BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    SB 1179


                                                                    Page  1





          Date of Hearing:  June 29, 2016


                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT


                           Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair


          SB  
          1179 (Vidak) - As Amended June 6, 2016


          SENATE VOTE:  38-0


          SUBJECT:  Public cemetery districts:  interment rights.


          SUMMARY:  Clarifies in the principal act for public cemetery  
          districts the scope of rights behind an interment right, and  
          establishes a process to allow an owner of an interment right to  
          transfer that right to successors.  Specifically, this bill:   


          1)Defines an interment right as a transferable property interest  
            that provides an owner of the right to use or control the use  
            of a plot for the interment of human remains, which includes  
            the following rights:



             a)   The right to determine the number and identity of any  
               person or persons to be interred in the plot within a  
               cemetery in conformance with all applicable regulations  
               adopted by the cemetery district (district); and,  











                                                                    SB 1179


                                                                    Page  2





             b)   The right to control the placement, design, wording, and  
               removal of memorial markers in compliance with all  
               applicable regulations adopted by a district.



          2)Provides that an interment right shall not be construed as  
            conferring title to the property burdened by the transferable  
            property interest.



          3)Allows an owner of an interment right to designate in writing  
            the person or persons who may be interred in the plot to which  
            the owner holds the interment right.



          4)Requires an owner of an interment right to designate, at the  
            time of purchase, a successor owner or owners of the interment  
            right in a signed written designation deposited with the  
            district.



          5)Requires, if the owner of an interment right dies without  
            making a valid and enforceable disposition of the interment  
            right by a specific device in a testamentary device, or by a  
            written designation, the interment right to pass according to  
            the laws of intestate succession.  Requires a district, in the  
            event that the owner has no heirs at law, to follow the  
            abandonment procedures established for public cemetery  
            districts.  



          6)Provides that an interment right does not include the right  
            for disinterment of human remains, except with consent of the  
            district and written consent of the surviving spouse, child,  








                                                                    SB 1179


                                                                    Page  3





            parent, or sibling, in that order of priority.  



          7)Specifies that this bill does not prohibit the removal of  
            remains from one plot to another in the same cemetery or the  
            removal of remains by a cemetery district upon the written  
            order of the court, the coroner, or the health department.   
            Requires a district to maintain a copy of the written order  
            and retain records relating to the removal or final  
            disposition of the remains, as specified.  



          8)Requires a district, upon sale of a burial plot, to notify the  
            purchaser in writing of all the following:



             a)   The interment rights of the purchaser; 



             b)   The law that governs the successive ownership of  
               interment rights; and,



             c)   The district's adopted policies, rules, and regulations  
               governing the use, sale, or other transfer of interment  
               rights.



          9)Allows a surviving spouse, registered domestic partner, child,  
            parent, or heir, who has an interment right, to waive the  
            right in favor of any other relative of the deceased owner or  
            spouse of a relative of the deceased owner.  









                                                                    SB 1179


                                                                    Page  4







          10)Requires a person, who purports to be the successive owner of  
            an interment right, to execute a written affidavit declaring  
            under penalty of perjury all of the following:



             a)   He or she is the person entitled to succeed to the  
               interment right as provided;  



             b)   He or she has exerted all reasonable efforts to find  
               other persons, who may have an equal or higher claim to  
               succeed to the interment right; and,



             c)   He or she is unaware, to the best of his or her  
               knowledge, of any opposition challenging his or her right  
               to succeed to the interment right.  



          11)Requires the successive owner of an interment right to comply  
            with applicable state and local laws, and applicable  
            requirements or policies established by a district board of  
            trustees.  



          12)Provides that when a district acts to transfer ownership  
            rights or makes an interment on the basis of a written  
            affidavit described in 10), above, the district, an employee,  
            or trustee shall not be liable for any claims, losses, or  
            damages asserted in any action, unless the district had actual  
            knowledge that the facts stated in the written affidavit were  
            false.  








                                                                    SB 1179


                                                                    Page  5







          EXISTING LAW:   


          1)Establishes Public Cemetery District Law, which provides  
            formation, powers, and governance for public cemetery  
            districts.  



          2)Authorizes a district to exercise all rights and powers to sue  
            and be sued; to acquire, sell, or lease property; to engage  
            counsel and other professional services; and, to enter into  
            and perform all necessary contracts.  Authorizes a district to  
            sell interment rights in its cemeteries, columbariums, and  
            mausoleums, as specified.  



          3)Defines interment right as the right to use or control the use  
            of a plot, niche, or other space, authorized by law, for  
            interment of human remains.  (Section 9002.)



          4)Requires a district board of trustees to adopt a schedule of  
            fees for interments in cemeteries owned by the district and  
            for other necessary and convenient services.  



