§454.1. Administration of trust funds; maintenance; exemption from seizure

A. The principal of the trust fund shall remain permanently intact and only the income therefrom shall be expended. The income shall be used solely for the care of those portions of the cemetery in which interment spaces have been sold with a provision for perpetual or endowed care. It is the intent of this Section that the income of said fund shall be used solely for the care of interment spaces sold with a provision for perpetual or endowed care and for the care of other portions of the cemetery immediately surrounding said spaces as may be necessary to preserve the beauty and dignity of the spaces sold. The fund or its income shall never be used for the development, improvement, or embellishment of unsold portions of the cemetery so as to relieve the cemetery authority of the ordinary cost incurred in preparing such property for sale.

B. The cemetery shall be maintained in a reasonable condition which shall include but not be limited to leveling of grounds where interments have been made, removal of all debris, mowing, and edging, resulting in a well-kept appearance at all times.

C. After the establishment of the trust fund, a minimum of ten percent of the gross sales price received for any interment space sold or transferred under the representation that such interment space shall receive perpetual or endowed care shall be deposited in the trust fund; however, in computing the amount to be deposited therein for property sold after the creation of the fund, the cemetery authority shall be entitled to credit for the amount originally deposited upon creation of the trust fund. For each interment space provided without charge, the deposit shall in no event be less than ten percent of the fair market value of said interment space.

D. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the principal of the trust fund and all income therefrom shall be exempt from seizure, under any writ, mandate, or process whatsoever, by the creditors of the beneficiaries, the trustee, and the cemetery authority or any person owning, operating, managing, conducting or providing perpetual or endowed care to or for, the cemetery for which the trust fund was created.

Acts 2001, No. 468, §1.