Senate Bill No. 848
Public Act No. 19-57
AN ACT CONCERNING FU NERAL SERVICE CONTRA CTS AND
CEMETERIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 42-207 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2020):
An irrevocable funeral service contract may be entered into in which
the amount held in escrow or a death benefit payable under an
individual or group life insurance policy may be disbursed only upon
the death of the beneficiary, provided such a contract does not exceed
[eight] ten thousand dollars and all interest, growth or dividends
accumulates to the escrow account or insurance policy and are
inaccessible to the beneficiary. Such irrevocable funeral service
contract may be transferred from one funeral service establishment to
another upon request of the beneficiary or a legal representative of the
beneficiary. The purchase of an irrevocable funeral service contract
shall not preclude an individual from purchasing other funeral service
contracts that are revocable, provided any such revocable funeral
service contract purchased by a Medicaid beneficiary may be revoked
only upon written notice by the Medicaid beneficiary to the
Commissioner of Social Services. An irrevocable funeral service
contract shall provide that, upon the death of the beneficiary, the state Senate Bill No. 848
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of Connecticut shall receive any amounts remaining after performance
of the contract, up to (1) the total amount of medical assistance paid by
the state of Connecticut on behalf of the beneficiary that is recoverable
under 42 USC 1396p, and (2) the total amount of all other forms of
public assistance paid by the state of Connecticut on behalf of the
beneficiary or his or her dependent child. The funeral service
establishment providing services under such a contract shall make
payment of such remaining funds to the Commissioner of Social
Services not later than sixty days after all services have been
performed under such contract. If a funeral service establishment pays
such remaining amount to any person other than the Commissioner of
Social Services, the funeral service establishment shall be liable to said
commissioner for repayment of such amount.
Sec. 2. Section 19a-312 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019):
[(a) No crypt or room in any mausoleum not privately owned, or
niche in a columbarium not so owned, shall be sold or offered for sale,
until such structure is entirely completed.]
[(b)] (a) There shall be established and maintained a fund for the
perpetual care and maintenance of each [such] mausoleum and
columbarium, by applying in the case of a mausoleum not less than the
sum of one hundred dollars from the proceeds received from the sale
of each crypt and ten per cent of the proceeds received from the sale of
each room; and in case of niches in a mausoleum or columbarium,
used as a repository for the remains of deceased persons after
cremation, a sum which shall be equivalent to ten per cent of the sale
price of each niche. If sales of crypts or rooms in any such mausoleum,
or sales of niches in any such mausoleum or columbarium, are made
upon a partial payment plan, there shall be set apart and applied to
said maintenance fund from each such payment such proportion
thereof as the number of partial payments bears to the total amount of Senate Bill No. 848
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the sum required to be set aside for such fund.
[(c)] (b) When any mausoleum, vault, crypt or structure containing
one or more deceased human bodies, in the opinion of the Department
of Public Health, becomes a menace to public health, and the owner or
owners thereof fail to remedy or remove the same to the satisfaction of
said department, any court of competent jurisdiction may order the
person, firm or corporation owning such structure to remove the
deceased body or bodies for interment in some suitable cemetery at the
expense of the person, firm or corporation owning such mausoleum,
vault or crypt. If no such person, firm or corporation can be found in
the county where such mausoleum, vault or crypt is located, such
removal and interment shall be at the expense of the cemetery, city or
town within which such mausoleum, vault or crypt is located, or of the
cemetery association in charge of any such cemetery.
[(d)] (c) Any cemetery or mausoleum maintained or constructed
contrary to the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed a public
nuisance and may be enjoined in an action brought by any taxpayer of
this state.
Sec. 3. Section 19a-311 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019):
Such structure shall be erected under the supervision of an inspector
to be appointed by the Department of Public Health, which shall
determine the amount of his compensation, such compensation to be
paid by the person erecting the same. No vault, crypt, niche,
mausoleum, columbarium or structure, and no addition or alteration
thereof, shall be used for the purpose of interring therein any body
until the person, firm or corporation operating such structure has
obtained from said department a certificate, signed by the
Commissioner of Public Health, certifying that the plans and
specifications filed pursuant to the provisions of section 19a-310 have Senate Bill No. 848
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been complied with, and that the requirements for a maintenance fund
provided for in subsection [(b)] (a) of section 19a-312, as amended by
this act, have been complied with, which certificate shall be filed in the
office of the town clerk of the town wherein the community
mausoleum is located, provided a columbarium which is used solely
as a repository for the remains, after cremation of deceased persons
and is located on the premises of any religious society or corporation
shall not be subject to the provisions of this section.