The Vermont Statutes Online
The Statutes below include the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Subchapter
007
:
UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
(Cite as: 27 V.S.A. § 943)
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§ 943. Manner of effecting transfer
Any application for such an order and disposition of property may be made by any member
of the Vermont and Quebec Universalist Unitarian Convention when duly authorized by
the board of trustees or the executive committee of the board of trustees of the Vermont
and Quebec Universalist Unitarian Convention, or by any member of the 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 such application. If upon examination by the court it shall
appear 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 942 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 and
Quebec Universalist Unitarian Convention. It is the intent and purpose of this section
and sections 941 and 942 of this title to preserve to the Universalist denomination in this State, as represented by the
Vermont and Quebec Universalist Unitarian 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 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, § 354, eff. July 1, 2023.)