A. No shareholder of a corporation organized under this chapter may sell or transfer his shares in such corporation except to (i) the corporation, (ii) another individual or professional business entity who is eligible to be a shareholder of such corporation, (iii) a qualified charitable remainder trust as defined in subsection B, or (iv) the trustees of an eligible employee stock ownership plan. In the case of a corporation rendering the services of architects, professional engineers, land surveyors and certified landscape architects, or any combination thereof, no person who is not duly licensed or otherwise legally authorized to render one such service shall be eligible unless at least two-thirds of the remaining shares after the sale or transfer shall be held by individuals or professional business entities duly licensed or otherwise legally authorized to perform one such service.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 13.1-550

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • 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.
  • Eligible employee stock ownership plan: means an employee stock ownership plan as such term is defined in § 4975(e)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, sponsored by a professional corporation and with respect to which:

    1. See Virginia Code 13.1-543

  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • Professional business entity: means any entity as defined in § 13. See Virginia Code 13.1-543
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255

B. As used in this section, “qualified charitable remainder trust” means a trust meeting the requirements of § 664 of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and which meets all of the following conditions:

1. Has one or more current income beneficiaries, all of which are eligible to be a shareholder in the corporation under § 13.1-544.

2. Has a trustee or independent special trustee who:

a. Is eligible to be a shareholder in the corporation under § 13.1-544; and

b. Has exclusive authority over the shares of the corporation while the shares are held in the trust.

3. Has one or more irrevocably designated charitable remaindermen, all of which must at all times be domiciled or maintain a local chapter in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

4. When transferring any assets during the term of the trust to charitable organizations, the distributions are made only to charitable organizations described in § 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code that are domiciled or maintain a local chapter in this Commonwealth.

1970, c. 77; 1980, c. 757; 1999, c. 100; 2006, cc. 672, 715; 2008, c. 265.