RS 8:454.1

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RS 8:454.1

§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, including the expenses necessary to carry out the purposes and administration of the trust. It is the intent of this Section that the net income of the fund shall be paid to the cemetery authority and used exclusively 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 the spaces as may be necessary to preserve the beauty and dignity of the spaces sold.

Income distributions within a perpetual care trust fund means the net income or total return distribution method as provided for in R.S. 8:454.2. 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. All funds held in trust for perpetual care purposes shall be administered by the trustee in accordance with this Chapter and the Louisiana Trust Code.

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; Acts 2022, No. 574, §1; Acts 2023, No. 29, §1; Acts 2023, No. 381, §1.