1507. Trust funds.(a) Maintenance and preservation; permanent maintenance fund; current maintenance fund. Subject to rules and regulations of the cemetery board: (1) Every cemetery corporation shall maintain and preserve the cemetery, including all lots, plots and parts thereof. For the sole purpose of such maintenance and preservation, every cemetery corporation shall establish and maintain (A) a permanent maintenance fund, and (B) a current maintenance fund. At the time of making the sale of a lot, plot or part thereof, the cemetery corporation shall deposit not less than ten per centum of the gross proceeds of the sale into the permanent maintenance fund. An additional fifteen per centum of the gross proceeds of the sale shall be deposited in the current maintenance fund. In addition to the foregoing, at the time the cemetery corporation receives payment for the performance of an interment or inurnment, the cemetery corporation shall collect and deposit into the permanent maintenance fund the sum of thirty-five dollars. (2) The permanent maintenance fund is hereby declared to be and shall be held by the corporation as a trust fund, for the purpose of maintaining and preserving the cemetery, including all lots, crypts, niches, plots, and parts thereof. The principal of such fund shall be invested in such securities as are permitted for the investment of trust funds by section 11-2.3 of the estates, powers and trusts law. The income in the form of interest and ordinary dividends therefrom shall be used solely for the maintenance and preservation of the cemetery grounds. In addition, the governing board of the corporation may appropriate for expenditure solely for the maintenance and preservation of the cemetery grounds a portion of the net appreciation, in the fair market value of the principal of the trust, as is prudent under the standard established by article five-A of this chapter, the prudent management of institutional funds act. In the event that a cemetery corporation seeks to appropriate any percentage of its net appreciation in its permanent maintenance fund in accordance with this subparagraph, the cemetery corporation shall provide notice of such proposed appropriation by certified mail to the cemetery board not less than sixty days in advance of such proposed appropriation and shall disclose such appropriation as part of and in addition to their annual reporting requirements as defined in section fifteen hundred eight of this article, setting forth the amount of funds to be appropriated for such expenditure and its effect on the permanent maintenance fund. Such proposed appropriation shall become effective sixty days after receipt of such notice, unless the cemetery board within such sixty-day period notifies the cemetery corporation that the board objects to the proposed appropriation. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subparagraph, all principal of the permanent maintenance fund shall remain inviolate, except that, upon application to the supreme court in a district where a portion of the cemetery grounds is located, the court may make an order permitting the principal or a part thereof to be used for the purpose of current maintenance and preservation of the cemetery or otherwise. Such application may be made by the cemetery board on notice to the corporation or by the corporation on notice to the cemetery board. Unless the cemetery can clearly demonstrate that it lacks sufficient future revenue to make repayment, any such allowance from the permanent maintenance fund shall be in the form of a loan, and the court shall determine the method for repayment of such a loan by the cemetery to the fund. (3) The current maintenance fund shall be used and applied for the sole purpose of ordinary and necessary expenses of the care and maintenance of the cemetery. When all burial rights in the cemetery have been conveyed, the fund remaining on deposit or to the credit of the current maintenance fund shall be transferred into the permanent maintenance fund. (4) The percentage of the proceeds of sales required to be deposited in the permanent maintenance fund or current maintenance fund by a particular cemetery corporation may be increased or diminished by order of the supreme court in a district where any portion of the cemetery is located. Such application may be made by the cemetery board on notice to the corporation or by the corporation on notice to the cemetery board.
(b) Perpetual care of lots. (1) Upon the application of a prospective purchaser of any lot, plot or part thereof and upon payment of the purchase price and the amount fixed as a reasonable charge for the perpetual care of any lot, plot or part thereof, every cemetery corporation shall include with the deed of conveyance an agreement perpetually to care for such lot, plot, or part thereof, to the extent that the income derived by the corporation from such amount will permit. (2) Such corporation also, upon the application of an owner or of the executor or administrator of a deceased owner of any lot and upon the payment of the amount fixed as a reasonable charge for the perpetual care of such lot, shall, and upon the application of any other person and the payment of such amount, may enter into a like agreement with him. Such agreement shall be executed and may be recorded in the same manner as a deed. (3) Any corporation organized under or subject to the provisions of this section may enter into an agreement in writing with any executor or executors, trustee or trustees, under a last will and testament to whom there has heretofore been, or may hereafter be, bequeathed a sum for the perpetual care of any lot, plot or part thereof in any such cemetery or with any administrator or administrators with the will annexed under any such will perpetually to care for such lot, plot or part thereof under the provisions of the terms of such last will and testament, and subject in all cases to the approval of the surrogate's court having jurisdiction over such trust estate. Such approval may be evidenced by the written endorsement of the surrogate on a duplicate original of such agreement filed in the surrogate's court. In case the surrogate shall approve such agreement any such executor, trustee or administrator with the will annexed thereupon shall pay over to the treasurer of such perpetual care fund of such cemetery corporation any moneys remaining or being in his hands belonging to such trust, and upon making such payment and accounting therefore to the surrogate's court may be discharged from said trust as such executor, trustee or administrator with the will annexed.
