The Friendly Societies Act 1896 provides for two methods of combining the membership, the assets and the liabilities of separate registered friendly societies. Following the procedure of §70 (1) of the Act the societies may amalgamate as one society. For this, the written assent of five-sixths, in value, of the members of each society must be obtained; the value of the members is defined by giving one vote to every member, with an additional vote for each 5 years of membership up to 20 years.

Alternatively, under §70 (2) of the Act, one society may transfer its assets, engagements and liabilities to another. If this procedure is followed, the written assent of five-sixths, in value, of the members of the society transferring its engagements is necessary, but the society receiving those engagements can do so on the resolution of the Managing Committee alone, provided that the Committee has the requisite powers under the rules of the society. For this reason, if one of the societies is large or if it is difficult to contact the members, a transfer of the engagements of the smaller society to the larger is more practicable than an amalgamation.