§432:1-303  Authority to offer death, sick,disability, or other benefits; conditions.  (a)  Each society promising oroffering to pay death, sick, disability, or other benefits in an amount equalto or in excess of $25 may solicit members for the purpose of completing itsorganization upon receipt from the commissioner of the certificate andauthority required in section 432:1-301, and shall collect from each applicantthe amount of not less than one regular monthly payment in accordance with itstable of rates as provided by its constitution and bylaws, and shall issue toeach applicant a receipt for the amount so collected.

(b)  Except as hereinafter provided, no societyshall incur any liability other than for the advance payments, nor issue anybenefit certificate, nor allow, or offer or promise to pay, or allow to anyperson any death benefit until:

(1)  Actual bona fide applications for deathcertificates have been secured upon at least one hundred lives for at least $25each, and all the applicants for death benefits have been regularly examined bya qualified practicing physician, and certificates of the examination have beenduly filed with and approved by the administrative board or body of thesociety; and

(2)  At least one hundred applicants have beenaccepted for membership; and

(3)  There has been submitted to the commissioner,under oath of the president and secretary, or corresponding officers of thesociety, a list of applicants including the following information about eachapplicant:

(A)  Name and address,

(B)  Date examined,

(C)  Date of approval,

(D)  Date accepted as member,

(E)  If subordinate branches have beenestablished, the name and number of the subordinate branch of which eachapplicant is a member,

(F)  Amount of benefits to be granted, and

(G)  The rate of stated periodicalcontributions which shall be sufficient to provide for meeting the mortuaryobligations contracted when valued for death purposes upon the basis of arecognized table of mortality or any mutual benefit standard based on at leasttwenty years' experience, and for disability benefits by tables based uponreliable experience, and for combined death and permanent total disabilitybenefits by tables based upon reliable experience; and

(4)  It has been shown to the commissioner by thesworn statement of the treasurer or corresponding officer of the society thatat least one hundred applicants have paid in cash at least one regular monthlypayment as provided under subsection (a), which payments in the aggregate shallamount to at least five times the maximum amount of death benefit offered orpromised to be paid to any one member.

(c)  If the society does not offer or promiseto pay any death benefits in excess of $25 upon the death of a member, butmerely offers or promises to pay disability benefits by reason of sickness orinjury, or to pay any other benefits, with or without provision of deathbenefit in excess of $25, the society shall, before receiving a certificate ofcompliance with law from the commissioner, prove to the commissioner that atleast one hundred members have each paid in, in cash, at least six regularmonthly payments to the disability fund.  Such payments in the aggregate shall:

(1)  Amount to at least twenty times the maximumamount of disability or other benefits offered or promised to be paid to anyone member during or within a period of thirty days,

(2)  Be credited to the disability, sick or otherbenefit fund, and

(3)  During the period of organization of the society,be held in trust to be returned to the applicants or members who have madepayment of the same, if and in case the organization of the society is notcompleted within one year. [L 1987, c 347, pt of §2]