considered approved. The approval or disapproval of the commissioner shall be in writing and mailed to the secretary or corresponding officer of the society at its principal office. In case he disapproves the amendment, the reasons therefor shall be stated in the written notice. (c) Within 90 days from the approval thereof by the commissioner, all such amendments, or a synopsis thereof, shall be furnished by the society to all members 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 same have been duly addressed and mailed, shall be prima facie evidence that such 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 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. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §688.)
AL Code § 27-34-18 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-18 - Waiver of Societies' Laws and Constitution.

Section 27-34-18Waiver of societies' laws and constitution. 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. Such provision shall be binding on the society and every member and beneficiary of a member. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §689.)
AL Code § 27-34-19 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-19 - Principal Office of Domestic Society; Meetings of Governing Body and Minutes Thereof.

Section 27-34-19Principal office of domestic society; meetings of governing body and minutes thereof. (a) The principal office of any domestic society shall be located in this state. The meetings of its supreme legislative or governing body may be held in any state, district, province, or territory wherein such society has at least five subordinate branches, and all business transacted at such meetings shall be as valid in all respects as if such meetings were held in this state. (b) The minutes of the proceedings of the supreme or governing body and of the board of directors, or corresponding body of a society, shall be in the English language. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §690.)
AL Code § 27-34-20 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-20 - Creation, etc., of Charitable, Benevolent, or Educational Institutions.

Section 27-34-20Creation, etc., of charitable, benevolent, or educational 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 such purpose, it may own, hold, or lease personal property or real property located within or without this state, with necessary buildings thereon. Such property shall be reported in every annual statement, but shall not be allowed as an admitted asset of such 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. (c) No society shall own or operate funeral homes or undertaking establishments. (Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §691.)
AL Code § 27-34-21 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-21 - Members - Qualifications for Membership.

Section 27-34-21Members - Qualifications for membership. (a) A society may admit to benefit membership any person not less than 15 years of age, nearest birthday, who has furnished evidence of insurability acceptable to the society. Any such member who shall apply for additional benefits more than six months after becoming a benefit member shall furnish additional evidence of insurability acceptable to the society. (b) Any person admitted prior to attaining the full age of 19 years shall be bound by the terms of the application and certificate and by all the laws and rules of the society and shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges of membership therein to the same extent as though the age of majority had been attained at the time of application. A society may also admit general or social members who shall have no voice or vote in the management of its insurance affairs. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1931, No. 55, p. 71; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §692.)
AL Code § 27-34-22 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-22 - Members - Payment of Equitable Part of Deficiency.

Section 27-34-22Members - Payment of equitable part of deficiency. 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 of the society the amount of the member's equitable proportion of such deficiency as ascertained by its board and that, if the payment is not made, it shall stand as an indebtedness against the member's certificate and draw interest not to exceed five percent per annum, compounded annually. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §693.)
AL Code § 27-34-23 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-23 - Benefits - Generally.

Section 27-34-23Benefits - Generally. (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; and (6) Monument or tombstone benefits to the memory of deceased members not exceeding in any case the sum of $300.00. (b) Such benefits may be provided on the lives of members or, upon application of a member, on the lives of a member's family, including the member, the member's spouse, and minor children, in the same or separate certificates. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1931, No. 55, p. 71; Acts 1949, No. 680, p. 1050, §1; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §694.)
AL Code § 27-34-24 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-24 - Benefits - Lives of Children.

Section 27-34-24Benefits - 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 19 years of age at time of application therefor, upon the application of some adult person, as its laws or rules may provide, which benefits shall be in accordance with the provisions of Section 27-34-23. 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 such benefits and to provide in all other respects for the regulation, government, and control of such certificates and all rights, obligations, and liabilities incident thereto and connected therewith. (Acts 1919, No. 10, p. 19; Acts 1949, No. 680, p. 1050, §2; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §695.)
AL Code § 27-34-25 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-25 - Paid-Up Nonforfeiture Benefits, Cash Surrender Values, and Certificate Loans, Etc.

Section 27-34-25Paid-up nonforfeiture benefits, cash surrender values, and certificate loans, etc. (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 January 1, 1972, 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 on the commissioners 1958 Standard Ordinary Mortality Table or the 1961 Standard Industrial Table, 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 subdivision (1) over subdivision (2) of this subsection, 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 1958 Standard Ordinary Mortality Table or the 1961 Standard Industrial Table, 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 insurers issuing policies containing like insurance benefits based upon such tables. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §696.)
AL Code § 27-34-26 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-26 - Beneficiaries.

Section 27-34-26Beneficiaries. (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 make provision 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, but 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 are payable, the amount of such benefits, except to the extent that funeral benefits may be paid as provided in this chapter, shall be payable to the personal representative of the deceased member. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1931, No. 55, p. 71; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §697.)
AL Code § 27-34-27 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-27 - Exemption of Benefits, etc., From Attachment, Garnishment, or Other Process.

