Cemeteries

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In our third post on Missouri’s endowed care cemetery audits we look at the request for the cemetery’s legal documents.  The current audit notice  requests copies of the cemetery’s trust agreement, rules and regulations, contract forms, deed forms, brochures and any other materials making an endowed care representation.  In essence, the audit is going to…

Our previous post discussed care fund audits and the tracking of a cemetery’s property sales and care fund liability.  The next step of the audit process is following the money to the care fund trust (and the back from the trust to the cemetery).  For these purposes, the Missouri audit notice requests trust statements from…

A Google search of “state funeral association master trust” will return hyperlinks to dozens of state funeral director associations.  In the 1970’s, funeral associations began establishing master preneed trusts as an alternative to passbook savings accounts.  As preneed gained acceptance with funeral directors, the associations saw the opportunity to provide administration and create a revenue…

It has been three years since we last posted about those states that have passed laws allowing cemetery trusts to take a unitrust election.  Since then, Arizona, California and Indiana have joined the list.  The movement towards fixed care fund distributions has not caught on as quickly as some thought when the concept was introduced…

In contrast to Missouri’s Chapter 214, most states’ cemetery laws do not exempt all cemetery associations from care fund requirements.  We do find that some states exempt small non-profit cemeteries (typically based on acreage).  Some states limit non-profit cemetery exemptions to grandfathered situations (a cemetery established prior to 1940).  These small cemetery associations are more…

When Missouri’s endowed care law was passed in 1994, all cemeteries were required to register with the Office of Endowed Care Cemeteries.  Cemeteries can seek licensing as either an endowed care cemetery or a non-endowed cemetery, or the cemetery could claim it was exempt from Chapter 214 pursuant to the definition of “Cemetery” pursuant to…

A funeral home’s best efforts to comply with COVID-19 restrictions can be undermined when the body is delivered to the grave for burial.   While the funeral director has the authority to restrict attendance of a funeral service within his/her facilities, most funeral directors are powerless to restrict attendance at the gravesite.  When family and friends…

Missouri law, like most states’, restricts cemeteries to being either exclusively for human burials or for animal burials.   Accordingly, it has been illegal for Missouri cemeteries to honor a lot owner’s request to be buried with a pet.  However, legislation has been introduced that would authorize Missouri cemeteries for the burial of both humans and…