Bergkvist v. Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum

The 1929 amendment to the defendant’s rules which required actions arising from the death of a member to be brought “ within three years from the date of such death ” was valid and bound the plaintiff’s husband, a member, and the plaintiff as beneficiary; and the fact that it was not until 1940 that the plaintiff learned of the death of her husband, which occurred in 1929, does not affect the situation. (Born v. Perkins, 173 App. Div. 214, affd. on opinion below 223 N. Y. 605.) Under the terms of the certificate of membership the defendant had the power to change its rules, and the changes…