Free Articles of Incorporation for Religious Corporation form and instructions - Maryland

RELIGIOUS CORPORATION ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
FIRST: Name(s): Address

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being at least 18 years of age have been elected by the members of the congregation of to act as trustees in the name and on behalf of said congregation do hereby associate ourselves as incorporators with the intention of forming a religious corporation under the general laws of Maryland. SECOND: The name of the corporation is

THIRD: Purpose:

FOURTH: Election of Trustees: A. Time and manner for the election of new Trustees:

B. Qualifications of those able to be elected as a Trustee:

C. Qualifications of those able to vote for Trustees:

FIFTH: The address of the principal place of worship is:

SIXTH: The name and address of the resident agent of the corporation are:

SEVENTH: IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we the trustees have signed these Articles of Incorporation and severally acknowledge the same to be our act.
SIGNATURES OF TRUSTEES LISTED IN FIRST:

I hereby consent to my designation in this document as resident agent for this corporation.
SIGNATURE OF RESIDENT AGENT LISTED IN SIXTH:

______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Filing party's return address: ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________

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SDAT Corprate Charter

GUIDELINES FOR ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION FOR RELIGIOUS CORPORATIONS
This type of corporation is appropriate only for incorporating a religious congregation. This guide is to be used with the form for Articles of Incorporation for a Religious Corporation. Each item below describes how to fill in the blank in the corresponding paragraph of the form. You may fill in the blanks on the form and submit that as your Articles of Incorporation. All items must be typed in black ink. FORMS FILLED IN BY HAND WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. If you have questions not answered by this guide seek the advice of an attorney, accountant or other business advisor. Legal questions of a general nature cannot be answered by the staff of this Department. FIRST: Insert the names and addresses of at least four adult persons who have been elected by the congregation to create this corporation. The only requirement is that they are at least 18 years old. The address should be one where mail can be received. It can be anywhere. SECOND: Insert the name the corporation you will have. It must be distinguishable from all other corporations on record in Maryland. To check availability call (410) 767-1330. THIRD: Give a one or two sentence description of the purpose for which the corporation is being created. FOURTH: The trustees are the people who run this corporation so the elections which name or replace them are very important. Any rule governing the election of trustees must be in the charter. This cannot be regulated by by-laws. These provisions should be as specific as possible. A. This should include the length of the terms of the trustees and exactly when elections are to be held. It should also describe exactly how the election is to be run. B. Any qualifications of who can be a trustee must be described here. Otherwise, any adult can be elected. C. Any limitation of who can vote for trustees must be described here. Otherwise, any adult who attends the election may vote. FIFTH: Insert the address of the principal place of worship. This should be a place where mail can be delivered and must have a zip code. A post office box will not be accepted unless a street address is also provided in this section. SIXTH: This is the name and address of the individual designated to accept service of process if the corporation is summoned to court for any reason. A person designated must be an adult citizen of Maryland or an existing Maryland corporation. The address must include street, city and zip code. The address must be in Maryland and cannot be a post office box. This person must also sign the document. SEVENTH: All the individuals listed in FIRST and the resident agent in Article SIXTH must sign here. The document must have original signatures. No copies or xeroxes will be accepted. FEES: The fee to file Articles of Incorporation for a Religious Corporation is $100.00 plus a $20.00 organization and capitalization fee for a total of $120.00. This fee is to be paid when the document is submitted to the Department. Make checks payable to SDAT.
Rev:10/03

How long will it take to process my documents? Regular processing time for submitted documents is about 7-8 weeks; Expedited processing request will be responded to within 7 business days. Documents hand-delivered in limited quantities receive same day service between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm. Hand-delivered transactions are to be paid by check only. There is an expedited fee for same day service for document processing. The expedited service fee is an additional $50.00 for this document; other fees may also apply. Check the Fee Schedule web page for a list of all service fees, http://www.dat.state.md.us/sdatweb/fees.html Mail completed forms to: State Department of Assessments and Taxation, Charter Division, 301 W. Preston Street; 8th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21201-2395. Fax completed forms with Mastercard or Visa credit card payment information to 410-333-7097. Fax request will be charged the additional expedited service fee. NOTE: Due to the fact that the laws governing the formation and operation of business entities and the effectiveness of a UCC Financing Statement involves more than filing documents with our office, we suggest you consult an attorney, accountant or other professional. State Department of Assessments & Taxation staff can not offer business counseling or legal advice. Notice regarding annual documents to be filed with the Department of Assessments & Taxation: All domestic and foreign legal entities must submit a Personal Property Return to the Department. Failure to file a Personal Property Return will result in forfeiture of your right to conduct business in Maryland. Copies of the return are available on the SDAT website. The returns are due April 15th of each year.

SDAT: Corporate Charter