Florida funeral, cremation and advance-payment rights

A chapter 497 licensee or an affiliated licensee may not become the exclusive or sole provider of funeral, cremation, refrigeration or removal services through an arrangement with an entity providing medical, palliative or other end-of-life care and services to the public. Ask who will provide each service and how the provider was selected. [1]

Florida’s official funeral and cemetery license search displays valid licenses and warns that its information may lag by several weeks. Check the actual business or individual involved; if a record is missing or unclear, confirm its current status with the regulator rather than treating the search result as a final answer. [2]

Florida calls the licensed cremation facility a cinerator facility. It may not operate unless its facility license has been issued and is in good standing. Ask for the name and license details of the facility that will perform the cremation, including when you arrange the service through another business. [3]

For cemetery companies covered by section 497.268, care and maintenance funding is separate from the preneed-merchandise trust. The required care-fund deposit is 10% of payments received for burial rights, with a minimum of $25 per burial right for sales after September 30, 1993. The section also sets installment and deposit-timing rules. Ask the cemetery which care-fund requirement applies and what ongoing maintenance it promises; this rule does not establish the status of every Florida cemetery. [4]

For contracts entered into on or after October 1, 1993 and funded under section 497.458’s trust mechanism, minimum deposits are 70% of the price collected for services and rented facilities, 100% for cash-advance items, and the greater of 30% of the price collected or 110% of wholesale cost for each merchandise item. Unless the contract has been fulfilled, deposits are due within 30 days after the end of the month in which payment is received. Ask which funding mechanism your contract uses; these percentages are not a universal rule for every preneed arrangement. Older contracts have separate trust-amount rules in subsection (6). [5]

A charge under section 497.4555 is exempt from trust deposits. That exemption alone does not determine whether the charge must be refunded. Ask the seller to identify the charge separately and explain the cancellation terms. [6]

Section 497.459 provides a written-notice cancellation right within 30 days of signing, with a refund excluding amounts allocated to burial rights, merchandise or services already used. A qualifying purchaser who is also the beneficiary and applies for or receives specified public benefits may make the contract irrevocable; such a contract cannot be cancelled during life or after death under this provision. The statute also distinguishes refund amounts for contracts made before October 1, 1993. Check the contract date and any irrevocable election before relying on a refund estimate. [7]

After 30 days, the statute treats services, facilities and cash-advance items differently from merchandise. The former may be cancelled by written notice for a refund of their allocated purchase price. A merchandise refund depends on the licensee’s failure or inability to deliver under the statute, which permits specified alternatives. Ask for a written, itemized refund calculation rather than assuming that every part of the contract is refundable. [7]

If payments are 90 days overdue, the licensee may cancel and retain the merchandise portion of the trust as liquidated damages, provided it has given 30 days’ written notice of its intention to use these rights. On withdrawing those funds, it must return the trust funds allocated to services, facilities and cash advances. This provision concerns money in trust, not necessarily every dollar paid. [7]