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November 21, 2024 Clouds | 45°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Section 132A: Group annuity contract; definitions

Section 132A. A group annuity contract is hereby defined to be a contract issued by a company

(a) to a person, firm or corporation, as employer, and providing for the payment of annuities on all of his or its employees or any specified class or classes thereof, and which requires that the considerations or stipulated payments shall be paid by the employer or by the employer and the employees jointly; provided, however, that this clause shall not apply to any group annuity plan to which the provisions of section 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code apply; or

(b) to an employers' association, and providing for the payment of annuities on all of the employees of any or all the members of such association or of any specified class or classes of such employees, and which requires that the considerations or stipulated payments shall be paid either wholly by each employer with respect to his or its employees, or jointly by the employer and his or its employees, or with gifts or other voluntary contributions received by such employers' association; or

(c) to a trade union or other association of wage workers described in section twenty-nine, and providing for the payment of annuities on all of the members of such union or association or of any specified class or classes thereof, and which requires that the considerations or stipulated payments shall be paid wholly with funds contributed by such union or association, the employer or employers of the persons covered under the contract, or both, or partly with such funds and partly with funds contributed by the persons covered under the contract; or

(d) to the trustee or trustees of a fund established by one or more employers, or by one or more trade unions or other associations of wage workers described in section twenty-nine, or by one or more employers and one or more such unions or associations, and providing for the payment of annuities on all of the employees of the employers or all of the members of the unions or associations, or all of any class or classes thereof, and which requires that the considerations or stipulated payments shall not be paid wholly with funds contributed specifically for such coverage by the persons covered thereunder except in the case of coverage of a partner or an individual proprietor.

The word ''employees'', as used in this section, shall include the individual proprietor or partners if an employer is an individual proprietor or partnership, and, in the case of a corporation, the employees of its subsidiary or affiliated corporations, and the individual proprietors, partners and employees of affiliated individuals and firms controlled by the holder or by a member of an employers' association through stock ownership, contract or otherwise, and retired employees and officers and managers of any employer, and the widows and dependent children of deceased employees. The words ''members of a trade union or other association of wage workers described in section twenty-nine'' shall include employees of such union or association, retired members and the widows and dependent children of deceased members.

The word ''annuitant'', as used in this section and sections one hundred and thirty-two B and one hundred and thirty-two C, shall mean any person on whose life an annuity is payable under a group annuity contract.

The word ''holder'', as used in this section and sections one hundred and thirty-two B and one hundred and thirty-two D, shall mean the person, firm, association, corporation, trustee or trustees, or trade union or other association of wage workers described in section twenty-nine, to whom or to which a group annuity contract is issued.