This By-Laws document contains the following information: the name and location of the corporation, the shareholders, and the duties of the officers.
Bylaws Of A Corporation Formation In Georgia
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Corporate bylaws are a company's foundational governing document. They lay out how things should run day-to-day and the processes for making important decisions. They serve as a legal contract between the corporation and its shareholders, directors, and officers and set the protocol for how the organization operates.
You not only have a duty to understand your bylaws, you are legally accountable for following them. This is not optional. A court of law will side with your bylaws in any dispute brought by another board member, an employee, volunteer or recipient of services who may have a grievance.
Unlike employee guidelines, bylaws pertain to board-level decisions and actions about the day-to-day running of the business. Think of them as legal guidelines for your business, any action that violates them could be challenged in court.
The following are Georgia's requirements for directors of corporations: Minimum number. Corporations must have one or more directors.
Failure by a board to follow the stipulations outlined in the bylaws can have devastating consequences to the organization…and potentially even to the board members themselves. Since bylaws are such a big deal, it stands to reason that what they contain and how they are used should be taken extremely seriously.
Articles of Incorporation are not the same as bylaws. However, like Articles of Incorporation, bylaws form the legal foundation of your business and how its operations are governed. For example, Articles of Incorporation are filed with your state when forming a corporation.
A corporation's governing documents must meet a list of requirements in order to pass under California law. These items should not merely be seen as a checklist, however, as they will be cited to in the event a lawsuit or investigation arises down the road.
While bylaws are a detailed and immediate source of regulations, they must follow federal and state laws and comply with your organization's articles of incorporation. If there is a contradiction between the bylaws and these other regulations, that part of the bylaws is invalid.
Federal and state-level laws, as well as a company's incorporation documents, require public and private corporations in the U.S. to have boards of directors (BoDs). Although private LLCs do not have the same requirements, some choose to elect a board of directors after incorporating.
Corporate bylaws are legally required in Georgia. Georgia code § 14-2-206 (2021) requires the incorporators or board of directors to adopt bylaws.