HB 0907 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to funeral and cemetery services; amending
3	s. 497.005, F.S.; revising and providing definitions;
4	creating s. 497.306, F.S.; providing dimension and spacing
5	standards for grave spaces; requiring a map of reference
6	markers and a land survey for areas proposed to be
7	developed by a licensed cemetery company; exempting adult
8	grave spaces previously established; creating s. 497.307,
9	F.S.; providing requirements for identification of human
10	remains in licensed cemeteries; amending s. 497.405, F.S.;
11	prohibiting any person from advertising for sale or making
12	any arrangement for a preneed contract without having a
13	valid certificate of authority; expanding the exemption
14	from the required certificate of authority for certain
15	religious-institution-owned cemeteries to include the sale
16	and opening or closing of cremation interment containers
17	to members and family members of the religious
18	institution; amending s. 497.419, F.S.; requiring preneed
19	contracts to include in the refund notice the exclusion
20	for amounts allocable to burial rights, merchandise, and
21	services used by the purchaser; amending s. 497.436, F.S.;
22	authorizing the Board of Funeral and Cemetery Services to
23	review the trust funds, trust agreements, and outstanding
24	preneed contracts of, and perform other procedures at its
25	discretion with respect to, a certificateholder filing
26	notice to become inactive; providing an effective date.
27
28	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
29
30	Section 1. Section 497.005, Florida Statutes, is amended
31	to read:
32	497.005 Definitions.--As used in this chapter:
33	(1) "At-need solicitation" means any uninvited contact by
34	a licensee or her or his agent for the purpose of the sale of
35	burial services or merchandise to the family or next of kin of a
36	person after her or his death has occurred.
37	(2) "Bank of belowground crypts" means any construction
38	unit of belowground crypts which is acceptable to the department
39	and which a cemetery uses to initiate its belowground crypt
40	program or to add to existing belowground crypt structures.
41	(3) "Belowground crypts" consist of interment space in
42	preplaced chambers, either side by side or multiple depth,
43	covered by earth and sod and known also as "lawn crypts,"
44	"westminsters," or "turf-top crypts."
45	(4) "Board" means the Board of Funeral and Cemetery
46	Services.
47	(5) "Burial merchandise," "funeral merchandise," or
48	"merchandise" means any personal property offered or sold by any
49	person for use in connection with the final disposition,
50	memorialization, interment, entombment, or inurnment of human
51	remains.
52	(6) "Burial right" means the right to use a grave space,
53	mausoleum, columbarium, ossuary, or scattering garden for the
54	interment, entombment, inurnment, or other disposition of human
55	remains.
56	(7) "Burial service," "funeral service," or "service"
57	means any service offered or provided by any person in
58	connection with the final disposition, memorialization,
59	interment, entombment, or inurnment of human remains.
60	(8) "Care and maintenance" means the perpetual process of
61	keeping a cemetery and its lots, graves, grounds, landscaping,
62	roads, paths, parking lots, fences, mausoleums, columbaria,
63	vaults, crypts, utilities, and other improvements, structures,
64	and embellishments in a well-cared-for and dignified condition,
65	so that the cemetery does not become a nuisance or place of
66	reproach and desolation in the community. As specified in the
67	rules of the board, "care and maintenance" may include, but is
68	not limited to, any or all of the following activities: mowing
69	the grass at reasonable intervals; raking and cleaning the grave
70	spaces and adjacent areas; pruning of shrubs and trees;
71	suppression of weeds and exotic flora; and maintenance, upkeep,
72	and repair of drains, water lines, roads, buildings, and other
73	improvements. "Care and maintenance" may include, but is not
74	limited to, reasonable overhead expenses necessary for such
75	purposes, including maintenance of machinery, tools, and
76	equipment used for such purposes. "Care and maintenance" may
77	also include repair or restoration of improvements necessary or
78	desirable as a result of wear, deterioration, accident, damage,
79	or destruction. "Care and maintenance" does not include expenses
80	for the construction and development of new grave spaces or
81	interment structures to be sold to the public.
82	(9) "Casket" means a rigid container which is designed for
83	the encasement of human remains,andwhich is usually
84	constructed of wood or metal, ornamented, and lined with fabric,
85	and which may or may not be combustible.
86	(10) "Cemetery" means a place dedicated to and used or
87	intended to be used for the permanent interment of human
88	remains. A cemetery may contain land or earth interment;
89	mausoleum, vault, or crypt interment; a columbarium, ossuary,
90	scattering garden, or other structure or place used or intended
91	to be used for the interment or disposition of cremated human
92	remains; or any combination of one or more of such structures or
93	places.
94	(11) "Cemetery company" means any legal entity that owns
95	or controls cemetery lands or property.
