Ohio Code 4717.34 – Right of purchaser to rescind contract
(A) Any purchaser, on initially entering into a preneed funeral contract may, within seven days after entering into that contract, rescind the contract and request and receive from the seller of the contract one hundred per cent of all payments made under the contract. Each preneed funeral contract shall contain the following notice in boldface print and in substantially the following form:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 4717.34
- Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Funeral director: means a person who engages, in whole or in part, in funeral directing and who is licensed under this chapter. See Ohio Code 4717.01
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Preneed funeral contract: means a written agreement, contract, or series of contracts to sell or otherwise provide any funeral services, funeral goods, or any combination thereof to be used in connection with the funeral or final disposition of a dead human body, where payment for the goods or services is made either outright or on an installment basis, prior to the death of the person purchasing the goods or services or for whom the goods or services are purchased. See Ohio Code 4717.01
- Purchaser: means the individual who has purchased and financed a preneed funeral contract, and who may or may not be the contract beneficiary. See Ohio Code 4717.01
- Seller: means any person that enters into a preneed funeral contract with a purchaser for the provision of funeral goods, funeral services, or both. See Ohio Code 4717.01
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
“NOTICE: Under Ohio law, you, as the purchaser of this contract, may rescind it and receive a refund of all payments you made under the contract. To rescind the contract, you must notify the seller within seven days of signing the contract.”
(B) No preneed funeral contract shall contain a provision that restricts the purchaser from making the contract irrevocable. On the purchase by an individual of an irrevocable preneed funeral contract, the funeral director who sold the contract assumes the legal obligation to provide for the funeral of the individual pursuant to the terms of the contract. No money deposited in a trust fund for an irrevocable preneed funeral contract shall be withdrawn to purchase an insurance policy or annuity, except that a trustee may use money in the trust fund to purchase a life insurance policy or annuity as an investment for the trust fund.