Massachusetts. Corporations Division

Early incorporations of religious, charitable, educational, and other non-profit organizations were authorized through charters granted through the passage of special acts by the General Court. Changes to this process began per St 1857, c 56, which directed the articles of association of charitable corporations to be filed in the registry of deeds in the county where the organization was located. Filing of articles of organization and the issue of certificates of charter by the Secretary of the Commonwealth for charitable and other non-profit organizations was established per St 1874, c 375.

St 1901 c 405 required charitable organizations applying for incorporation to have their purposes and personnel investigated for possible illegal activity or unsuitable persons by the Board of State Charities (in 1919 the Dept. of Public Welfare), before they could be issued a certificate of incorporation by the state secretary. St 1954, c 539, s 1 gave these investigatory and filing responsibilities to the newly-established Division of Public Charities in the Attorney General's Office. See its: Charitable corporation filings ((M-Ar)554).

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