Code of Alabama - Title 27: Insurance - Chapter 17A - Preneed Funeral and Cemetery Act
- Article 1 General Provisions.
- Article 2 Certificate of Authority.
- Section 27-17A-10 Certificate required
(a) No person may sell a preneed contract without first having a valid certificate of authority. (b)(1) No person may receive any funds for payment...
- Section 27-17A-11 Application for certificate; statements; issuance; expiration; transfer
(a) An application to the commissioner for a certificate of authority shall be accompanied by the statement and other matters described in this section in...
- Section 27-17A-11.1 Report of preneed contract activity; written logs
(a) On a semi-annual basis, within 45 days after the end of each second calendar reporting period, the certificate holder shall file a report of...
- Section 27-17A-12 Preneed contract forms; disclosure; approval
(a) Preneed contract forms and related forms shall be filed with and approved by the commissioner. (b) Specific disclosure regarding whether, consistent with the requirements...
- Section 27-17A-13 Monies to be placed in trust; compliance by pre-existing preneed contracts
(a) Except as provided in Sections 27-17A-3 and 27-17A-14, every preneed contract shall require the monies paid to the seller or trustee to be placed...
- Section 27-17A-14 Surety bond
(a) As an alternative to the trust requirement of Section 27-17A-13, the details of which are set forth in Articles 3 and 4, a preneed...
- Section 27-17A-15 Examination by commissioner
(a) The commissioner shall, as often as he or she may deem necessary, examine the business of any person writing preneed contracts under this chapter...
- Section 27-17A-16 Inactive certificate holder; surrender of license
(a) A certificate holder shall be considered inactive upon the acceptance of the surrender of its license by the commissioner or upon the nonreceipt by...
- Section 27-17A-17 Dissolution or liquidation of certificate holder
(a) Any dissolution or liquidation of a certificate holder shall be deemed to be the liquidation of an insurance company and shall be conducted under...
- Section 27-17A-18 Preneed sales agent
(a) All individuals who offer preneed contracts to the public, or who execute preneed contracts on behalf of a certificate holder, shall be registered with...
- Section 27-17A-19 Prohibited activities
No person shall engage in this state in any trade practice which is addressed in the Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act (Section 8-19-1 et seq.),...
- Section 27-17A-20 Hearing; procedures; penalties
(a) Whenever the commissioner has reason to believe that any person has engaged, or is engaging, in this state in any unfair method of competition...
- Section 27-17A-21 Fine in lieu of suspension or revocation of certificate
(a) If the commissioner finds that one or more grounds exist for the discretionary suspension or revocation of a certificate of authority issued under this...
- Section 27-17A-22 Violations and penalties
(a)(1) A person who knowingly receives payments for a preneed contract without having a valid certificate of authority: a. Commits a Class B felony, punishable...
- Section 27-17A-23 Civil actions; liability
The commissioner, the Attorney General, or any person may bring a civil action against a person or company violating this chapter in the appropriate court...
- Section 27-17A-24 Construction of chapter
The provisions of this chapter are cumulative to rights under the general civil and common law, and no action of the commissioner may abrogate the...
- Section 27-17A-25 Disposition of funds
(a) All fees collected by the commissioner pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited into the State Treasury to the credit of the Insurance Department...
- Article 3 Funeral Merchandise and Services Trust Fund.
- Article 4 Cemetery Merchandise and Services Trust Fund.
- Section 27-17A-40 Applicability of article
To comply with the trust requirement of subsection (a) of Section 27-17A-13, all certificate holders who are cemetery authorities providing preneed contracts for cemetery services...
- Section 27-17A-41 Trust fund; trustee; interests of purchaser; seller
(a) Any person who receives or collects any funds on account of a preneed contract in this state for cemetery services or cemetery merchandise, or...
- Section 27-17A-42 Trust contributions; trustee responsibilities; withdrawals; analysis and certification by seller
(a) The obligation of the seller under a preneed contract shall be to make contributions into the Cemetery Merchandise and Services Trust Fund in accordance...
- Section 27-17A-43 Cancellation of contract; withdrawal from trust fund
(a) Upon cancellation of a preneed contract by mutual agreement between the seller and purchaser, or upon unilateral cancellation of a preneed contract by the...
- Section 27-17A-44 Rights of seller
If the amounts paid by the purchaser under a preneed contract for cemetery merchandise have previously been deposited in trust, the seller may withdraw the...
- Section 27-17A-45 Endowment care fund
An endowment care fund and all payments or contributions to it are expressly permitted as and for charitable and eleemosynary purposes. No payment, gift, grant,...
- Section 27-17A-46 Endowment care cemeteries
Any cemetery now existing or hereafter established, excluding those operated by governmental agencies or religious institutions, shall be an endowment care cemetery, except those which...
- Section 27-17A-47 Establishment and management of endowment care fund
(a) Every cemetery authority operating an endowment care cemetery shall establish an endowment care fund which shall be placed with and held by a bank,...
- Section 27-17A-48 Maintenance of records
(a) Each cemetery authority shall maintain at each place of business a list of the names and addresses of its owners and directors, which shall...
- Section 27-17A-49 Endowment care fund deposits; qualification as endowment care cemetery
(a) From the sale price of each plot, crypt, or niche sold by the cemetery authority, of an endowment care cemetery, it shall pay an...
- Section 27-17A-50 Financial interest in asset or business in which endowment care trust invests, etc.; disposition of funds
(a) No cemetery authority may directly or indirectly require or direct the investment, reinvestment, or retention by a qualified trustee of any part of an...
- Section 27-17A-51 Propriety of expenditures; income payments to cemetery authority
The trustee shall not be required to inquire into the propriety of the expenditures made by the cemetery authority in connection with endowment care of...
- Section 27-17A-52 Disclosure of activities and statement of investments
The trustee shall, not less than annually, file with the cemetery authority an account which shall include a complete disclosure of all activity since the...
- Section 27-17A-53 Disposal of assets or investments
To the extent that any endowment care trust existing on May 1, 2002, includes investments or assets, the retention of which the trustee in the...
- Section 27-17A-54 Annual report
An annual report of the endowment care fund shall be made to the commissioner by each cemetery authority within 90 days of the close of...
- Section 27-17A-55 Construction of mausoleum, etc
A cemetery authority shall start construction of that section of a mausoleum or bank of below-ground crypts in which sales, contracts for sale, reservations for...
- Section 27-17A-56 Rules and regulations
(a) Cemetery rules and regulations are adopted for the mutual protection of the cemetery owners and the owners of interment rights in the cemetery. All...
- Section 27-17A-57 Jurisdiction of commissioner
The commissioner shall have the same jurisdiction over funeral establishments, funeral directors, cemetery authorities, or third party sellers who sell preneed contracts without a preneed...
Last modified: May 3, 2021