96	(12) "Certificateholder" or "licensee" means the person or
97	entity that is authorized under this chapter to sell preneed
98	funeral or burial services, preneed funeral or burial
99	merchandise, or burial rights. Each term shall include the
100	other, as applicable, as the context requires. For the purposes
101	of chapter 120, all certificateholders, licensees, and
102	registrants shall be considered licensees.
103	(13) "Columbarium" means a structure or building which is
104	substantially exposed above the ground and which is intended to
105	be used for the inurnment of cremated human remains.
106	(14) "Common business enterprise" means a group of two or
107	more business entities that share common ownership in excess of
108	50 percent.
109	(15) "Cremation" includes any mechanical or thermal
110	process whereby a dead human body is reduced to ashes. Cremation
111	also includes any other mechanical or thermal process whereby
112	human remains are pulverized, burned, recremated, or otherwise
113	further reduced in size or quantity.
114	(16) "Department" means the Department of Banking and
115	Finance.
116	(17) "Direct disposer" means any person who is registered
117	in this state to practice direct disposition pursuant to the
118	provisions of chapter 470.
119	(18) "Final disposition" means the final disposal of a
120	dead human body whether by interment, entombment, burial at sea,
121	cremation, or any other means and includes, but is not limited
122	to, any other disposition of remains for which a segregated
123	charge is imposed.
124	(19) "Funeral director" means any person licensed in this
125	state to practice funeral directing pursuant to the provisions
126	of chapter 470.
127	(20) "Grave space" means a space of ground in a cemetery
128	intended to be used for the interment in the ground of human
129	remains.
130	(21) "Human remains" means the bodies of deceased persons
131	and includes bodies in any stage of decomposition and cremated
132	remains.
133	(22) "Mausoleum" means a structure or building which is
134	substantially exposed above the ground and which is intended to
135	be used for the entombment of human remains.
136	(23) "Mausoleum section" means any construction unit of a
137	mausoleum which is acceptable to the department and which a
138	cemetery uses to initiate its mausoleum program or to add to its
139	existing mausoleum structures.
140	(24) "Monument" means any product used for identifying a
141	grave site and cemetery memorials of all types, including
142	monuments, markers, and vases.
143	(25) "Monument establishment" means a facility that
144	operates independently of a cemetery or funeral establishment
145	and that offers to sell monuments or monument services to the
146	public for placement in a cemetery.
147	(26) "Net assets" means the amount by which the total
148	assets of a certificateholder, excluding goodwill, franchises,
149	customer lists, patents, trademarks, and receivables from or
150	advances to officers, directors, employees, salespersons, and
151	affiliated companies, exceed total liabilities of the
152	certificateholder. For purposes of this definition, the term
153	"total liabilities" does not include the capital stock, paid-in
154	capital, or retained earnings of the certificateholder.
155	(27) "Net worth" means total assets minus total
156	liabilities pursuant to generally accepted accounting
157	principles.
158	(28) "Niche" means a compartment or cubicle for the
159	memorialization or permanent placement of an urn containing
160	cremated remains.
161	(29)(28)"Ossuary" means a receptacle used for the
162	communal placement of cremated human remains without benefit of
163	an urn or any other container in which remains will be
164	commingled with other cremated human remains and are
165	nonrecoverable. It may or may not include memorialization.
166	(30)(29)"Outer burial container" means an enclosure into
167	which a casket is placed and includes, but is not limited to,
168	vaults made of concrete, steel, fiberglass, or copper; sectional
169	concrete enclosures; crypts; and wooden enclosures.
170	(31)(30)"Preneed contract" means any arrangement or
171	method, of which the provider of funeral merchandise or services
172	has actual knowledge, whereby any person agrees to furnish
173	funeral merchandise or service in the future.
174	(32)(31)"Religious institution" means an organization
175	formed primarily for religious purposes which has qualified for
176	exemption from federal income tax as an exempt organization
177	under the provisions of s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
178	Code of 1986, as amended.
179	(33)(32)"Scattering garden" means a location set aside,
180	within a cemetery, which is used for the spreading or
181	broadcasting of cremated remains that have been removed from
182	their container and can be mixed with or placed on top of the
183	soil or ground cover or buried in an underground receptacle on a
184	commingled basis and that are nonrecoverable. It may or may not
185	include memorialization.
186	(34)(33)"Servicing agent" means any person acting as an
187	independent contractor whose fiduciary responsibility is to
188	assist both the trustee and certificateholder hereunder in
189	administrating their responsibilities pursuant to this chapter.
190	(35)(34)"Solicitation" means any communication which
191	directly or implicitly requests an immediate oral response from
192	the recipient.
193	(36)(35)"Statutory accounting" means generally accepted
194	accounting principles, except as modified by this chapter.
195	(37) "Urn" means a receptacle designed to permanently
196	encase cremated remains.
