The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 27 : Property

Chapter 007 : Property Held for Religious, Fraternal, or Charitable Purposes

Subchapter 003 : Baptist Church

• § 783. Procedure for transferring property

  An application for such an order and disposition of property may be made by any member of the Vermont Baptist State Convention when duly authorized by the board of trustees or the executive committee of the board of trustees of the Vermont Baptist State Convention, or by any member of such church, upon a verified complaint setting forth the facts authorizing the order and disposition of property. Upon the presentation of the complaint to the Superior Court, the court may proceed in a summary manner, after such notice as the court may prescribe, to inquire into the merits of the application. If upon examination by the court it appears that the making of the order and disposition of the property applied for is necessary or proper for any of the causes mentioned in section 782 of this title, the court shall make a final order declaring the church extinct, or dissolving the same, and transferring any property, and the title and possession which may belong to the church, or held in trust for the church, and vest the same in the Vermont Baptist State Convention, it being the intention and purpose of this section and sections 781 and 782 of this title to preserve to the Baptist denomination in this State, as represented by the Vermont Baptist State Convention, for religious uses all property owned by or held in trust for any such church. The order of transfer shall not be made if objected to by five or more members of the church. This section and sections 781 and 782 of this title shall not affect reversionary interests of any person or persons in the property or any valid legal liens of creditors. (Amended 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974; 2023, No. 6, § 346, eff. July 1, 2023.)