2003 Senate Bill 512 ↩

House Roll Call 43: Passed

To expand the scope of a law which regulates the sale of pre-need funeral and burial contracts sold by funeral homes to cover the same product when sold by cemeteries. The funeral home law currently requires payments on the contracts to be placed in a trust fund, and 90 percent of the amount to be returned to the customer if he or she changes their mind. Certain pre-need contracts with cemeteries are covered by different regulations which are less stringent. The bill would impose more stringent regulations on cemetery pre-need contracts. It requires that 80 percent of the amount paid for a cemetery merchandise contract be held in escrow, and escrow amounts of 100 percent for funeral merchandise, funeral services, and cemetery services. The bill would require 100 percent refunds plus a cost-of-living increase for certain items covered in the contracts, but not others.