2023 Montana Code Annotated › Title 35. Corporations, Partnerships, and Associations › Chapter 14. Montana Business Corporation Act › Part 1. General Provisions › 35-14-141. Notices and other communications

35-14-141. Notices and other communications.
(1) A notice under this chapter must be in writing unless oral notice is reasonable in the circumstances. Unless otherwise agreed between the sender and the recipient, words in a notice or other communication under this chapter must be in English.
(2) A notice or other communication may be given by any method of delivery, except that electronic transmissions must be in accordance with this section. If the methods of delivery are impracticable, a notice or other communication may be given by means of a broad nonexclusionary distribution to the public, which may include:
(a) a newspaper of general circulation in the area where published;
(b) radio, television, or other form of public broadcast communication; or
(c) other methods of distribution that the corporation has previously identified to its shareholders.
(3) A notice or other communication to a domestic corporation or to a foreign corporation registered to do business in this state may be delivered to the corporation's registered agent at its registered office or to the secretary at the corporation's principal office shown in its most recent annual report or, in the case of a foreign corporation that has not yet delivered an annual report, in its foreign registration statement.
(4) A notice or other communications may be delivered by electronic transmission if consented to by the recipient or if authorized by subsection (10). A corporation that files documents with the office of the secretary of state under this chapter is considered to have given its irrevocable consent to delivery of notices or other communications by the office of the secretary of state to the corporation by electronic transmission.
(5) Any consent under subsection (4) may be revoked by the person who consented by written or electronic notice to the person to whom the consent was delivered. A consent is considered revoked if:
(a) the corporation is unable to deliver two consecutive electronic transmissions given by the corporation in accordance with the consent; and
(b) the inability becomes known to the secretary or an assistant secretary or to the transfer agent or other person responsible for the giving of notice or other communications. However, the inadvertent failure to treat the inability as a revocation does not invalidate any meeting or other action.
(6) Unless otherwise agreed between the sender and the recipient, an electronic transmission is received when:
(a) it enters an information processing system that the recipient has designated or uses for the purposes of receiving electronic transmissions or information of the type sent and from which the recipient is able to retrieve the electronic transmission; and
(b) it is in a form capable of being processed by that system.
(7) Receipt of an electronic acknowledgment from an information processing system described in subsection (6)(a) establishes that an electronic transmission was received but, by itself, does not establish that the content sent corresponds to the content received.
(8) An electronic transmission is received under this section even if no person is aware of its receipt.
(9) A notice or other communication, if in a comprehensible form or manner, is effective at the earliest of the following:
(a) if in a physical form, the earliest of when it is actually received or when it is left at:
(i) a shareholder's address shown on the corporation's record of shareholders maintained by the corporation under 35-14-1601(4);
(ii) a director's residence or usual place of business; or
(iii) the corporation's principal office;
(b) if mailed postage prepaid and correctly addressed to a shareholder, on deposit in the United States mail;
(c) if mailed by United States mail postage prepaid and correctly addressed to a recipient other than a shareholder, the earliest of when it is actually received or:
(i) if sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, the date shown on the return receipt signed by or on behalf of the addressee; or
(ii) 5 days after it is deposited in the United States mail;
(d) if an electronic transmission, when it is received as provided in subsection (6); and
(e) if oral, when communicated.
(10) A notice or other communication may be in the form of an electronic transmission that cannot be directly reproduced in paper form by the recipient through an automated process used in conventional commercial practice only if:
(a) the electronic transmission is otherwise retrievable in perceivable form; and
(b) the sender and the recipient have consented in writing to the use of that form of electronic transmission.
(11) If this chapter prescribes requirements for notices or other communications in particular circumstances, those requirements govern. If articles of incorporation or bylaws prescribe requirements for notices or other communications not inconsistent with this section or other provisions of this chapter, those requirements govern. The articles of incorporation or bylaws may authorize or require delivery of notices of meetings of directors by electronic transmission.
(12) In the event that any provisions of this chapter are determined to modify, limit, or supersede the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. 7001, et seq., the provisions of this chapter control to the maximum extent permitted by section 102(a)(2) of that federal act.
(13) (a) Whenever notice would otherwise be required to be given under any provision of this chapter to a shareholder, the notice need not be given if:
(i) notices to shareholders of two consecutive annual meetings, and all notices of meetings during the period between the two consecutive annual meetings, have been sent, other than by electronic transmission, to the shareholder at the shareholder's address as shown on the records of the corporation and have been returned undeliverable or could not be delivered; or
(ii) all, but not less than two, distributions to shareholders during a 12-month period, or two consecutive distributions to shareholders during a period of more than 12 months, have been sent to the shareholder at the shareholder's address as shown on the records of the corporation and have been returned undeliverable or could not be delivered.
(b) If any shareholder to which this subsection (13) applies delivers to the corporation a written notice setting forth the shareholder's then-current address, the requirement that notice be given to the shareholder must be reinstated.
History: En. Sec. 15, Ch. 271, L. 2019; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 34, L. 2021.