Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 11 Sec. 20-14

  • Articles of incorporation: include amended and restated articles of incorporation, articles of merger, and special charters. See
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Proceeding: includes civil suit and criminal, administrative, and investigatory action. See
  • Shareholder: means the person in whose name shares are registered in the records of a corporation or upon presentation for registration are entitled to be registered in the records of a corporation. See

§ 20.14. Involuntary termination of close corporation status; proceeding to prevent loss of status

(a) A close corporation shall notify all shareholders of any event which would render the corporation no longer eligible to organize as a close corporation under the requirements of section 20.02 of this title. Such notification shall be made within 30 days of the discovery of the event. If shareholders are not notified within one year of the discovery of the event, the corporation’s status as a close corporation shall terminate. If shareholders are notified within 30 days, they shall have 120 days after discovery of the event to remedy any breach, and if remedied, the corporation’s status as a close corporation shall be unaffected by the breach of any conditions under section 20.02. Commencement of a proceeding by a shareholder or by the corporation in Superior Court under subsection (b) of this section shall suspend the provisions of this subsection.

(b) The Superior Court of the county in which the registered office of the corporation is located, upon the suit of the corporation or any shareholder thereof, shall have jurisdiction to issue all orders necessary to prevent the corporation from losing its status as a close corporation, or to restore its status as a close corporation by enjoining or setting aside any act or threatened act on the part of the corporation or a shareholder thereof which would be inconsistent with any of the provisions or conditions required by section 20.02 of this title to be stated in the articles of incorporation of a close corporation, unless it is an action approved in accordance with section 20.02 of this title. The superior court shall enjoin or set aside any transfer or threatened transfer of shares of a close corporation which is contrary to the terms of its articles of incorporation or of any transfer restriction permitted by subdivision 20.02(5)(A) and subsection 20.05(b) of this title.

(c) A close corporation whose status has been terminated under this section may reinstate that status by correction of breach. Such reinstatement shall revive and validate all actions taken by a close corporation during its termination period, if such actions would otherwise have been legally binding on the corporation if it had never been terminated. (Added 1993, No. 85, § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1994.)