(c) Perpetual care fund. (1) Every cemetery corporation and every religious corporation having charge and control of a cemetery which heretofore has been or which hereafter may be used for burials, shall keep separate and apart from its other funds, all moneys and property received by it, whether by contract, in trust or otherwise, for the perpetual care and maintenance of any lot, plot or part thereof in its cemetery, and all such moneys or property so received by any such corporation are hereby declared to be, and shall be held by the corporation as trust funds. Any moneys and property so received, unless otherwise provided in the instrument under which such moneys or property were received, shall be kept in a separate fund to be known as the perpetual care fund. (2) The principal of such funds, whether kept in the perpetual care fund or otherwise, and unless already so invested when received, shall be invested within a reasonable time after receipt thereof, and kept invested, in such securities as are permitted for the investment of trust funds by sections 11-2.2 and 11-2.3 of the estates, powers and trusts law. The income arising therefrom shall be used solely for the perpetual care and maintenance of the lot or plots or parts thereof for which such income has been provided. In addition, the governing board of the corporation may appropriate for expenditure solely for the perpetual care and maintenance of the lot or plots or parts thereof for which such income has been provided, a portion of the net appreciation in the fair market value of the principal of the trust as is prudent under the standard established by article five-A of this chapter, the prudent management of institutional funds act. In the event that a cemetery corporation seeks to appropriate any percentage of its net appreciation in its perpetual care fund in accordance with this subparagraph, the cemetery corporation shall provide notice of such appropriation to the cemetery board not less than sixty days in advance of such proposed appropriation and shall disclose such appropriation as part of and in addition to their annual reporting requirements as defined in section fifteen hundred eight of this article setting forth the amount of funds appropriated for such expenditure and its effect on the perpetual care funds. Such proposed appropriation shall become effective sixty days after receipt of such notice, unless the cemetery board within such sixty day period notifies the cemetery corporation that the board objects to the proposed appropriation. (3) The corporation may, for the purpose of investing and reinvesting such funds, add the same to any similar trust fund or funds and apportion shares or interest to each trust fund, showing upon its records at all times every share or interest. (4) The corporation may accept in trust for the perpetual care of a lot, plot or part thereof in its cemetery, property not made eligible for the investment of trust funds under the foregoing provisions of this subdivision and may retain such property in the form in which received, separate and apart from the perpetual care fund, if directed so to do by the instrument under which such property is received, so long as such property remains in the form in which it was received; but whenever such property is sold or otherwise disposed of, the proceeds of such sale or other disposition shall be invested in the manner heretofore provided in this subdivision for the investment of trust funds. The exchange of stock or evidences of indebtedness issued by a corporation for stock or evidences of indebtedness of the same corporation, or for stock, evidences of indebtedness, warrants or script received as a result of merger, consolidation or reorganization of such corporation, or the receipt of additional stock or evidences of indebtedness of such corporation, as a distribution by such corporation, shall not be deemed to be a disposition of the property originally received in trust, and such exchanged or additional property may be retained in place and stead of the property originally received, and under the same conditions. The corporation shall keep accurate accounts of all funds for the perpetual care and maintenance of cemetery lots, plots or parts thereof, separate and apart from its other funds. A copy of the record pertaining to each such perpetual care fund shall be at all times available at the office of the corporation during usual business hours, for inspection and copy by any owner of an endowed lot or his representative.
(d) Perpetual care fund; allocation of income and cost of care and maintenance. On or before the fifteenth day of March in each calendar year the officers of every cemetery corporation shall fix and determine that portion of the income on the investment of the principal of the perpetual care fund during the calendar or fiscal year immediately preceding, to be apportioned to each separate lot or part thereof for which a perpetual care agreement has been made. The cost during such previous calendar or fiscal year of the care of each lot or part thereof shall be allocated and charged against the income so apportioned to it. Any excess of the income so apportioned over and above the allocated cost of the care and maintenance of such lot or part thereof shall be credited to such lot or part thereof, to be used in any future years to make up the deficiency if the income apportioned to such lot or part thereof should, in any year since September first, nineteen hundred forty-nine, or in any future year, fall, or have fallen, below the cost of care thereof.
