With legislation introduced this past January, Illinois could join those states which expressly authorize cemetery fiduciaries to take the unitrust election and make fixed distributions to cemeteries. Senate Bill No. 3207 proposes to amend Illinois’ Cemetery Care Act to add provisions which would define ‘total return distribution’ and thereby allow care fund trusts to make
cemetery
Does Your Cemetery Need a Friend: Independent Maintenance Associations
Search the internet for “cemetery” and “friends of” and you will find a number of independent maintenance associations. We’re not referring to Facebook groups that organize volunteer events for an abandoned cemetery, but rather we want to highlight those formal organizations established to provide continuing financial assistance to an active cemetery.
As a cemetery nears…
Diversification, the Unitrust Election and the Power to Adjust: Reviving Cemetery Care Funds
We believe three fiduciary powers are crucial to reviving cemetery care funds: investment diversification, unitrust elections and the power to adjust. It has been more than 12 years since we first posted about the need to repair cemetery care funds (Cemetery Endowed Care Funds and the Fixed Income Investment). That post touched on…
Cemeteries and Lost Cause Monuments: Not a Solution to the Problem
In a recent Washington Post article, supporters of a Lost Cause monument unsuccessfully argued to have a Confederate statue moved from a county courthouse steps to a local cemetery. The article sets out some of the counter-challenge arguments we described in our prior post. But eventually the small community of Isle of Wright rejected…
Cemetery Regulations and the Lost Cause Monument: An Offensive Structure
If a racial justice challenge is made against a Lost Cause monument, the cemetery’s regulations typically vest authority in the cemetery to remove monuments deemed offensive. Through their rules and regulations, cemeteries reserve the authority to deem what is, or is not, offensive. The following were taken from cemetery websites found through a Google search…
Racial Justice and Your Cemetery: The Lost Cause Monument
Cemeteries that contain a Lost Cause monument are the most susceptible to a racial justice challenge. For purposes of our posts, a Lost Cause monument is a Confederate statue or obelisk erected between 1890 and 1920. As discussed in this attached article, Confederate memorial societies actively erected Lost Cause monuments during that period, with obelisks…
“Excluded” Cemeteries and Care Fund Distribution Options: Find Your Applicable State Laws
In our prior post, we recommended that the Evergreen Cemetery Association explore the Minnesota trust code provisions regarding the trustee’s power to adjust (501C.1112). This is something other “excluded” cemeteries should also consider. By excluded, we mean cemeteries owned by associations, churches, cities or counties that are typically excluded from regulation of…
Cemetery Preneed Pivot Priority: Lot Owners with a Funeral Preneed Contract
Almost thirty years ago, associations representing funeral homes, casket suppliers, vault makers, monument builders and life insurers joined together to form the Funeral and Memorialization Information Council (FAMIC). These industries were concerned about the future impact of cremation on the traditional funeral and burial. FAMIC used Wirthlin Worldwide to conduct research studies every…
Cemetery Revenues: It’s Time to Pivot
For revenues, most cemeteries are dependent upon grave sales, opening/closing services, and care fund distributions. These revenue sources have been on the decline for a decade. As cremation trends up, fewer families are purchasing burial lots. Those families that already own burial lots frequently don’t use them. COVID induced financial difficulties will only accelerate the…
Missouri’s Religious Cemeteries: a Preneed No Man’s Land
As suggested in our prior Cemetery Preneed Exemption post, Missouri’s endowed care cemetery law (Chapter 214.270 et seq) has a huge flaw when it comes to religious cemeteries: they are either all in or all out. Religious cemeteries often have good cause for seeking exemption from state endowed care laws. Our religious cemetery clients…