SB55-SSA1-SA2,448,44
157.115
(2) (d) 1. The location of the abandoned
lot space.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,448,86
157.115
(2) (d) 3. A statement that, unless an owner or assignee contacts the
7cemetery authority within the period specified in par. (e), the cemetery authority
8intends to resell the abandoned
lot space as provided in this subsection.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,448,1610
157.115
(2) (e) If within 60 days after notice is published under par. (c) no owner
11or assignee contacts the cemetery authority to express an intent to use the
12abandoned
lot space for a future burial of human remains, the cemetery authority
13shall bring an action in the circuit court of the county in which the abandoned
lot 14space is located for a judgment that the
cemetery lot burial space is an abandoned
15lot space and an order transferring ownership of the abandoned
lot space to the
16cemetery authority.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,449,218
157.115
(2) (f) If within one year after the circuit court enters a judgment and
19order under par. (e) no owner or assignee contacts the cemetery authority to express
20an intent to use the abandoned
lot space for a future burial of human remains, the
21cemetery authority may resell the abandoned
lot space, except as provided in par. (g).
22The payment of principal shall be deposited into the care fund. Before depositing the
23payment of principal into the care fund, the cemetery authority may retain an
24amount necessary to cover the cemetery authority's administrative and other
1expenses related to the sale, but the amount retained may not exceed 50% of the
2proceeds.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,449,94
157.115
(2) (g) If at any time before an abandoned
lot space is resold under par.
5(f) an owner or assignee contacts the cemetery authority to express an intent to use
6the abandoned
lot space for a future burial of human remains, the authority may not
7resell the abandoned
lot space, and ownership of the abandoned
lot space shall be
8transferred to the owner or assignee. The cemetery authority shall pay all costs of
9transferring ownership under this paragraph.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,449,1411
157.115
(2) (h) Nothing in this subsection prohibits a cemetery authority from
12seeking the authority to resell more than one abandoned
lot space by publishing a
13single class 3 notice under par. (d) or bringing a single action under par. (e) that
14applies to all of the abandoned
lots spaces for which such authority is sought.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,449,17
16157.117 Trustees for certain cemeteries and mausoleums. (1)
17Definitions. In this section:
SB55-SSA1-SA2,449,2418
(a) "Cemetery" does not include a cemetery the ownership, control, or
19management of which has been assumed by a municipality. For purposes of this
20paragraph, a municipality is considered to have assumed the ownership, control, or
21management of a cemetery only if the municipality has adopted a resolution or
22enacted an ordinance that has the effect of assuming ownership, control, or
23management of the cemetery. "Cemetery" also does not include a cemetery owned
24and operated by a religious cemetery authority.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,449,2525
(b) "Local governmental unit" means a municipality or county.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,450,2
1(c) "Mausoleum" does not include a mausoleum owned and operated by a
2religious cemetery authority.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,450,33
(d) "Municipality" means a city, village, or town.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,450,44
(e) "Trustee" means a trustee appointed under sub. (2) (b).
SB55-SSA1-SA2,450,10
5(2) Appointment of trustee. (a) In response to a petition from the board or
6upon his or her own motion, the attorney general may petition the circuit court for
7the county in which a cemetery or mausoleum is located for the appointment of a
8trustee for the cemetery or mausoleum. If the attorney general petitions the court
9on his or her own motion, the attorney general shall serve a copy of the petition on
10the board and the municipality and county within which the cemetery is located.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,450,1711
(b) A court shall schedule a hearing on a petition filed under par. (a) within 90
12days after the petition is filed with the court. If the court finds after a hearing that
13a cemetery or mausoleum is neglected, abandoned, in disuse, improperly
14maintained, or financially unsound, the court shall appoint as a trustee for the
15cemetery or mausoleum a capable and competent person to serve as trustee of the
16cemetery or mausoleum under this section, except that the court may not appoint the
17department or board as a trustee.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,450,2518
(c) An owner of a cemetery or mausoleum may petition the court in a proceeding
19under par. (b) for an order surrendering title to the cemetery or mausoleum to a new
20owner, other than the state, if the owner believes itself to be incapable of continuing
21to operate the cemetery or mausoleum. The court may grant the petition if it finds
22that the cemetery or mausoleum is neglected, abandoned, in disuse, improperly
23maintained, or financially unsound. If the court grants the petition, it shall transfer
24title to the cemetery or mausoleum to the new owner and appoint a trustee under par.
