West Virginia Code 35-5A-3 – Establishment of permanent endowment care funds
No person desiring to organize, develop and operate a perpetual care cemetery in West Virginia after July 1, 1973, shall offer to sell or sell any burial lot, burial right, entombment right or columbarium right in such cemetery, without first establishing a permanent endowment trust fund, segregated from all other assets, and placing therein a minimum of $10,000 in cash, or in bonds of the United States government or of the State of West Virginia.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 35-5A-3
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Burial right: means the right of earth interment. See West Virginia Code 35-5A-1
- Columbarium right: means the right of inurnment in a columbarium for cremated remains. See West Virginia Code 35-5A-1
- Entombment right: means the right of entombment in a mausoleum. See West Virginia Code 35-5A-1
- Permanent endowment care fund: means a fund held in an irrevocable trust separate and apart from all other assets of the cemetery and dedicated for the exclusive use of perpetual care and maintenance of such cemetery. See West Virginia Code 35-5A-1
- Perpetual care cemetery: means a cemetery which advertises or represents to the public in any manner that it provides perpetual care or maintenance for burial grounds, mausoleums or columbaria and the fixtures attached thereto or which sells or offers to sell any interment right which is to be perpetually cared for or maintained. See West Virginia Code 35-5A-1
- Person: means any corporation, company, partnership, individual, association or other entity owning or operating a cemetery for the disposition of human remains. See West Virginia Code 35-5A-1
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
Whenever any such person has placed an additional $10,000 in the permanent endowment care fund out of gross sales proceeds or from any other source, such person after submitting satisfactory proof of this fact to its trustee may withdraw the original sum of $10,000 from the permanent endowment care fund.
No person operating an established perpetual care cemetery in West Virginia on or before July 1, 1973, shall continue to operate such cemetery without creating a permanent endowment fund and making regular deposits to such fund as required in section four of this article and entrusting the administration of such fund as required in section five of this article.