South Dakota cremation, cemetery and prepaid funeral rights

Each crematory in South Dakota must be licensed by the State Board of Funeral Service. Except at a medical facility crematory, its operation must be directed and supervised at all times by a licensed funeral director who has completed a crematory operator program approved by the Board. Ask which crematory will be used and who supervises it. [1][2]

A decedent may not be cremated for 24 hours after death is pronounced or declared. A physician or the coroner may waive that wait in writing if death resulted from a virulent communicable disease. If a coroner is investigating the death, cremation must wait for the coroner’s written release. Ask whether a coroner’s release is needed in your case. [3]

South Dakota’s cemetery perpetual care chapter does not apply to cemeteries of churches, religious or established fraternal societies, municipalities or other political subdivisions, or to cemeteries in existence more than five years before February 28, 1955. Cemeteries it does cover are classed as either perpetual care or nonperpetual care cemeteries. The exemption does not by itself tell you what care an exempt cemetery provides, so ask for its written care arrangements. [4][5]

To operate as a perpetual care cemetery, a covered cemetery must deposit at least 20% of the gross selling price into its principal fund, with minimums such as $20 for an adult burial space, $100 for a public mausoleum crypt and $10 for a columbarium niche, and no principal may be withdrawn. A nonperpetual care cemetery must post a sign in its sales office saying “This is a nonperpetual care cemetery,” print that legend on its contracts and deeds, and tell buyers before selling a space. Ask which kind of cemetery you are dealing with. [6][7][8]

At least 85% of all money paid under a South Dakota prearranged funeral contract must be held in a revocable or irrevocable trust, at the purchaser’s option. The clause every contract must contain states that no less than 85% must be placed in trust for a guaranteed-price contract and 100% for a contract that is not for a guaranteed price. The money must be deposited within 10 days in a federally insured institution based in South Dakota. Ask whether your contract is for a guaranteed price and where the trust account is held. [9][11][10]

A contract creating a revocable trust may be canceled by either party at any time on 30 days’ written notice. The required contract clause says that on cancellation of a revocable trust, 100% of the money paid into trust and 100% of accrued trust interest are returned to the purchaser, and for a revocable guaranteed-price contract the statute gives the same unless the contract specifies more. Ask the seller how much of your payments went into trust and whether the contract promises a larger refund. [12][11][13]

A prearranged funeral contract sold in compliance with these rules is not burial insurance. These trust and refund rules therefore do not establish what an insurance policy used to pay for a funeral would return. Ask for the policy’s own cancellation terms. [14]