25(b).
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,3
1(d) All disputes relating to the appointment of a trustee or the actions of a
2trustee appointed under this section shall be resolved by the court that appointed the
3trustee.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,4
4(3) Trustee powers and duties. (a) A trustee shall do each of the following:
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,65
1. Be responsible for the management, maintenance, and operation of each
6cemetery or mausoleum under trusteeship.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,87
2. Comply with reporting requirements of s. 157.62 (2). A trustee shall provide
8the court with a copy of all reports filed under this subdivision.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,109
3. Provide the court with any additional information, records, or reports that
10the court may direct.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,1211
(b) A trustee may petition the court that appointed the trustee for any of the
12following:
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,1413
1. Termination of the trusteeship and reversion of ownership and operation of
14a cemetery or mausoleum to the previous owner.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,1615
2. Termination of the trusteeship and transfer of ownership and operation of
16a cemetery or mausoleum to a new owner other than the state.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,1817
3. Removal and reinternment of human remains in accordance with the
18requirements of this subchapter.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,2019
4. Termination of the trusteeship and closure of a cemetery or mausoleum after
20removal and reinternment of human remains under subd. 3.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,2121
(c) A trustee may do any of the following:
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,2422
1. Seek a new owner or operator of a cemetery or mausoleum, other than the
23state, including actively marketing the cemetery or mausoleum and taking any other
24action necessary or useful to effect the sale of the cemetery or mausoleum.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,451,2525
2. Assess burial spaces for cleaning, care, or improvement under s. 157.11 (7).
SB55-SSA1-SA2,452,2
13. Expend funds disbursed from the cemetery management insurance fund for
2the purpose of exercising its powers or carrying out its duties under this section.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,452,53
4. Employ professional, legal, and technical experts, and any such other
4managers, management personnel, agents, and employees as may be required, to
5exercise the trustee's powers or carry out the trustee's duties under this section.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,452,76
5. Take any other action necessary or useful to the management or trusteeship
7of a cemetery or mausoleum.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,452,11
8(4) Department and board powers and duties. (a) From the appropriation
9under s. 20.165 (1) (q), the board shall make disbursements to trustees. The
10department shall promulgate rules establishing requirements and procedures for
11making the disbursements.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,452,1312
(b) The department may promulgate rules to carry out the purposes of this
13section.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,452,15
14(5) Termination of trusteeship. A court that appointed a trustee shall
15terminate the trusteeship if any of the following applies:
SB55-SSA1-SA2,452,1916
(a) The owner or operator of a cemetery or mausoleum demonstrates to the
17satisfaction of the court that the conditions that necessitated the trusteeship have
18been remedied and that it is competent and capable of managing the cemetery or
19mausoleum.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,452,2320
(b) The court finds that a new operator is competent and capable of managing
21the cemetery or mausoleum. Upon making a finding under this paragraph, the court
22shall approve the transfer of the management of the cemetery or mausoleum to the
23new operator.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,453,3
1(c) The court approves the sale or transfer of a cemetery or mausoleum to a new
2owner, other than the state, that the court finds is capable and competent to manage
3the cemetery or mausoleum on a financially sound basis.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,453,54
(d) The court approves the closure of a cemetery or mausoleum after all human
5remains have been removed and reinterred.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,454,157
157.12
(2) (b) The department shall supervise construction of any public
8mausoleum and conversion of any building to a public mausoleum. Within 30 days
9after receiving written notice from the cemetery authority that the construction or
10conversion has been completed, the department shall inspect the public mausoleum
11and provide the cemetery authority with a written certification as to whether the
12construction or conversion complies with approved plans. If the department
13determines that, except for certain minor defects, the construction or conversion
14complies with the approved plans, the department may provide the cemetery
15authority with a written temporary certification of compliance that is contingent on
16the correction of those minor defects. A temporary certification is valid for a period
