CHAPTER 48. CEMETERY PERPETUAL CARE FUND
IC 23-14-48
Chapter 48. Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund
IC 23-14-48-1
Application of chapter
Sec. 1. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), this chapter doesnot apply to:
(1) a cemetery owned by a municipal corporation or othergovernmental unit;
(2) a religious cemetery; or
(3) a cemetery:
(A) that is ten (10) acres or less in size;
(B) that is owned and operated entirely and exclusively bya nonprofit mutual association in existence on June 14,1939; and
(C) in which burials have taken place before June 14, 1939.
(b) If a cemetery described in subsection (a)(3) directly orindirectly:
(1) constructs or permits to be constructed any structure, aboveor below ground, and offers interment rights in the structure forsale to the general public; or
(2) acquires:
(A) additional land; or
(B) an interest in additional land;
causing the cemetery to exceed ten (10) acres in size;
this chapter applies to the whole of the cemetery.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.22.
IC 23-14-48-2
Duties of owner
Sec. 2. (a) The owner of each cemetery shall provide for thecreation and establishment of an irrevocable perpetual care fund.
(b) The principal of a perpetual care fund established under thissection shall permanently remain intact, except as provided in thischapter. The principal shall be known as the "perpetual care fund" or"endowment care fund" of the cemetery.
(c) Fifty percent (50%) of any appreciation of the principal of thefund may be withdrawn annually not more than forty-five (45) daysafter the end of the fund's fiscal year.
(d) Any income earned by the fund during the fiscal year may bewithdrawn quarterly during the fund's fiscal year.
(e) The income from a fund established under this section and anywithdrawal of the appreciation of the principal under subsection (c)shall be devoted to the perpetual care of the cemetery.
(f) The fund established by this chapter is not subject toattachment by a creditor unless the underlying debt was incurred forthe perpetual care or endowment care (as defined in IC 23-14-33-30)of the cemetery for which the fund was established.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.22. Amended by P.L.66-1999, SEC.1.
IC 23-14-48-3
Establishment; payment; fund segregated
Sec. 3. (a) A perpetual care fund shall be established under thischapter as follows:
(1) In the case of a cemetery for earth burials, by the applicationand payment to the perpetual care fund of an amount at leastequal to:
(A) fifteen percent (15%) of the sale price; or
(B) eighty cents ($0.80) per square foot of area;
of each burial plot sold or transferred, whichever is greater.
(2) In the case of a community or public mausoleum, orcommunity or public garden crypt, by the application andpayment to the perpetual care fund of an amount at least equalto:
(A) eight percent (8%) of the sale price; or
(B) one hundred dollars ($100) per crypt sold or transferred;
whichever is greater.
(3) In the case of a community columbarium, by the applicationand payment to the perpetual care fund of an amount at leastequal to twenty dollars ($20) per niche sold or transferred.
(b) From the sale price, any payment on the sale price, or in anonmonetary transfer, the owner shall pay an amount in proportionto the requirements of subsection (a)(1) through (a)(3) to the carefund. The payment must be in cash and shall be deposited with thetrustee of the fund:
(1) not more than thirty (30) days after the end of the month inwhich payments on the sale are received; or
(2) not more than thirty (30) days after the end of the month inwhich there was a transfer which did not involve a sale.
(c) The payments required by this section are required to be paidonly on the original sale or transfer and not again for any subsequentresale or transfer of the same ground interment rights, crypt, or niche.
(d) The trustee of a fund established under this chapter must keepthe fund segregated from any other fund or account belonging to theowner of the cemetery.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.22. Amended by P.L.66-1999, SEC.2;P.L.65-2007, SEC.1; P.L.61-2008, SEC.1.
IC 23-14-48-4
Duties of cemetery organized after March 6, 1953, and before July1, 1997
Sec. 4. (a) In addition to meeting the requirements of sections 1through 3 of this chapter, a cemetery that:
(1) is organized after March 6, 1953, and before July 1, 1997,by incorporation, association, individually, or any other means;or
(2) has its first burial after March 6, 1953, and before July 1,1997;
shall, before disposing of a burial lot or right, making a sale of aburial lot or right, or making its first burial, cause to be deposited in
a financial institution the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars($25,000) in cash in the perpetual care fund or endowment care fundestablished under this chapter for the maintenance of the cemetery.
(b) The cemetery owner shall designate the financial institution astrustee of the fund. The financial institution must execute an affidavitstating that it has accepted the trusteeship of the fund and that thetwenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) has been deposited in thefund. The cemetery shall:
(1) exhibit the affidavit in the principal office of the cemetery;
(2) keep the affidavit available at all times for examination; and
(3) record the affidavit in the miscellaneous records in theoffice of the recorder in the county in which the cemetery islocated.
(c) When the cemetery has deposited in the perpetual care fund orendowment care fund, as required by this section, fifty thousanddollars ($50,000):
(1) the cemetery shall submit proof of this fact to its trustee; and
(2) the trustee shall pay over to the cemetery the amount oftwenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) that the cemeterydeposited in the fund under subsection (a).
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.22. Amended by P.L.66-1999, SEC.3;P.L.3-2008, SEC.168.
