Article Archives >> To the Point
Where Articles filed more than 35 years ago say the membership shall consist of the incorporators but the Bylaws are silent about member voting rights and no member meetings (or vote) have ever occurred, do the members that still survive have the right to vote on a fundamental corporate change after Board approval?
This is
a question of state law for your state, but the answer is
probably No. The Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation law provides,
for example, that where a nonprofit corporation has under
its bylaws or in fact no members entitled to vote on a matter,
the Board may act alone. If no one has acted as a member for
35 years, it would be hard to argue that such persons should
be able to act now for the first time to control action.Nevertheless,
if it would be possible, without stirring up a controversy,
to get a waiver or approval from the surviving member(s) to
a bylaw change that eliminates all members, in an abundance
of caution you should consider whether it would be wise to
obtain that approval and remove the possibility of a subsequent
challenge to this or any other issue. Be careful to write
the waiver so that it does not suggest that they have the
right to approve. Check with a local lawyer to confirm that
the “members” don’t have legal rights and
whether the waiver is necessary.
Article Archives >> To the Point
By Ronald W. Clement |
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