Title 68, CEMETERIES, MORGUES, AND HUMAN REMAINS

After June 7, 1979, no nonendowment care cemetery may be established. However, any nonendowment care cemetery in existence on June 7, 1979, may continue to operate as a nonendowment care cemetery. [ 1979 c 21 s 18.]

See RCW 68.05.900.

Any cemetery authority not exempt under chapter 68.40 RCW shall establish, maintain, and operate an inviolable endowment care fund. Endowment care, special care, and other cemetery authorities' endowment care funds may be commingled for investment and the income therefrom shall b…

Endowment care funds shall not be used for any purpose other than to provide, through income only, for the endowment care stipulated in the instrument by which the fund was established. Endowment care funds shall be kept separate and distinct from all assets of the cemetery autho…

Endowment care funds shall be kept invested in accordance with the provisions of RCW 11.100.020 subject to the following restrictions: (1) No officer or director of the cemetery authority, trustee of the endowment care or special care funds, or spouse, sibling, parent, grandparen…

Every director or officer authorizing or consenting to a loan, and the person who receives a loan, in violation of RCW 68.44.030 are severally guilty of a class C felony punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW. [ 1984 c 53 s 2; 1943 c 247 s 133; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-133.]

Contributions to endowment care and special care funds are permitted for charitable purposes. Endowment care and such contributions are provisions for the discharge of a duty from the persons contributing to the persons interred or to be interred in the cemetery. This provision i…

The cemetery authority may adopt plans for the care, maintenance, and embellishment of its cemetery. A cemetery authority may charge and collect from all purchasers of plots or rights of interment a reasonable sum that will generate a fund, and the income from the fund will provi…

Upon payment of the purchase price and the contribution for endowment care, a deed of conveyance or other instrument may include an agreement to care for the cemetery, on an endowment basis to the extent the income will permit. [ 2005 c 365 s 117; 1953 c 290 s 18; 1943 c 247 s 10…

Upon the application of an owner of a plot, and upon the payment by the owner of the amount fixed as a reasonable and proportionate contribution for endowment care, a cemetery authority may enter into an agreement with the owner for the special care of his or her plot and its app…

Unless an association of lot owners has been created for the purpose of appointing trustees, the cemetery authority shall appoint a minimum of three trustees for its endowment care fund, who shall hold office subject to the direction of the cemetery authority. [ 2005 c 365 s 119;…

To be considered qualified as a trustee, each trustee of an endowment care fund appointed in accordance with this chapter shall file with the board a statement of acceptance of fiduciary responsibility, on a form approved by the board, before assuming the duties of trustee. The t…

The directors of a cemetery authority may be the trustees of its endowment care fund. When the fund is in the care of the directors, the secretary of the cemetery authority shall keep a true record of all of its proceedings. [ 2005 c 365 s 120; 1987 c 331 s 45; 1953 c 290 s 21; 1…

In lieu of the appointment of a board of trustees of its endowment care fund, a cemetery authority may appoint, as sole trustee of its endowment care fund, any bank or trust company qualified to engage in the trust business. The bank or trust company shall be authorized to receiv…

Compensation to the board of trustees or trustee for services as trustee and other compensation for administration of trust funds shall not exceed the customary fees charged by banks and trust companies for like services. Such fees may not be paid from the fund principal. [ 2005 …

The cemetery authority or the trustees in whose names the funds are held shall, annually, and within ninety days after the end of the calendar or fiscal year of the cemetery authority, file in its office and with the funeral and cemetery board endowment care trust fund, a report …

A cemetery authority which has established an endowment care fund may take and hold, as a part of the fund, any property, real, personal, or mixed, bequeathed, devised, granted, given, or otherwise contributed to it for its endowment care fund. [ 2005 c 365 s 124; 1953 c 290 s 22…

The income from the endowment care fund shall be used solely for the general care, maintenance, and embellishment of the cemetery, and shall be applied in such manner as the cemetery authority may from time to time determine to be for the best interest of the cemetery. [ 1953 c 2…

This chapter does not apply to any cemetery controlled and operated by a coroner, county, city, town, or cemetery district. [ 1987 c 331 s 49.]

See RCW 68.05.900.

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise. (1) "Board" means the funeral and cemetery board established under RCW 18.39.173 or its authorized representative. (2) "Cemetery merchandise or services" and "merchandise …

Any cemetery authority selling by prearrangement contracts any merchandise or services shall establish and maintain one or more prearrangement trust funds for the benefit of beneficiaries of prearrangement contracts. [ 2005 c 365 s 126; 1973 1st ex.s. c 68 s 2.]

