AI-assisted research summary: A cemetery corporation must set up a trust fund with an in-state trust company or bank with trust powers, and the fund’s principal must stay intact and separate from operating money.
Sec. 712.021. ESTABLISHMENT AND PURPOSES OF FUND. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (h), a corporation that operates a perpetual care cemetery in this state shall have a fund established with a trust company or a bank with trust powers that is located in this state. The trust company or bank may not have more than one director who is also a director of the corporation. (b) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the principal of the fund may not be reduced voluntarily, and it must remain inviolable. The trustee shall maintain the principal of the fund separate from all operating funds of the corporation. (c) In establishing a fund, the corporation may adopt plans for the general care, maintenance, and embellishment of its perpetual care cemetery. (d) The fund and the trustee are governed by the Texas Trust Code (Section 111.001 et seq., Property Code). (e) A corporation that establishes a fund may receive and hold for the fund and as a part of the fund or as an incident to the fund any property contributed to the fund. (f) The fund and contributions to the fund are for charitable purposes. The perpetual care financed by the fund is: (1) the discharge of a duty due from the corporation to persons interred and to be interred in its perpetual care cemetery; and (2) for the benefit and protection of the public by preserving and keeping the perpetual care cemetery from becoming a place of disorder, reproach, and desolation in the community in which the perpetual care cemetery is located. (g) In this subsection, "master trust account" means an account containing the perpetual care trust funds of two or more certificate holders for the purpose of collective investment and administration. The trustors of two or more perpetual care trust funds may establish a master trust account in which deposits required by this chapter are made, provided that separate records of principal and income are maintained for each perpetual care cemetery for the benefit of which the master trust account is established, and further provided that the income attributable to each perpetual care cemetery is used only for the perpetual care of that cemetery. (h) A corporation may apply to the commissioner for temporary relief and placement of a perpetual care trust fund in a segregated interest bearing account at a Texas financial institution, as defined by Section 201.101, Finance Code, if the corporation: (1) has been operating a perpetual care cemetery in this state for at least two years; and (2) has a perpetual care trust fund with a balance of less than $100,000, the income of which is insufficient to pay trustee fees. Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 634, Sec. 31, eff. Sept. 1, 1993. Amended by: Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 19 (S.B. 656), Sec. 2, eff. May 15, 2015. Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 71 (S.B. 1402), Sec. 4, eff. September 1, 2017. Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1051 (H.B. 1948), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2017. Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 864 (H.B. 2950), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2019.