          5)Limits interment in a district to the following:



             a)   Persons who are residents of the district;










                                                                    SB 1179


                                                                    Page  6






             b)   Persons who are former residents of the district and who  
               acquired interment rights while they were residents of the  
               district;



             c)   Persons who pay property taxes on property located in  
               the district;



             d)   Persons who formerly paid property taxes on property  
               located in a district and who acquired interment rights  
               while they paid those property taxes;



             e)   Eligible nonresidents of the district, as provided in  
               this chapter; and,



             f)   Persons who are family members of any person described  
               above.  



          6)Requires a district to maintain accurate and current records,  
            including records of the location of the sites where persons  
            have acquired interment rights, including the names and  
            addresses of the persons who have acquired these interment  
            rights, and the location of plots where interment rights are  
            available for acquisition. 



          7)Establishes a process for a public cemetery district to seek  
            the abandonment of an interment plot.  Requires the board of  








                                                                    SB 1179


                                                                    Page  7





            trustees of a public cemetery district, to seek abandonment,  
            to file a petition with the superior court, as specified.  



          FISCAL EFFECT:  This bill is keyed fiscal.  


          COMMENTS:  


          1)Bill Summary.  This bill seeks to clarify the rights of an  
            interment right, and provides the groundwork for passing on an  
            interment right to successors by allowing a purchaser to  
            transfer the right to a named successor on a designation form,  
            or through a testamentary instrument.  Under existing law, if  
            the purchaser of a burial right dies and is not buried in the  
            plot, there is no mechanism for the interment right to be  
            passed on to living heirs.  This bill provides that mechanism  
            by requiring a purchaser to designate a beneficiary or  
            successor.  Additionally, this bill clarifies that an owner of  
            an interment right may transfer his or her interment right in  
            a trust, will, or other testamentary document.  Under this  
            bill, if a purchaser fails to name a successor, the interment  
            right passes according to the rules of intestate succession,  
            similar to the transfer of burial rights in private  
            cemeteries.  This bill also requires that when a named  
            successor comes forward to claim the interment right, the  
            successor must execute an affidavit to confirm his or her  
            ownership.  This bill is sponsored by the California  
            Association of Public Cemeteries.  


          2)Author's Statement.  According to the author, "Current law  
            presently provides no direction to public cemeteries when it  
            comes to the use of interment rights purchased by someone who  
            has already passed away without designating a successor.   
            Because of this ambiguity with the passing of interment  
            rights, some public cemeteries have established their own  








                                                                    SB 1179


                                                                    Page  8





            guidelines or policies as to how internment rights are passed  
            down.  With guidelines varying from district to district, it  
            can cause confusion and delay for a family that is trying to  
            utilize an interment right purchased by a deceased family  
            member.  When a cemetery decides to use an interment right  
            that has not been probated or successor named in legal  
            documents, they usually have about 3 to 7 days to make a  
            decision to accommodate the family's request to inter the  
            deceased.  These quick and emotional decisions must be made by  
            public cemeteries to determine who has the authority to use  
            the interment right with very little guidance from the law.   
            SB 1179 requires interment right owners, at the time of  
            purchase, to designate successors.  If the owner of an  
            interment right passes before any successors are appointed in  
            either the previous provisions of SB 1179 or a legal device  
            (will, trust, probate), the interment right will transfer to  
            the successors according to the rules of interstate  
            succession, similar to the transfer of burial rights in  
            private cemeteries.  Heirs who have an interment right are  
            able to waive that right in favor of any other relative of the  
            deceased owner."  





          3)Arguments in Support.  Supporters argue that public cemetery  
            districts do not have documented guidance to administer  
            interment rights after the original owner dies, leaving no  
            affidavit or direction for the use of those interment rights,  
            a void that the provisions of this bill will fill.  


          4)Arguments in Opposition.  None on file.  


          5)Double Referral.  This bill was heard by the Judiciary  
            Committee on June 8, 2016, where it passed with a 9-0 vote.  









                                                                    SB 1179


                                                                    Page  9









          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:




          Support                                 Opposition


          California Association of Public Cemeteries [SPONSOR]None on  
          file


          Altaville Cemetery District


          California Special Districts Association


          Fair Oaks Cemetery District


          Kern County Cemetery District


          Lemoore Cemetery District


          Los Banos Cemetery District


          Madera Cemetery District


          Murrieta Valley Cemetery District









                                                                    SB 1179


                                                                    Page  10






          Oroville Cemetery District


          Paso Robles District Cemetery


          Public Cemetery Alliance


          Roseville Public Cemetery District


          San Jacinto Valley Cemetery District


          Sutter Cemetery District


          Williams Cemetery District


          Wilmington Cemetery District




          Analysis Prepared by:Misa Lennox / L. GOV. / (916)  
          319-3958