Senate Bill 715 amends various sections of the Tennessee Code Annotated related to cemeteries, focusing on the management of trust funds, interment rights, and administrative fees. Key changes include a new calculation method for trust fund distributions, allowing a maximum of five percent of the fair market value averaged over the last three years. The bill also clarifies that cemetery owners must charge the same installation fees for commodities to all customers and mandates that they install commodities from outside sources within thirty days. Additionally, it introduces a provision that exempts subsequent sales of interment rights from requiring additional deposits to the improvement care trust fund.

The bill establishes definitions for terms related to cemeteries, such as "cemetery company," "community columbarium," and "interment right." It outlines the process for reclaiming abandoned interment rights after 75 years of no contact with the owner, including requirements for notifying the owner and publishing information about the interment right. Furthermore, it modifies the administrative fee structure for cemetery companies, ensuring that fees are uniformly applied and clarifying the conditions under which these fees are charged. The act is set to take effect upon becoming law, emphasizing the need for public welfare.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 46-1-204(e)(1)(A)(ii), 46-1-204, 46-1-204(c), 46-2-101(b), 46-2-101, 46-2-101(b)(3), 46-2-101(c), 46-1-204(b)(3), 46-1-105(a), 46-1-105, 46-1-204(b)(3)(A), 46-1-108(a), 46-1-108