§33-23-20. Beneficiaries.

(a) The member shall have the right at all times to change the beneficiary or beneficiaries in accordance with the Constitution, laws or rules of the society. Every society by its Constitution, laws or rules may limit the scope of beneficiaries and shall provide that no beneficiary shall have or obtain any vested interest in the proceeds of any certificate until the certificate has become due and payable in conformity with the provisions of the insurance contract.

(b) A society may make provision for the payment of funeral benefits to the extent of such portion of any payment under a certificate as might reasonably appear to be due to any person equitably entitled thereto by reason of having incurred expense occasioned by the burial of the member, provided the portion so paid shall not exceed the sum of $500.

(c) If, at the death of any member, there is no lawful beneficiary to whom the insurance benefits shall be payable, the amount of such benefits, except to the extent that funeral benefits may be paid as hereinbefore provided, shall be payable to the personal representative of the deceased member.