Kentucky cremation, cemetery and advance-payment rights

Kentucky requires a crematory authority license from the Attorney General before a crematory opens. The license is valid only at the address stated in the application and must be displayed at the crematory. Ask for the name, location and license details of the facility that will perform the cremation, including when you arrange it through another business. [1]

For sales covered by KRS 367.952, the care-fund deposits are 20% of the gross selling price for a grave space, with a $20 minimum; 5% for an underground crypt, with a $25 minimum; 5% for a mausoleum crypt, with a $50 minimum; and 10% for a columbarium niche, with a $15 minimum. Required deposits are due within 30 days after each calendar quarter. Ask which requirement applies to the space you are buying. [2]

A cemetery owned and operated by a local government is exempt from that statutory care-fund requirement. The exemption alone does not establish what maintenance the cemetery promises. Ask for its written care arrangements and how they are funded. [2]

For arrangements covered by KRS 367.934, payments must be placed with a qualifying financial institution as trustee, and earnings stay with the principal. Except for a permitted refund or the administrative fee described below, funds remain in trust until the beneficiary has died and all contracted merchandise and services have been supplied. The section excludes the furnishing of cemetery lots or mausoleums. Ask for the trustee’s name and the funding terms. [3]

Contracts for funeral services or merchandise sold as preneed and burial insurance policies regulated by Kentucky’s Department of Insurance are excluded from KRS 367.932–367.974. The trust and refund rules described here therefore do not establish the refund available under an insurance policy. Ask the seller to identify the funding method and provide the policy’s cancellation terms. [3]

For contracts entered into on or after July 15, 2026, a seller who guarantees a price for all merchandise and full performance of all services may collect an administrative fee of up to 15% of the total payments due under the contract. It may be collected only once, even if the contract transfers to a successor, and an installment contract must be fully paid before collection. The fee is permitted, not automatic. Ask whether your contract includes it. [4][5]

For covered, revocable funeral-service arrangements, KRS 367.936 allows a refund demand with 15 days’ written notice to the seller and trustee. If the trustee is unknown, notice to the seller is sufficient. For contracts entered into before July 15, 2026, the refund rule returns the amount actually paid plus earnings. For contracts entered into on or after that date, it excludes a qualifying administrative fee imposed on a fully paid contract, while still including earnings. Check the contract date and request an itemized refund calculation. [6][4][5]

KRS 367.937 allows a qualifying arrangement connected to entitlement benefits to make the trust irrevocable during the beneficiary’s or grantor’s lifetime, so the ordinary refund right may not apply. The statute also specifies when the trust becomes revocable again if the benefit conditions fail. An irrevocable trust does not prevent the beneficiary or grantor from changing the seller, trustee or both by written request to the seller and trustee. Check any irrevocable election before relying on a refund estimate. [7]