17designated by the department, not to exceed 6 months. No person may sell a
18mausoleum space, except an undeveloped space that is sold in accordance with
s. ss. 19440.92
and 440.922, or bury human remains in a public mausoleum unless a care
20fund has been established for the mausoleum under sub. (3) and the department has
21provided the cemetery authority with a certification or a temporary certification
22under this paragraph. If a cemetery authority that has been provided with a
23temporary certification notifies the department in writing before the date on which
24the temporary certification expires that the defects in the construction or conversion
25of the public mausoleum have been corrected, the department shall, within 30 days
1after receiving the notice, reinspect the public mausoleum and provide the cemetery
2authority with a written certification as to whether the construction or conversion
3complies with the approved plans. If a cemetery authority that has been provided
4with a temporary certification does not receive a written certification from the
5department before the date on which the temporary certification expires that the
6construction or conversion complies with the approved plans, then, beginning on the
7date on which the certification expires, no person may sell a mausoleum space, except
8an undeveloped space that is sold in accordance with
s. ss. 440.92
and 440.922, or
9bury human remains in the public mausoleum until the defects are corrected and the
10department subsequently inspects the public mausoleum and provides the cemetery
11authority with a certification that the construction or conversion complies with the
12approved plans. The department may charge a reasonable fee to the cemetery
13authority for each inspection and certification provided under this paragraph if the
14inspection and certification are provided within the applicable 30-day period
15prescribed under this paragraph.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,455,717
157.12
(3) (b) The cemetery's treasurer is the custodian of the fund. The
18treasurer shall file with the cemetery, at the cemetery's expense, a bond with sureties
19approved by the department of regulation and licensing to indemnify the cemetery
20against loss if the treasurer fails to maintain the fund.
The amount of the bond shall
21be no less than the total of all payments of principal required under this section as
22stated in the most recent annual report filed by the cemetery authority under s.
23157.62. No indemnity is required if the terms of sale of a mausoleum space require
24the purchaser to pay directly to a trust company in the state, designated by the
25cemetery as custodian of the fund. The fund shall be invested as provided in s.
1157.19
, and the manner in which the care funds are invested may not permit the
2withdrawal of the fund's principal amount, but may permit the withdrawal of
3interest, dividends, or capital gains earned during the most recently completed
4calendar year. Income from investment may be used only to maintain the
5mausoleum, except that if the amount of income exceeds the amount necessary to
6properly maintain the mausoleum the excess amount may be used to maintain any
7portion of the cemetery.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,455,10
9157.125 (title)
Trustees for the care of cemeteries or cemetery lots
10burial spaces.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,455,1612
157.125
(2) If the burial place or grave is located in a cemetery owned and
13operated by a religious
society organized under ch. 187 cemetery authority, the court
14shall name the religious
society cemetery authority as the trustee unless the
15religious
society cemetery authority petitions the court to name the county treasurer
16as the trustee.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,455,1918
157.128
(2) (a) The cemetery is owned by a religious
association cemetery
19authority.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,455,2221
157.128
(2) (b) The religious
association cemetery authority is responsible for
22all liabilities of the cemetery.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,455,2524
157.128
(2) (c) The total acreage of all other cemeteries owned by the religious
25association cemetery authority exceeds 20 acres.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,456,42
157.128
(3) (b) A cemetery consisting of less than 20 contiguous acres may be
3dedicated by a cemetery authority that is not required to be
registered licensed under
4s. 440.91 (1)
and that is not organized or conducted for pecuniary profit.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,456,186
157.19
(2) (c) Upon request of the financial institution, the preneed seller, as
7defined in s. 440.90 (8), shall furnish the financial institution with a copy of the
8preneed sales contract. Except as provided in
s. 440.92 (2) (c), (f) and (j) and (5) ss.
9440.922 (3), (5) (c), and (8), and 440.924, preneed trust funds, and any interest or
10dividends that have accumulated on the preneed trust funds, may not be withdrawn
11until all obligations under the preneed sales contract have been fulfilled. The
12financial institution is not responsible for the fulfillment of any part of the preneed
13sales contract, except that the financial institution shall release the preneed trust
14funds, and any interest or dividends that have accumulated on the preneed trust
15funds, as provided by the terms of the preneed sales contract. The trustee of a
16preneed trust fund may not be changed without the department's written approval.
