Rhode Island cremation, cemetery and prepaid funeral rights

Rhode Island requires a crematory to obtain a license from the Department of Health before it conducts cremations, whether it is at a funeral establishment, run by a cemetery or elsewhere. The license is issued to a specific licensee for a specific location and cannot be transferred. Ask which crematory will be used and check its license for that location. [1]

A body may not be cremated within 24 hours after death unless the person died of a contagious or infectious disease. The crematory must also have the burial permit and a cremation certificate from the Office of State Medical Examiners, which is issued only when the medical examiners decide no further examination or inquiry into the death is needed. Ask the funeral home when the certificate is expected so you can plan the timing. [2]

Rhode Island’s cemetery law covers town cemeteries, religious society cemeteries, cemetery associations and any business conducting a cemetery or operating a community mausoleum or columbarium. When a lot, crypt or niche is sold with perpetual care, at least 20% of the sale price must be deposited in a separate perpetual care fund that is not mixed with the cemetery’s other money. Ask whether your purchase includes perpetual care and how much will go into the fund. [3][4]

The principal of a perpetual care fund must be kept intact; only its income and other earnings may be spent on care. Cemeteries must also keep burial records showing the location and name of the deceased, the burial date, the property owner and a map of the exact location, and must supply that information to the public on reasonable request. Ask to see the record for any plot you are considering. [5][6]

In Rhode Island, a funeral service contract is a contract for funeral, burial or other services, property or merchandise that are not needed immediately. Only a licensed funeral director or embalmer, or an officer of a funeral corporation incorporated before 1969, may arrange or sell one on behalf of a funeral establishment. The establishment must deposit the money it receives in escrow within 15 days, and interest and other income stay in the escrow account. The escrow agent may be the funeral director, so ask who the escrow agent is and where the account is held. [7][8][9]

You may cancel a funeral service contract before it is performed by written notice to both the establishment and the escrow agent. The money you paid into escrow, with accrued income, must be returned within 15 days, but the establishment may keep its actual and reasonable costs up to 2.5% of the escrow balance or $200, whichever is greater. If payments stop, or the establishment is not used to provide services, a different limit applies: up to 5% of the escrow balance or $200, whichever is greater, and the balance is paid within 15 days of a request. Ask the establishment to show how any amount it keeps was calculated. [11][9]

When the funeral takes place, charges may be adjusted to current reasonable and customary charges and itemized on a second contract marked “Part II”, but total expenses may not exceed the total in escrow, and any excess is returned to the beneficiary within 15 days. If contracted merchandise is unavailable, the establishment must furnish merchandise equal or superior in quality. Keep your original contract where your family can find it. [10][9]

An irrevocable funeral contract can be paid out only on the beneficiary’s death, and its funds can move to another funeral establishment only at the beneficiary’s request with the escrow agent’s consent. Buying one does not stop you buying other, revocable contracts. Rhode Island law also says a funeral service contract is not a burial insurance policy, so these escrow and refund rules do not establish what an insurance policy pays back. Check which kind of plan you are buying before you sign. [13][12]