Virginia Code 54.1-2324: Financial report and report of independent certified public accountant required for perpetual care trust funds
A. Within four months after the close of its fiscal year, the cemetery company shall report the following information to the Board, on forms prescribed by the Board:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 54.1-2324
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Board: means the Cemetery Board. See Virginia Code 54.1-2310
- Cemetery: means any land or structure used or intended to be used for the interment of human remains. See Virginia Code 54.1-2310
- Cemetery company: means any person engaged in the business of (i) selling or offering for sale any grave or entombment right in a cemetery and representing to the public that the entire cemetery, a single grave, or entombment right therein will be perpetually cared for; (ii) selling property or services, vaults, grave liners, urns, memorials, markers, and monuments used in connection with interring or disposing of the remains or commemorating the memory of a deceased human being, where delivery of the property or performance of the service may be delayed more than 120 days after receipt of the initial payment on account of such sale; or (iii) maintaining a facility used for the interment or disposal of the remains and required to maintain perpetual care or preneed trust funds in accordance with this chapter. See Virginia Code 54.1-2310
- Compliance agent: means a natural person who owns or is employed by a cemetery company to assure the compliance of the cemetery company with the provisions of this chapter. See Virginia Code 54.1-2310
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Perpetual care trust fund: means a fund created to provide income to a cemetery to provide care, maintenance, administration and embellishment of the cemetery. See Virginia Code 54.1-2310
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
1. The total amount of principal in the perpetual care trust fund;
2. The securities in which the perpetual care trust fund is invested and the amount of cash on hand as of the close of the fiscal year;
3. The income received from the perpetual care trust fund, and the sources of such income, during the preceding fiscal year;
4. The method of distribution used for distributions from the perpetual care trust fund and, if a total return distribution method was used, a schedule to verify compliance with the requirements of § 54.1-2322;
5. An affidavit executed by the compliance agent that all applicable provisions of this chapter relating to perpetual care trust funds have been complied with;
6. The total receipts subject to the 10 percent trust requirement;
7. All expenditures from the perpetual care trust fund;
8. If the trustee is other than a Virginia trust company or trust subsidiary or a federally insured bank or savings institution doing business in the Commonwealth, proof that the required fidelity bond has been secured and that it is in effect; and
9. A separate total of expenses incurred for general care and maintenance, embellishment and administration of its cemeteries.
B. The cemetery company shall (i) engage an independent certified public accountant to apply agreed-upon procedures as specified by the Board to the total of all receipts subject to § 54.1-2319, in accordance with standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants or any successor standard authorities, and (ii) provide to the Board the independent certified public accountant’s report on the agreed-upon procedures. The information provided by the cemetery company shall provide full disclosure of any transactions between the perpetual care trust fund and any directors, officers, stockholders, or employees of the cemetery company, or relatives of the cemetery company’s employees, and shall include a description of the transactions, the parties involved, the dates and amounts of the transactions, and the reasons for the transactions.
C. The information required to be filed hereunder with the Board shall be exempt from the Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act (§ 2.2-3800 et seq.).
1998, cc. 708, 721; 2000, c. 36; 2004, c. 247; 2015, c. 344; 2017, cc. 12, 65.