Subject to additional definitions contained in subsequent provisions of this title which are applicable to specific chapters or other provisions of this title, the following words and phrases when used in this title shall have, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the meanings given to them in this section:
§ 301. Initial deposits by newly-organized cemetery companies.
§ 302. Initial deposits by existing cemetery companies.
§ 303. Periodic deposits.
§ 304. Registration and filing affidavit of compliance.
§ 305. Use of permanent lot care fund.
§ 306. Status and readjustment of permanent lot care fund.
§ 307. Investment and operation of fund.
§ 308. Accounts of qualified trustee.
§ 309. Incorporated cemetery company as qualified trustee.
§ 310. Penalties.
§ 311. Effect of chapter on articles of existing incorporated cemetery companies.
§ 312. Engaging in cemetery business in unauthorized manner.
(a) General rule.-No cemetery company shall establish a cemetery, or dispose or make sale of any lot therein, without first causing to be deposited with a qualified trustee a sum of not less than $25,000 as a permanent lot care fund.
(b) Exceptions.-The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to any bona fide church or religious congregation or any association created by any such bona fide church or religious congregation.
(a) General rule.-No cemetery company specified in subsections (b) or (c) of this section shall dispose or make any sale of any lot situated in the cemetery of such cemetery company, without first causing to be deposited with a qualified trustee a sum of not less than $50,000 as a permanent lot care fund.
(b) Unincorporated companies.-The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall apply to every unincorporated cemetery company:
(c) Incorporated companies.-The provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall apply to:
Every cemetery company shall set aside annually and deposit into a permanent lot care fund a sum equal to at least 15‰ of the gross amount of the funds arising from each of the following:
(a) Registration with State Real Estate Commission.-
(b) Affidavit of compliance.-Every cemetery company subject to the provisions of section 301 (relating to initial deposits by newly-organized cemetery companies) or section 302 (relating to initial deposits by existing cemetery companies) shall, before disposing of any lot in its cemetery, cause to be filed in the Department of State an affidavit signed by a member or officer of the cemetery company stating that it has complied with the applicable section of this title, to which affidavit shall be attached an acceptance by a qualified trustee, acknowledging its acceptance of the trusteeship. The affidavit shall contain such other information as the department may require.
The permanent lot care fund established by the deposits required by section 301 of this title (relating to initial deposits by newly-organized cemetery companies) through section 303 of this title (relating to periodic deposits) shall be used for the perpetual care, maintenance and preservation of the lots and grounds, and the repair and renewal of the buildings and property connected with and forming a part of the cemetery.
(a) Single fund.-The permanent lot care fund established by the deposits required by section 301 of this title (relating to initial deposits by newly-organized cemetery companies) through section 303 of this title (relating to periodic deposits) shall constitute a single fund with respect to any cemetery and nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to mean that two separate funds must be created.
(b) Readjustment of fund.-Whenever there shall be deposited in a permanent lot care fund pursuant to section 303 of this title (relating to periodic deposits) a sum equal to the amount of money required to be initially deposited therein pursuant to section 301 of this title (relating to initial deposits by existing cemetery companies) or section 302 of this title (relating to initial deposits by existing cemetery companies) and proof of such fact is submitted to the qualified trustee, it shall be the duty of the qualified trustee thereupon to pay over to the cemetery company the amount so initially deposited by it in the permanent lot care fund free and clear of the restrictions and limitations of this chapter.
The permanent lot care fund shall be invested by the qualified trustee in the manner authorized for fiduciaries by the Fiduciaries Investment Act of 1949, and the qualified trustee, if an institutional trustee, shall pay semi-annually the net income of the fund to the cemetery company for the purposes set forth in this chapter.
(a) Institutional trustee.-The qualified trustee, if an institutional trustee, shall file accounts in the court of common pleas of the county in which the cemetery, or any part thereof, is situate, which accounts shall be filed triennially and at such other times as the court may direct, and which accounts shall be audited, adjudicated and confirmed by the court upon such notice to the parties in interest as the court may determine.
(b) Cemetery company as trustee.-An incorporated cemetery company acting as a qualified trustee under section 309 (relating to incorporated cemetery company as qualified trustee) shall file:
(a) General rule.-Every incorporated cemetery company may act as qualified trustee of the permanent lot care fund required by this chapter and may be appointed the original trustee, or, when for any reason a vacancy may occur in a trusteeship, substituted or successor trustee, and as such may receive devises, or gifts, the principal of which is to be held, in trust, in perpetuity or for a lesser period of time, for the care, maintenance, preservation, ornamentation or benefit of its cemetery, or the cemetery lots therein, upon giving its own bond without surety. The directors of any such corporation are hereby made trustees of any such funds so deposited or received, and neither such funds nor the income derived therefrom shall be used by such trustees for any purpose other than the purpose for which they were deposited, devised, donated, or otherwise acquired. The directors of such corporation shall cause accurate accounts to be kept of such funds separate and apart from the other funds of the corporation. Any such corporation may combine and merge the principal of two or more such trust funds and any funds so set aside in an omnibus fund for the purposes of investment of the same.
(b) Transfers to institutional fiduciary.-Any incorporated cemetery company may, by appropriate action of its stockholders or members and board of directors and with the approval of the court of common pleas of the county in which the cemetery, or any part thereof, is situated, transfer any of such funds to one or more institutional trustees, and with like investment restrictions, such transfer to be either revocable, or absolute and irrevocable, and upon the transfer of any such funds, the incorporated cemetery company and its directors shall be relieved of all liability for the investment and reinvestment thereof.
Any officer of any incorporated cemetery company or any member of any unincorporated cemetery company conducting or maintaining a cemetery or knowingly permitting the same to be conducted or maintained in violation of the provisions of this chapter, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 or to undergo imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
(a) Statutory amendment.-The articles of incorporation or charters of all existing incorporated cemetery companies shall be deemed to be amended to the extent necessary to give effect to the provisions of this chapter and to conform thereto.
(b) Deletion of unnecessary matter.-An existing incorporated cemetery company may by proper corporate proceedings delete from its articles of incorporation all or any part of any regulatory restrictions or limitations within the scope of this chapter.
The State Real Estate Commission may investigate any cemetery company engaged in a business relating to cemetery lots, plots or mausoleum spaces, openings or foundations and fine the company up to $1,000 or suspend or revoke the registration of the company in accordance with the provisions of section 604 of the act of February 19, 1980 (P.L. 15, No. 9), known as the "Real Estate Licensing Act," if it is determined that the cemetery company has violated any of the provisions of that act, the act of August 14, 1963 (P.L. 1059, No. 459), relating to future need sales for death and interment, or this chapter. If it is determined that a cemetery is engaging in the business specified in this section without registering or while its registration is suspended, the criminal penalties provided for in section 303 of the "Real Estate Licensing Act" may be imposed.
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