California Health and Safety Code

§ 8585

HSC § 8585 Effective Jan 1, 2009Div. 8 · Part 3 · Ch. 3 · Art. 6

Statute text

(a)Whenever ownership of any cemetery authority is proposed to be transferred, the cemetery authority shall notify the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau in the Department of Consumer Affairs. A change in ownership, for purposes of this section, shall be deemed to occur whenever more than 50 percent of the equitable ownership of a cemetery authority is transferred in a single transaction or in a related series of transactions to one or more persons, associations, or corporations. The notice shall specify the address of the principal offices of the cemetery authority, and whether it will be changed or unchanged, and shall specify the name and address of each new owner and the stockholders. A person or entity that knowingly provides false information shall be subject to a civil penalty for each violation in the minimum amount of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) and the maximum amount of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). An action for a civil penalty under this provision may be brought by any public prosecutor in the name of the people of the State of California and the penalty imposed shall be enforceable as a civil judgment.

(b)Notice of the change of ownership shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the cemetery is located. The notice shall specify the address of the principal offices of the cemetery authority, whether changed or unchanged, and shall specify the name and address of each new owner and each stockholder owning more than 5 percent of the stock of each new owner.

(c)If there is a change of ownership pursuant to this section, the existing certificate of authority shall lapse and a new certificate of authority shall be obtained from the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. No person shall purchase a cemetery, including purchase at a sale for delinquent taxes, or purchase more than 50 percent of the equitable ownership of a cemetery authority without having obtained a certificate of authority from the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau prior to the purchase of the cemetery or the ownership interest in the cemetery authority.

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Legislative history

Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 490, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2009.