(e) Designation of fiduciary corporation by directors or trustees of cemetery corporation to act as custodians of funds. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the directors or trustees of cemetery corporations are hereby authorized to designate a bank or trust company to act as custodian and trustee of any or all of the respective funds of such cemetery corporation received by it for the perpetual care of lots in the cemetery thereof pursuant to paragraph (b), of this section, the permanent maintenance of such cemetery pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, and for special purposes pursuant to paragraph (f) of this section. Such corporate trustee shall be designated by a resolution duly adopted by the board of directors or trustees and approved by a justice of the supreme court of the judicial district in which the cemetery of said corporation is located or the cemetery board; and the directors or trustees of such cemetery corporation may, with the approval of the justice of the supreme court, revoke such trust, and either take over such trust fund or name another trustee to handle the same, but if not so revoked, such trust shall be perpetual. Any bank or trust company accepting any such cemetery fund shall keep the same separate from all other funds, except that it may, irrespective of any provision contained in this article invest the same in a legal common trust fund or in shares of a mutual trust investment company organized under the banking law, and shall pay over the net income to the directors or trustees of the cemetery corporation by whom it shall be expended and applied to the purpose for which such trust fund was paid to the cemetery corporations and accounted for in accordance with such paragraphs (a), (b) and (f) of this section.
(e-1) Monument maintenance fund. (1) A cemetery corporation may, subject to the approval of the cemetery board, establish and maintain a monument maintenance fund. Such a fund is hereby declared to be and shall be held by the cemetery corporation as a trust fund, for the purpose of providing notice if such monuments are damaged or defaced by an act of vandalism and for the restoration of such monuments. Two or more cemetery corporations may establish a joint monument maintenance fund.
(2) The principal of the fund shall be invested in securities permitted for the investment of trust funds by sections 11-2.2 and 11-2.3 of the estates, powers and trusts law. The principal of such fund shall remain inviolate, except that upon application to the cemetery board, which may make an order permitting the principal or a part thereof to be used for the purpose of restoring monuments damaged or defaced by an act of vandalism. The income arising from such investment shall be used solely for the costs and expenses resulting from an act of vandalism against monuments in such cemetery.
(3) The fund shall be financed by a charge levied at the time of each interment at a rate established by each cemetery creating such a fund, subject to cemetery board approval pursuant to section fifteen hundred nine of this article. Such a charge shall be levied in addition to the approved rates for interment. The fund may also accept gifts, donations and bequests.
(4) Each cemetery creating such a fund shall promulgate rules and regulations to administer the fund, subject to cemetery board approval pursuant to section fifteen hundred nine of this article. Such rules shall include the conditions under which the income from such fund may be properly expended.
(5) The cemetery corporation shall keep accurate accounts of all moneys for the fund, separate and apart from its other funds.
(f) Acquisition of property for special purposes and in trust. (1) A cemetery corporation may acquire, otherwise than by condemnation, real or personal property, absolutely or in trust, in perpetuity or otherwise, and shall use the same or the income therefrom in pursuance of the terms of the instrument by which it was acquired, for the following purposes only: (i) The improvement or embellishment, but not the enlargement, of its cemetery; (ii) The construction, preservation or replacement of any building, structure, fence, wall, or walk therein; (iii) The erection, renewal or preservation of any tomb, monument, stone, fence, wall, railing or other erection or structure on or around its cemetery or any lot or plot therein; (iv) The planting or cultivation of trees, grass, shrubs, flowers or plants in or about its cemetery or any lot or plot therein; (v) The construction, operation, maintenance, repair and replacement of a crematory or columbarium or both in its cemetery; (vi) The care, keeping in order and embellishment of any lot, plot or part thereof or the structures thereon, in its cemetery, as prescribed in the instrument transferring such property to the cemetery corporation, or by the person or persons from time to time having possession, care and control of such lot, plot or part thereof, as the case may be. (2) All moneys and property received by a cemetery corporation in trust under this subdivision, unless otherwise provided in the instrument under which such moneys or property were received and unless already so invested when received, shall be invested within a reasonable time after the receipt thereof, and kept invested in such securities as are permitted for the investment of trust funds by sections 11-2.2 and 11-2.3 of the estates, powers and trusts law. The corporation may, for the purpose of investing and reinvesting such funds, add the same to any similar trust fund or funds and apportion shares or interests to each trust fund, showing upon its records at all times every share or interest. The cemetery corporation shall maintain a record for each such trust fund. Such record shall be at all times available at the office of the corporation during usual business hours, for inspection and copy by any owner of an endowed lot or his representative.