17If the trustee or account number of a preneed trust fund is changed, the cemetery
18authority shall notify the department in writing within 30 days after the change.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,457,420
157.19
(4m) The department shall request proposals from financial
21institutions located in this state for the purpose of selecting a financial institution
22that cemetery authorities and preneed sellers may use as the trustee for care funds
23under s. 157.11 (9g) and 157.12 (3) and preneed trust funds under s. 440.92. Except
24as provided in sub. (5) (c), a cemetery authority or preneed seller is not required to
25use the financial institution selected by the department. The financial institution
1selected under this subsection shall submit an annual report to the department, in
2a form and manner satisfactory to the department, that provides an accounting of
3all care funds and preneed trust funds for which the financial institution is the
4trustee.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,457,126
157.19
(5) (a) This section does not apply to care funds under s. 157.11 (9g) that
7are deposited with a city or county as provided under s. 157.11 (9g) (a), to care funds
8of a cemetery for which a certification under s. 157.63 is effective, or to preneed trust
9funds of a cemetery for which a certification under s. 440.92 (9) is effective
, or to care
10funds or preneed trust funds of a cemetery authority that is not required to be
11registered under s. 440.91 (1) and that is not organized or conducted for pecuniary
12profit.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,457,1914
157.19
(5) (c) If the department determines that a cemetery authority or
15preneed seller has violated any requirement under this subchapter or subch. VIII of
16ch. 440 relating to care funds under s. 157.11 (9g) and 157.12 (3) or preneed trust
17funds under s. 440.92, the department may require the cemetery authority or
18preneed seller to use the financial institution selected under sub. (4m) as the trustee
19for the care funds or preneed trust funds.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,458,4
21157.60 Public easement in cemetery. Any person who shall open or make
22any highway, town way
, or private way or shall construct any railroad, turnpike
, or
23canal or anything in the nature of a public easement over, through, in
, or upon such
24part of any enclosure, being the property of any town, city, village
, or religious
society 25cemetery authority or of private proprietors, as may be used for the burial of the dead,
1unless an authority for that purpose shall be specially granted by law or unless the
2consent of such town, city, village, religious
society
cemetery authority, or private
3proprietors, respectively, shall be first obtained, shall be punished by imprisonment
4in the county jail not more than one year or by fine not exceeding $300.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,458,10
6157.61 Identification of human remains. A person may not provide an
7outer burial container or, if an outer burial container is not used, a casket, to a
8cemetery authority, other than a religious cemetery authority, for the burial of
9human remains, unless the person identifies the decedent by name on the exterior
10of the outer burial container or casket.
SB55-SSA1-SA2, s. 2852qz
12Section 2852qz. 157.62 (1) (a) 1., 2., 3., 4. and 5. of the statutes are
13renumbered 157.62 (2) (b) 7. a., b., c., d. and e.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,458,2317
157.62
(2) (a)
Except as provided in ss. 157.625 and 157.63 (1), every Every 18cemetery authority
that is licensed under s. 440.91 (1) and, except as provided in s.
19157.63 (1), every cemetery authority that is a religious cemetery authority shall file
20an annual report with the department. The report shall be made on a form
21prescribed and furnished by the department. The report shall be made on a
22calendar-year basis unless the department, by rule, provides for other reporting
23periods. The report is due on the 60th day after the last day of the reporting period.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,459,2
1157.62
(2) (b) 1. A copy of any report required under
sub. (1) (a) or s. 180.1622
2or 181.1622.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,459,54
157.62
(2) (b) 1m. The percentage of burial spaces at the cemetery that are
5available for sale.
SB55-SSA1-SA2,459,87
157.62
(2) (b) 2. If the cemetery authority is required to file a report under s.
8180.1622 or 181.1622, the information specified in
sub. (1) (a) 3 subd. 7. c.
SB55-SSA1-SA2, s. 2852sg
9Section 2852sg. 157.62 (2) (b) 7. of the statutes is renumbered 157.62 (2) (b)
107. (intro.) and amended to read:
SB55-SSA1-SA2,459,1311
157.62
(2) (b) 7. (intro.)
The information specified in sub. (1) (a), to the extent
12applicable, if If the cemetery
is not required to file a report under sub. (1) (a) or s.
13180.1622 or 181.1622. authority is a cemetery association, all of the following:
SB55-SSA1-SA2,459,2015
157.62
(3) (a) Every cemetery authority shall keep a copy of the report required
16under sub. (2) (a) at its principal place of business and, except for those records
17relating to accountings of trust funds described under sub. (2) (b) 3. to 7., shall make
18the report available for inspection, upon reasonable notice, by any person with an
19interest in a
cemetery lot or a mausoleum burial space in a cemetery owned or
20operated by the cemetery authority.