Title 27 — Title 27

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section: (1) FRATERNAL BENEFIT SOCIETY. Any incorporated society, order, or supreme lodge without capital stock, including one exempted under the provisions of subd…

Preliminary Certificate. Such articles of incorporation, duly certified copies of the constitution, laws, and rules, copies of all proposed forms of certificates, applications therefor, and circulars to be issued by the society and a bond conditioned upon the return to applicants…

No preliminary certificate granted under the provisions of this section shall be valid after one year from its date or after such further period, not exceeding one year, as may be authorized by the commissioner upon cause shown, unless the 500 applicants required in this chapter …

Upon receipt of a preliminary certificate from the commissioner, the society may solicit members for the purpose of completing its organization, shall collect from each applicant the amount of not less than one regular monthly premium in accordance with its table of rates as prov…

The commissioner may make such examination and require such further information as he deems advisable. Upon presentation of satisfactory evidence that the society has complied with all the provisions of law, he shall issue to the society a certificate to that effect and that the …

(a) Every society shall have the power to adopt a constitution and laws for the government of the society, the admission of its members, the management of its affairs and the fixing and readjusting of the rates of its members from time to time. It shall have the power to change, …

Any incorporated society authorized to transact business in this state on January 1, 1973, may thereafter exercise all the rights, powers, and privileges prescribed in this chapter and in its charter or articles of incorporation as far as consistent with this chapter. A domestic …

Associations. (a) After January 1, 1973, no unincorporated or voluntary association shall be permitted to transact business in this state as a fraternal benefit society. (b) Any domestic voluntary association now authorized to transact business in this state may incorporate and s…

(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 …

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 soci…

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 …

A society having a supreme legislative or governing body and subordinate lodges or branches, by whatever name known, into which members are elected, initiated, or admitted in accordance with its constitution, laws, ritual, and rules, which subordinate lodges or branches are requi…

(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, o…

(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 me…

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 p…

(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…

(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…

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, e…

(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 benef…

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 …

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. History: (Acts 1911, No. 476, p. 700; Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §699.)

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 incorpo…

A society shall be deemed to have a representative form of government when: (1) It provides in its constitution or laws for a supreme legislative or governing body, composed of representatives elected either by the members or by delegates elected, directly or indirectly, by the m…

(a) After January 1, 1973, no life benefit certificate shall be delivered, or issued for delivery, in this state unless a copy of the form has been filed with the commissioner. (b) The certificate shall contain in substance the following standard provisions or, in lieu thereof, p…

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 …

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 contra…

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,…

(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 contra…

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…

(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 c…

(a) As a part of the annual statement required under Section 27-34-36, each society shall, on or before March 1, file with the commissioner a valuation of its certificates in force on December 31 last preceding; provided, however, that the commissioner may, in his discretion for …

A society neglecting to file the annual statement in the form and within the time provided by this chapter shall forfeit $100.00 for each day during which such neglect continues; and, upon notice by the commissioner to that effect, its authority to do business in this state shall…

(a) The commissioner, or any person he may appoint, shall have the power of visitation and examination into the affairs of any domestic society, and he shall make such examination at least once in every three years. He may employ assistants for the purpose of such examination, an…

Except as provided in this chapter, societies shall be governed by this chapter and shall be exempt from all other provisions of the insurance laws of this state, not only in governmental relations with the state, but for every other purpose. No law hereafter enacted shall apply …

The commissioner, or any person whom he may appoint, may examine any foreign or alien society transacting, or applying for admission to transact, business in this state. He may employ assistants and he, or any person he may appoint, shall have free access to all books, papers, an…

Pending, during or after an examination or investigation of a society, either domestic, foreign, or alien, the commissioner shall make public no financial statement, report, or finding nor shall he permit to become public any financial statement, report, or finding affecting the …

Every society organized or licensed under this chapter is hereby declared to be a charitable and benevolent institution, and all of its funds shall be exempt from all and every state, county, district, municipal, and school tax other than taxes on real estate and office equipment…

Persons representing a fraternal benefit society in the solicitation of applications for insurance or annuities and the fraternal benefit society with respect thereto shall be subject to the provisions of Chapters 7 and 8A of this title. History: (Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §715…

Repealed by Act 2001-702, p. 1509, § 16, effective January 1, 2002. History: (Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §716.)

No person shall cause or permit to be made, issued, or circulated in any form: (1) Any misrepresentation or false or misleading statement concerning the terms, benefits, or advantages of any fraternal insurance contract now issued, or to be issued, in this state or the financial …

(a) No society doing business in this state shall make or permit any unfair discrimination between insured members of the same class and equal expectation of life in the premiums charged for certificates of insurance in the dividends or other benefits payable thereon or in any ot…

(a) Every society authorized to do business in this state shall appoint, in writing, the commissioner 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 such writi…

(a) A domestic society may consolidate or merge with any other society by complying with the provisions of this section. It shall file with the commissioner: (1) A certified copy of the written contract containing, in full, the terms and conditions of the consolidation or merger;…

Upon the consolidation or merger effective as provided in Section 27-34-48, all the rights, franchises, and interests of the consolidated or merged societies in, and to, every species of property, real, personal, or mixed, and things in action thereunto belonging shall be vested …

(a) Nothing contained in this chapter shall be so construed as to affect or apply to: (1) Grand or subordinate lodges of societies, orders, or associations now doing business in this state which provide benefits exclusively through local or subordinate lodges; (2) Grand or subord…

(a) When the commissioner upon investigation finds that a domestic society: (1) Has exceeded its powers; or (2) Has failed to comply with any provision of this chapter; or (3) Is not fulfilling its contracts in good faith; or (4) Has a membership of less than 400 after an existen…

No application or petition for 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. History: (Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §723.)

All decisions and findings of the commissioner made under the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to review by the court in accordance with the provisions of Section 27-2-32. History: (Acts 1971, No. 407, p. 707, §724.)

Any person who willfully makes a false statement of any material fact or thing in a sworn statement as to the death or disability of a certificate holder in any fraternal benefit society, for the purpose of procuring payment of a benefit named in the certificate of such holder, a…

In addition to the provisions heretofore contained or referred to in this chapter, other chapters and provisions of this title shall apply to fraternal benefit societies, to the extent applicable and not in conflict with the express provisions of this chapter, and the reasonable …