This section requires prepaid funeral benefits contracts to meet specific form and disclosure rules, and it requires agency approval and oversight of the contract form.
Sec. 154.151. FORM OF CONTRACT. (a) The department must approve a sales contract form for prepaid funeral benefits before the form is used. (b) A sales contract for prepaid funeral benefits must: (1) be in writing; (2) state the name of the funeral provider or other person primarily responsible for providing the prepaid funeral benefits specified in the contract; and (3) state the details of the prepaid funeral benefits to be provided, including a description and specifications of the material used in the caskets or grave vaults to be furnished. (c) If a funeral provider designated in the contract to provide prepaid funeral benefits is not the seller licensed under this chapter, the funeral provider must: (1) be a party to the contract; (2) agree in the contract to provide those benefits; and (3) by signing the contract, agree to discharge the responsibilities imposed on a funeral provider by Section 154.161. (d) A sales contract for prepaid funeral benefits, whether in English or Spanish, must be written in plain language designed to be easily understood by the average consumer. The contract must be printed in an easily readable font and type size. The department shall provide model contracts complying with this subsection and shall enforce this subsection. (e) The commission by rule shall establish a standard disclosure that must be included in each contract to inform purchasers of the goods and services that will be provided or excluded under the contract and the circumstances under which the contract may be modified after death of the beneficiary. The commission by rule may prescribe a form for the standard disclosure that is designed to more closely conform to variations in sales contract forms that serve different purposes. Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1008, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 699, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 2001. Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1190 (H.B. 3762), Sec. 8, eff. September 1, 2009.