Amended licsense process eyed for streamlining
Pub Date: 5/1/2008
Anyone who has gone through the process of obtaining a liquor and gaming license will attest to its rigor: a great consumer of time and money, boxes full of documents, personal interviews, in-depth financial disclosures and investigations, finger-printing and much more.
When more than one person shares the license, the whole process is reinitiated and duplicated in the event one person leaves that license, through a death or divorce, for example, even though no new party is involved.
Worse is the case where, following a death of a party to a license, the license passes into an estate, and the estate executor must be investigated and licensed, then when the estate closes, the investigations and amending process is triggered once more as heirs assume ownership of the licence.
The GAC at its November meeting had requested an analysis from the division regarding how the amendment process could be streamlined, especially in the case of death or divorce.
Huntington reported the requirements can also help the division determine who are the heirs (and ultimately licensees), noting that often inheritances are complex and in dispute.
"The key," Huntington said, "is to get timely notice so the amended application can be expedited." Too often, he said, the division only learns of the death and need to amend the license when it is time for the license to be renewed. Perhaps better estate planning could be the answer, he suggested.
Carson allowed that it may be more a question of education regarding the process. Perhaps a bulleted guide relating "things to do and not do" might be helpful, he said.
Staples agreed that good estate planning would minimize the amendment process, "but there is still that process," he said. "If someone leaves the license, why does the surviving licensee have to be re-investigated and go through the same process as though they were new to the license?" he asked.
Huntington said, "But dealing with corporations is more complicated. We need to be notified how the estate is going to be handled."
No resolution was reached and no recommended rule changes were adopted.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, May, 2008, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.