Section 27-34-27Exemption of benefits, etc., from attachment, garnishment, or other process. No money or other benefit, charity, relief, or aid to be paid, provided, or rendered by any society shall be liable to attachment, garnishment, 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. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §698.)
AL Code § 27-34-28 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-28 - Personal Liability for Payment of Benefits.

Section 27-34-28Personal liability for payment of benefits. 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. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §699.)
AL Code § 27-34-29 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-29 - Issuance of Certificate to Each Benefit Member; Matters Constituting Agreement.

Section 27-34-29Issuance of certificate to each benefit member; matters constituting agreement. (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 subsection 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 govern and control the agreement in all respects the same as though such changes, additions, or amendments had been made prior to, 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. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §700.)
AL Code § 27-34-31 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-31 - Life Benefit Certificate - Prohibited Provisions.

Section 27-34-31Life benefit certificate - Prohibited provisions. After January 1, 1973, no life benefit certificate shall be delivered or issued for delivery in this state containing, in substance, any of the following provisions: (1) Any provision limiting the time with which any action may be commenced to less than two years after the cause of action accrues; (2) Any provision by which the certificate purports to be issued or to take effect more than six months before the original application for the certificate was made, except in case of transfer from one form of certificate to another in connection with which the member is to receive credit for any reserve accumulation under the form of certificate from which the transfer is made; or (3) Any provision for forfeiture of the certificate for failure to repay any loan thereon or to pay interest on such loan which the total indebtedness, including interest, is less than the loan value of the certificate. (Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §702.)
AL Code § 27-34-32 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-32 - Accident or Health and Total or Permanent Disability Insurance Contracts.

Section 27-34-32Accident or health and total or permanent disability insurance contracts. (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 or endorsements for use in connection therewith, shall have been filed with the commissioner. (b) The commissioner shall have power, from time to time, to make, alter, and supersede reasonable regulations prescribing the required, optional, and prohibited provisions in such contracts, and such regulations shall conform, as far as practicable, to the provisions of Chapter 19 of this title. Where the commissioner deems inapplicable, either in part or in their entirety, the provisions of Chapter 19 of this title, he may prescribe the portions, or summary thereof, of the contract to be printed on the certificate issued to the member. (c) Any filing made under this section shall be deemed approved unless disapproved within 60 days from the date of such filing. (Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §704.)
AL Code § 27-34-33 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-33 - Reinsurance.

Section 27-34-33Reinsurance. 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; but no such society may reinsure substantially all of its insurance in force without the written permission of the commissioner. 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 January 1, 1972, 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. (Acts 1923, No. 596, p. 785; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §705.)
AL Code § 27-34-34 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-34 - Assets; Funds; Expenses.

Section 27-34-34Assets; funds; expenses. (a) All assets shall be held, invested, and disbursed for the use and benefit of the society, and no member or beneficiary shall have or acquire individual rights therein or become entitled to any apportionment or the surrender of any part thereof except as provided in the contract. (b) A society may create, maintain, invest, disburse, and apply any special fund or funds necessary to carry out any purpose permitted by the laws of such society. (c) Every society, the admitted assets of which are less than the sum of its accrued liabilities and reserves under all of its certificates when valued according to standards required for certificates issued after January 1, 1973, shall, in every provision of the laws of the society for payments by members of such society, in whatever form made, distinctly state the purpose of the same and the proportion thereof which may be used for expenses, and no part of the money collected for mortuary or disability purposes, or the net accretions thereto, shall be used for expenses. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §706.)
AL Code § 27-34-35 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-35 - Investments.

Section 27-34-35Investments. A society shall invest its funds only in such investments as are authorized by the laws of this state for the investment of assets of life insurers and subject to the limitations thereon. Any foreign or alien society permitted or seeking to do business in this state which invests its funds in accordance with the laws of the state, district, territory, country, or province in which it is incorporated shall be held to meet the requirements of this section for the investment of funds. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §707.)
AL Code § 27-34-36 (2021)
2021 Code of Alabama|Title 27 - Insurance.|Chapter 34 - Fraternal Benefit Societies.|Section 27-34-36 - Annual Statements - Requirements.

Section 27-34-36Annual statements - Requirements. (a) Report shall be filed and synopses of annual statements shall be published in accordance with the provisions of this section. (b) Every society transacting business in this state shall annually, on or before March 1, unless for cause shown such time has been extended by the commissioner, file with the commissioner a true statement of its financial condition, transactions, and affairs for the preceding calendar year and pay a fee of $10.00 for filing same. The statement shall be in general form and context as approved by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners for fraternal benefit societies and as supplemented by additional information required by the commissioner. (c) A synopsis of its annual statement providing an explanation of the facts concerning the condition of the society thereby disclosed shall be printed and mailed to each benefit member of the society not later than June 1 of each year, or, in lieu thereof, such synopsis may be published in the society's official publication. (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §708.)