197	Section 2. Section 497.306, Florida Statutes, is created
198	to read:
199	497.306 Standards for grave spaces.--
200	(1) A standard adult grave space shall measure at least 42
201	inches in width and 96 inches in length, except for preinstalled
202	vaults in designated areas. For interments, except cremated
203	remains, the covering soil shall measure no less than 12 inches
204	from the top of the outer burial container, unless such level of
205	soil is not physically possible. In any interment, the family or
206	next of kin may waive the 12-inch coverage minimum.
207	(2)(a) Effective October 1, 2003, and prior to the sale of
208	grave spaces in any undeveloped areas of a licensed cemetery,
209	the cemetery company shall prepare a map documenting the
210	establishment of recoverable internal survey reference markers
211	installed by the cemetery company no more than 100 feet apart in
212	the areas planned for development. The internal reference
213	markers shall be established with reference to survey markers
214	that are no more than 200 feet apart which have been set by a
215	surveyor and mapper licensed under chapter 472 and documented in
216	a certified land survey. Both the map and the certified land
217	survey shall be maintained by the cemetery company and shall be
218	made available upon request to the department or members of the
219	public.
220	(b) The map of the area proposed to be developed shall
221	show:
222	1. The number of grave spaces available for sale.
223	2. The location of each grave space.
224	3. The number designation assigned to each grave space.
225	4. The dimensions of a standard adult grave space.
226	(3) Adult grave spaces established prior to October 1,
227	2003, are not required to meet the standards established under
228	this section for the dimensions or separation of grave spaces.
229	Section 3. Section 497.307, Florida Statutes, is created
230	to read:
231	497.307 Identification of human remains in licensed
232	cemeteries.--On and after October 1, 2003, human remains
233	interred, entombed, scattered, or otherwise placed for final
234	rest at licensed cemeteries shall be identified as follows:
235	(1) Each licensed cemetery shall place on the outer burial
236	container, cremation interment container, or other container, or
237	on the inside of a crypt or niche, a tag or a permanent
238	identifying marker containing the name of the decedent and the
239	date of death, if available. The materials and location of the
240	tag or marker shall be more specifically described by rule of
241	the board.
242	(2) Each licensed cemetery may rely entirely on the
243	identity stated on the burial transit permit or on the
244	identification supplied by a person licensed under chapter 470
245	to establish the identity of the dead human remains delivered by
246	such person for burial and shall not be liable for any
247	differences between the identity shown on the burial transit
248	permit or other identification and the actual identity of the
249	dead human remains delivered by such person and buried in the
250	cemetery.
251	Section 4. Subsections (1) and (4) of section 497.405,
252	Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
253	497.405 Certificate of authority required.--
254	(1)(a) No person, including any cemetery exempt under s.
255	497.003, may sell, advertise to sell, or make an arrangement for
256	a preneed contract without first having a valid certificate of
257	authority.
258	(b) No person, including any cemetery exempt under s.
259	497.003, may sell, advertise to sell, or make an arrangement for
260	services, merchandise, or burial rights on a preneed basis
261	unless such person is authorized pursuant to this chapter to
262	provide such services, merchandise, or burial rights on an at-
263	need basis.
264	(4) The provisions of this section do not apply to
265	religious-institution-owned cemeteries exempt under s.
266	497.003(1)(d), in counties with a population of at least 960,000
267	persons on July 1, 1996, with respect to the sale to the
268	religious institution's members and their families of interment
269	rights, mausoleums, crypts, cremation niches and cremation
270	interment containers, vaults, liners, urns, memorials, vases,
271	foundations, memorial bases, floral arrangements, monuments,
272	markers, engraving, and the opening and closing of interment
273	rights, mausoleums, crypts, and cremation niches and cremation
274	interment containers, if such cemeteries have engaged in the
275	sale of preneed contracts prior to October 1, 1993, and maintain
276	a positive net worth at the end of each fiscal year of the
277	cemetery.
278	Section 5. Subsection (4) of section 497.419, Florida
279	Statutes, is amended to read:
280	497.419 Cancellation of, or default on, preneed
281	contracts.--
282	(4) Each certificateholder shall provide in conspicuous type
283	in its contract that the contract purchaser may cancel the contract
284	and receive a full refund within 30 days afterofthe date of
285	execution of the contract, except for those amounts allocable to
286	any burial rights, merchandise, or services that have been used by
287	the purchaser. The failure to make such provision shall not impair
288	the contract purchaser's right to cancellation and refund as
289	provided in this section.
290	Section 6. Subsection (4) of section 497.436, Florida
291	Statutes, is amended to read:
292	497.436 Inactive and revoked certificateholders.--
293	(4) Upon receipt of the notice, in order to protect the
294	contract purchaser, the board may:
295	(a)shallReview the certificateholder's:
296	1.(a)Trust funds.
297	2.(b)Trust agreements.
298	3.(c)Evidence of all outstanding preneed contracts.
299	(b) Perform other procedures the board deems necessary.
300	Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.