Title 7
Corporations, Associations, and Partnerships

Chapter 6
Rhode Island Nonprofit Corporation Act

§ 7-6-48.1. Conversion of other entities to a domestic nonprofit corporation.

(a) As used in this section, the term “other entity” means a foreign corporation or domestic or foreign unincorporated entity no part of the income or profit of which is distributable to its members, directors, or officers.

(b) Any other entity may convert to a nonprofit corporation of this state by complying with subsection (h) of this section and filing in the office of the secretary of state:

(1) A certificate of conversion to corporation (nonprofit) that has been executed in accordance with subsection (i) of this section and filed in the office of the secretary of state in accordance with § 7-6-48.2; and

(2) Articles of incorporation that have been executed, acknowledged and filed in accordance with § 7-6-35.

(c) The certificate of conversion to corporation (nonprofit) shall state:

(1) The date on which, and the jurisdiction where, the other entity was first created, incorporated, formed, or otherwise came into being and, if it has changed, its jurisdiction immediately prior to its conversion to a domestic corporation;

(2) The name and type of the other entity immediately prior to the filing of the certificate of conversion to corporation (nonprofit); and

(3) The name of the corporation as set forth in its articles of incorporation filed in accordance with subsection (b) of this section.

(d) Upon the effective time of the certificate of conversion to corporation (nonprofit) and the articles of incorporation, the other entity shall be converted to a corporation of this state and the corporation shall thereafter be subject to all of the provisions of this title, except that notwithstanding § 7-6-36, the existence of the corporation shall be deemed to have commenced on the date the other entity commenced its existence in the jurisdiction in which the other entity was first created, formed, incorporated, or otherwise came into being.

(e) The conversion of any other entity to a corporation of this state shall not be deemed to affect any obligations or liabilities of the other entity incurred prior to its conversion to a corporation of this state or the personal liability of any person incurred prior to the conversion.

(f) When another entity has been converted to a corporation of this state pursuant to this section, the corporation of this state shall, for all purposes of the laws of the state, be deemed to be the same entity as the converting other entity. When any conversion shall have become effective under this section, for all purposes of the laws of the state, all of the rights, privileges and powers of the other entity that has converted, and all property, real, personal, and mixed, and all debts due to the other entity, as well as all other things and causes of action belonging to the other entity, shall remain vested in the domestic corporation to which the other entity has converted and shall be the property of the domestic corporation and title to any real property vested by deed or otherwise in the other entity shall not revert to the other entity or be in any way impaired by reason of this chapter; but all rights of creditors and all liens upon any property of the other entity shall be preserved unimpaired, and all debts, liabilities, and duties of the other entity that has converted shall remain attached to the corporation of this state to which the other entity has converted, and may be enforced against it to the same extent as if the debts, liabilities, and duties had originally been incurred or contracted by it in its capacity as a corporation of this state. The rights, privileges, powers, and interests in property of the other entity, as well as the debts, liabilities, and duties of the other entity, shall not be deemed, as a consequence of the conversion, to have been transferred to the domestic corporation to which the other entity has converted for any purpose of the laws of the state.

(g) Unless otherwise agreed for all purposes of the laws of the state, or as required under applicable non-Rhode Island law, the converting other entity shall not be required to wind up its affairs or pay its liabilities and distribute its assets, and the conversion shall not be deemed to constitute a dissolution of the other entity and shall constitute a continuation of the existence of the converting other entity in the form of a corporation of this state.

(h) Prior to filing a certificate of conversion to corporation (nonprofit) with the office of the secretary of state, the conversion shall be approved in the manner provided for by the document, instrument, agreement, or other writing, as the case may be, governing the internal affairs of the other entity and the conduct of its business or by applicable law, as appropriate, and articles of incorporation shall be approved by the same authorization required to approve the conversion.

(i) The certificate of conversion to corporation (nonprofit) shall be signed by any person who is authorized to sign the certificate of conversion to corporation (nonprofit) on behalf of the other entity.