Florida Statutes 497.281 – Licensure of brokers of burial rights
Current as of: 2024 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
(1)(a) No person shall receive compensation to act as a third party to the sale or transfer of three or more burial rights in a 12-month period unless the person pays a license fee as determined by licensing authority rule but not to exceed $250 and is licensed with the department as a burial rights broker in accordance with this section.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 497.281
- Cemetery: means a place dedicated to and used or intended to be used for the permanent interment of human remains or cremated remains. See Florida Statutes 497.005
- Department: means the Department of Financial Services. See Florida Statutes 497.005
- Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- License: includes all authorizations required or issued under this chapter, except where expressly indicated otherwise, and shall be understood to include authorizations previously referred to as registrations or certificates of authority in chapters 470 and 497 as those chapters appeared in the 2004 edition of the Florida Statutes. See Florida Statutes 497.005
- Licensee: means the person or entity holding any license or other authorization issued under this chapter, except where expressly indicated otherwise. See Florida Statutes 497.005
- Person: when used without qualification such as "natural" or "individual" includes both natural persons and legal entities. See Florida Statutes 497.005
- Principal: means and includes the sole proprietor of a sole proprietorship; all partners of a partnership; all members of a limited liability company; regarding a corporation, all directors and officers, and all stockholders controlling more than 10 percent of the voting stock; and all other persons who can exercise control over the person or entity. See Florida Statutes 497.005
- Rules: refers to rules adopted under this chapter unless expressly indicated to the contrary. See Florida Statutes 497.005
- service: means any service offered or provided in connection with the final disposition, memorialization, interment, entombment, or inurnment of human remains or cremated remains. See Florida Statutes 497.005
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- veteran: means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and who was discharged or released under honorable conditions only or who later received an upgraded discharge under honorable conditions, notwithstanding any action by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on individuals discharged or released with other than honorable discharges. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) A member of the United States Armed Forces, such member’s spouse, and a veteran of the United States Armed Forces who separated from service within the 2 years preceding application for licensure are exempt from the initial license fee. To qualify for the initial license fee exemption, an applicant must provide a copy of a military identification card, military dependent identification card, military service record, military personnel file, veteran record, discharge paper, or separation document that indicates such member is currently in good standing or such veteran was honorably discharged.
(2)(a) The applicant shall be required to make disclosure of the applicant’s criminal records, if any, as required by s. 497.142.
(b) The application shall require the applicant to disclose whether the applicant or any principal of the applicant has ever had a license or the authority to practice a profession or occupation refused, suspended, fined, denied, or otherwise acted against or disciplined by the licensing authority of any jurisdiction. The licensing authority may require by rule additional information to be provided concerning any affirmative answers. A licensing authority’s acceptance of a relinquishment of licensure, stipulation, consent order, or other settlement, offered in response to or in anticipation of the filing of charges against the license, shall be construed as action against the license. The licensing authority may require by rule additional information to be provided concerning any affirmative answers.
(c) The applicant shall submit fingerprints in accordance with s. 497.142. The application shall be signed in accordance with s. 497.141(12).
(d) The applicant shall demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the applicant has the ability, experience, and integrity to act as a burial broker and, if the applicant is an entity, that the applicant’s principals are of good character.
(3) For the purpose of preventing confusion and error by the licensee or by the cemeteries in which the burial rights are located as to the status as sold or unsold, and as to the identity of the owner, of the burial rights and related interment spaces in the cemetery, the licensing authority shall by rule establish requirements for minimum records to be maintained by licensees under this section.
(4) The licensing authority may by rule require inspections of the records of licensees under this section.
(5) The department, by rule, shall provide for the biennial renewal of licenses under this section and a renewal fee as determined by licensing authority rule but not to exceed $250.
(6) The licensure requirements of this section shall not apply to persons otherwise licensed pursuant to this chapter, but such persons, if they engage in activity as burial rights brokers, shall be subject to rules relating to required records and inspections.