(1) For each prearrangement contract, a cemetery authority shall deposit the greater of the following amounts in its prearrangement trust fund: (a) For merchandise: (i) Fifty percent of the contract price; or (ii) The wholesale cost of the item. (b) For services: (i) Fifty percen…

(1) All prearrangement trust funds must be deposited in a commercial bank, trust company, mutual savings bank, savings and loan association, or credit union, whether state or federally chartered. Such accounts must be designated as the "prearrangement trust fund" by name and the …

(1) A depository of prearrangement funds shall permit a cemetery authority to withdraw all funds deposited under any specific prearrangement contract plus interest accrued thereon, under the following circumstances and conditions: (a) If the cemetery authority files a verified st…

No cemetery authority may enter into a retail contract for the purchase of debentures, shares, scrip, bonds, notes, or any instrument or evidence of indebtedness that requires the cemetery authority to furnish cemetery merchandise, services, or interment rights to the holder at a…

Any purchaser or beneficiary may, upon written demand of any cemetery authority, demand that any prearrangement contract with such cemetery authority be terminated. In such event, the cemetery authority shall, within thirty days, refund to the purchaser or beneficiary fifty perce…

Prearrangement contracts shall terminate upon demand of the purchaser of the contract if the cemetery authority shall go out of business, become insolvent or bankrupt, make an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or for any other reason be unable to fulfill the obligations un…

In the event the beneficiary of a prearrangement contract make[s] no claim within fifty years of the date of the contract for the merchandise and services provided in the prearrangement contract, the funds deposited in the prearrangement trust for that contract, plus interest, sh…

Prearrangement trust funds shall not be used in any way for the benefit of the cemetery authority or any director, officer, agent, or employee of any cemetery authority, including, but not limited to any encumbrance, pledge, or other utilization or prearrangement trust funds as c…

Any cemetery authority selling prearrangement merchandise or other prearrangement services shall file in its office and with the board a written report upon forms prepared by the board which shall state the amount of the principle of the prearrangement trust fund, the depository …

Every prearrangement contract shall contain language which informs the purchaser of the prearrangement trust fund and the amount to be deposited in the prearrangement trust fund. The amount deposited to the prearrangement trust fund must meet the requirements of RCW 68.46.030. Ev…

No cemetery authority shall sell, offer to sell, or authorize the sale of cemetery merchandise or services or accept funds in payment of any prearrangement contract unless such acts are performed in compliance with this title and under the authority of a valid and unsuspended cer…

This chapter does not apply to any cemetery controlled and operated by a coroner, county, city, town, or cemetery district. [ 1987 c 331 s 54.]

The board may grant an exemption from any or all of the requirements of this chapter relating to prearrangement contracts to any cemetery authority which: (1) Sells less than twenty prearrangement contracts per year; and (2) Deposits one hundred percent of all funds received into…

No cemetery authority shall use a prearrangement contract without first filing the form of such contract with the board: PROVIDED, That the board may order the cemetery authority to cease using any prearrangement contract form which: (1) Is in violation of any provision of this c…

No cemetery authority shall enter into prearrangement contracts in this state unless the cemetery authority has obtained a prearrangement sales license issued by the board or its authorized representative and such license is then current and valid. [ 1979 c 21 s 23.]

(1) A cemetery authority that enters into prearrangement contracts for the sale of unconstructed crypts, niches, or undeveloped property, or that conveys undeveloped property by gift, shall maintain an adequate inventory of constructed crypts or niches and developed property. The…

See RCW 68.05.900.

The jurisdiction of bodies of all deceased persons who come to their death suddenly when in apparent good health without medical attendance within the 36 hours preceding death; or where the circumstances of death indicate death was caused by unnatural or unlawful means; or where …

A county coroner or county medical examiner or persons acting in that capacity shall be immune from civil liability for determining the cause and manner of death. The accuracy of the determinations is subject to judicial review. [ 1987 c 263 s 1.]

It shall be the duty of every person who knows of the existence and location of human remains coming under the jurisdiction of the coroner or medical examiner as set forth in RCW 68.50.010 or 27.44.055, to notify the coroner, medical examiner, or law enforcement thereof in the mo…

Whenever a coroner or medical examiner assumes jurisdiction over human remains and directs transportation of those remains by a funeral establishment, as defined in RCW 18.39.010, the reasonable costs of transporting shall be borne by the county if: (1) The funeral establishment …

It shall be unlawful for any cemetery under this chapter to refuse burial to any person because such person may not be of the Caucasian race. [ 1953 c 290 s 53. Formerly RCW 68.05.260.]

All jewelry, moneys, papers, and other personal property of the deceased shall be inventoried immediately upon being taken into custody by the coroner or his or her appointees. The original of such lists shall be certified to by the coroner and kept as a public record at the coun…

(1) Any person, not authorized or directed by the coroner or medical examiner or their deputies, who removes the body of a deceased person not claimed by a relative or friend, or moves, disturbs, molests, or interferes with the human remains coming within the jurisdiction of the …