IC 23-14-48-5
Duties of cemetery organized after June 30, 1997
Sec. 5. (a) In addition to meeting the requirements of sections 1through 3 of this chapter, a cemetery that:
(1) is organized after June 30, 1997, by incorporation, or anyother means; or
(2) has its first burial, entombment, or inurnment after June 30,1997;
shall, before disposing of a burial lot or right, making a sale of aburial lot or right, or making its first burial, entombment, orinurnment cause to be deposited in a financial institution onehundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in cash in the perpetual carefund or endowment care fund established under this chapter for themaintenance of the cemetery.
(b) The cemetery owner shall designate the financial institution astrustee of the fund. The financial institution must execute an affidavitstating that it has accepted the trusteeship of the fund and that theone hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) has been deposited in thefund. The cemetery shall:
(1) exhibit the affidavit in the principal office of the cemetery;
(2) keep the affidavit available at all times for examination; and
(3) record the affidavit in the miscellaneous records in theoffice of the recorder of the county in which the cemetery islocated.
(c) When the cemetery has deposited in the perpetual care fund orendowment care fund, as required by this section, two hundredthousand dollars ($200,000): (1) the cemetery shall submit proof of this fact to its trustee; and
(2) the trustee shall pay over to the cemetery one hundredthousand dollars ($100,000) that the cemetery deposited in thefund under subsection (a).
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.22. Amended by P.L.66-1999, SEC.4;P.L.3-2008, SEC.169.
IC 23-14-48-6
Increases
Sec. 6. A perpetual care or endowment care fund may beincreased by adding to the fund surplus money or property that thecemetery receives by will, deed, gift, or otherwise.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.22.
IC 23-14-48-7
Accounting and report; audit
Sec. 7. (a) Not more than ninety (90) days after the end of thefiscal year of a cemetery to which this chapter applies, the custodianor trustee of the perpetual care fund of the cemetery shall prepare andfile with the owner of the cemetery a detailed accounting and reportof the perpetual care fund for the preceding fiscal year. The report:
(1) must include, among other things, a properly itemized listingof the securities in which the funds are invested; and
(2) shall be available for inspection and copying at all times byany owner of or holder of a burial right in the cemetery at theusual place at which the regular business of the cemetery istransacted.
(b) Not more than one hundred five (105) days after the end of thefiscal year of a cemetery to which this chapter applies, the trustee ofthe perpetual care fund of the cemetery shall file the report requiredunder subsection (a) with the state board of funeral and cemeteryservice.
(c) The state board of funeral and cemetery service may audit ororder an audit of the perpetual care fund of a cemetery if the stateboard of funeral and cemetery service determines that the trustee ofthe perpetual care fund is not complying with the requirements setforth in subsections (a) and (b). The cemetery that is the subject ofthe audit shall pay all costs associated with the audit.
(d) The owner of a cemetery shall maintain a report required bythis section for the longer of:
(1) ten (10) years; or
(2) three (3) years after the date the owner sells or otherwisetransfers the cemetery.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.22. Amended by P.L.65-2007, SEC.2;P.L.61-2008, SEC.2.
IC 23-14-48-8
Separate and distinct cemeteries
Sec. 8. Each geographic location used as a cemetery constitutesa separate and distinct cemetery for the purpose of this chapter.As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.22.
IC 23-14-48-9
Violation of chapter
Sec. 9. (a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c), a personwho knowingly violates this chapter commits a Class Amisdemeanor.
(b) A person who makes a false or fraudulent representation as tothe existence, amount, investment, control, or condition of aperpetual care fund of a cemetery for the purpose of inducing anotherto purchase any burial right commits a Class C infraction.
(c) A person who knowingly or intentionally uses funds in aperpetual care fund or an endowment care fund established under thischapter for purposes other than the perpetual care of the cemetery forwhich the perpetual care fund or endowment fund was establishedcommits a Class C felony.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.22. Amended by P.L.113-2007,SEC.4.
IC 23-14-48-10
Formation of association for management, care, and supervision ofcemetery
Sec. 10. (a) This section applies to a corporation that:
(1) is organized under Indiana law for the purpose ofestablishing and maintaining a cemetery; or
(2) is organized for another purpose but has established andmaintains a cemetery.
(b) If:
(1) a corporation described in subsection (a) has not provideda general perpetual care fund after having sold all of the lots ina cemetery; and
(2) at least twenty-five (25) owners of lots in the cemetery ornext of kin of owners of lots in the cemetery:
(A) form an association for the purpose of taking over themanagement, care, and general supervision of the cemetery;and
(B) sign and submit to the corporation a petition seekingauthority for the management, care, and general supervisionof the cemetery;
the corporation shall turn over to the association the completeauthority for the management, care, and supervision of the cemetery.
(c) An association to which subsection (b) applies shall assume allresponsibility and liability for the proper care and management of thecemetery, subject to the following:
(1) If a cemetery has been under the control of a certainreligious denomination, sect, or creed that has observed certainreligious customs or rules with reference to the burying of thedead in the cemetery, the association shall observe thosereligious customs or rules.
(2) The transfer of authority under this section does not affect
the reversion of the title to the lands occupied by the cemeteryif the land ever ceases to be used as a cemetery or burial placefor the dead.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.22.