(g) Trust for the care of burial ground. A cemetery corporation, incorporated under or by a general or special law, may receive tangible property, securities or funds in trust, and hold and invest the same and apply the principal or income thereof, in accordance with the terms of the trust, for the purpose of repairing, maintaining, improving or embellishing a burial ground, not constituting a part of the cemetery of such cemetery corporation, and located outside of a city of more than one million inhabitants and within ten miles of the cemetery of the corporation accepting such trust. The directors of such corporation, or a majority of them and the treasurer, shall annually within sixty days after the close of each calendar or fiscal year, make, sign and shall file at the office of the corporation a detailed accounting and report of such trust funds held under this subdivision and the use made of such funds or of the income thereof for the preceding calendar or fiscal year, which shall include among other things, properly itemized, the securities in which the same is then invested, and any purchases, sales or other changes made therein during the period covered by such report. Such accounting and report shall be at all times available at the office of the corporation, during usual business hours, for inspection and copy by any lot owner or any contributor to such trust fund.
(h) Vandalism, abandonment and monument repair or removal. (1) Cemeteries incorporated under this article shall contribute to a fund created pursuant to section ninety-seven-r of the state finance law for the maintenance of abandoned cemeteries, including the construction of cemetery fences, placement of cemetery lights and replacement of cemetery doors and locks, for the restoration of property damaged by acts of vandalism, and for the repair or removal of monuments or other markers not owned by the cemetery corporation that have fallen into disrepair or dilapidation so as to create a dangerous condition. Such fund shall be administered by a board of trustees comprised of the secretary of state, the attorney general and the commissioner of health, or their designees, who shall serve without additional compensation.
(2) The fund shall be financed by contributions by the cemetery corporations of not more than five dollars ($5.00) per interment or cremation in a manner to be determined by the New York state cemetery board. No contributions shall be collected upon the interment of the cremains of a deceased person where a contribution was collected upon cremations.
(3) The moneys of the fund shall be expended equally for the maintenance of abandoned cemeteries previously owned by a corporation incorporated pursuant to this chapter or the membership corporations law and the repair of cemetery vandalism damage and the repair or removal of monuments or other markers not owned by the cemetery corporation, provided, however, that the cemetery board may determine that circumstances necessitate an unequal distribution due to specific needs and may provide for such distribution. For purposes of this section, the maintenance of abandoned cemeteries may include the construction of cemetery fences, placement of cemetery lights and replacement of cemetery doors and locks.
(4) Authorization for payments by the fund for maintenance of an abandoned cemetery shall be made by the secretary of state only upon approval by the cemetery board of an application by a municipality or other solvent not-for-profit cemetery corporation for fair and reasonable expenses required to be made by the municipality or other solvent not-for-profit cemetery corporation for maintenance of an abandoned cemetery; provided, however, that the cemetery board shall not approve any such application unless the municipality or other solvent not-for-profit cemetery corporation acknowledges that the responsibility for restoration and future care, preservation, and maintenance of such cemetery has been assumed by the municipality or other solvent not-for-profit cemetery corporation. For the purposes of this paragraph, such cemetery shall always be deemed an abandoned cemetery.
(5) Authorization for payments by the fund for the repair of vandalism damage shall be made by the secretary of state only on approval by the New York state cemetery board which shall determine:
(i) that an act of vandalism to the extent described by the cemetery corporation did take place;
(ii) that either a written report of the vandalism was filed with the local police or sheriff's department, or, that the cemetery, upon consent of the division, made a determination not to file the report because the publicity generated by filing the report would have adverse consequences for the cemetery;
(iii) that the cost of repairs is fair and reasonable; and
(iv) that the cemetery corporation has been unable to obtain funds from the lot owner, his spouse, devisees or descendants within a reasonable period of time nor are there adequate funds in the cemetery corporations monument maintenance fund, if such a fund has been established by the cemetery.
(6) Authorization for payments by the fund for the repair or removal of monuments or other markers not owned by the cemetery corporation shall be made by the secretary of state only on approval by the New York state cemetery board on application by the cemetery corporation showing:
(i) that the monuments or markers are so badly out of repair or dilapidated as to create a dangerous condition;
(ii) that the cost of remedying the condition is fair and reasonable;
(iii) that the cemetery corporation has given not less than sixty days notice to the last known owner to repair or remove the monument or other marker and the said owner has failed to do so within the time prescribed in said notice.
(7) The New York state cemetery board shall promulgate rules defining standards of maintenance, as well as what type of vandalism or out of repair or dilapidated monuments or other markers shall qualify for payment of repair or removal by the fund and the method and amount of payment of contributions described in subparagraph two of this paragraph upon the recommendation of the state cemetery board citizens advisory council created by section fifteen hundred seven-a of this article (State cemetery board citizens advisory council).
(8) Nothing contained in this paragraph is to be construed as giving a cemetery corporation an "insurable interest" in monuments or other embellishments on a plot, lot or part thereof, nor is it meant to imply that the cemetery corporation has any responsibility for repairing vandalism damage not covered by this fund, nor for repairing or removing out of repair or dilapidated monuments or other markers not owned by the cemetery corporation, nor shall it constitute the doing of an insurance business.
Last modified: February 3, 2019