§ 783 - Procedure for transferring property - Vermont Statutes

§ 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 thereto 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 such order and disposition of property. Upon the presentation of such complaint to the superior court, such 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 782 of this title, such court shall make a final order declaring such church extinct, or dissolving the same, and transferring any property, and the title and possession thereof which may belong to such church, or held in trust for such 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. Such an order of transfer shall not be made if objected to by five or more members of such church. This section and sections 781 and 782 of this title shall not affect reversionary interests of any person or persons in such property or any valid legal liens of creditors thereon. (Amended 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974.)