§502. Payments to trust; amounts required

A.(1)(a) Any cemetery authority or other entity entering into a contract for the sale of such personal property as described in R.S. 8:501 of this Chapter, when the delivery of the personal property within the meaning of R.S. 8:502.1, is made more than one hundred twenty days after entering into such contract, shall deposit seventy percent of the price charged, less sales taxes, for each item of personal property contracted for, contracted for at a discount, or contracted for without charge into a trust fund established for that purpose.

(b) The deposit shall in no event be less than seventy percent of the price charged for such item or one hundred twenty-five percent of the wholesale cost, whichever is greater.

(c) The board shall establish rules and regulations regarding the method of determining wholesale cost.

(2)(a) Any cemetery authority or other entity entering into a contract for the sale of such services as described in R.S. 8:501, when the delivery of the services is made more than one hundred twenty days after entering into such contract, shall deposit seventy percent of the price charged for each service into a trust fund established for that purpose.

(b) For each service contracted for at a discount or contracted for without charge, the deposit shall in no event be less than seventy percent of the highest price charged for such service during the preceding twelve months.

B. If the contract is financed with or sold to a financial institution or entity other than the seller, the contract shall be considered paid in full, both as to time and amount, and the trust requirements shall be satisfied within twenty days after the close of the month of receipt of funds by the cemetery authority or other entity, except as provided in R.S. 8:502.1 and 502.2.

C. The trust fund shall be administered by a trustee in accordance with a written trust instrument.

D. Each deposit herein required shall be paid into the trust fund so established within twenty days after the close of the month of receipt from the purchaser by the cemetery authority or other entity, except that the entire amount required to be deposited based upon the sales price, less sales taxes, shall be so deposited in trust within seven years from the date of the original sale, regardless of whether or not all amounts due therefor shall have actually been paid.

E. Each deposit into any such trust fund shall be identified by the cemetery authority or other entity by furnishing the trustee with the name of the purchaser, the amount of the retail sales price, and the amount of money required to be deposited, together with a copy of the contract of sale. The cemetery authority or other entity shall allocate, not less than annually, to each separate account its share of the total income earned and reported by the trustee, based upon the proportion that the balance in each such account bears to the total balances in all such accounts. The trustee may commingle the deposits in such trust fund for purposes of the management thereof and the investment of funds therein. The cemetery authority or other entity shall keep detailed records of the amount of money deposited from time to time and the income allocated on each account.

F. The trust shall be operated in conformity with R.S. 8:454(B) and 465(A) with respect to the nature and character of the trust and duties of the trustee.

Acts 1974, No. 417, §1. Acts 1983, No. 525, §1; Acts 2003, No. 502, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2004; Acts 2004, No. 67, §1; Acts 2012, No. 98, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2013.