Duties of Registrant; Written Contract

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Commerce and Trade
  4. Cemetery and Funeral Services
  5. Duties of Registrant; Written Contract

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  1. A registrant offering to provide burial rights, burial or funeral merchandise, or burial or funeral services to the public shall:
    1. Provide by telephone, upon request, accurate information regarding the retail prices of burial or funeral merchandise and services offered for sale by the registrant;
    2. Fully disclose all regularly offered services and merchandise prior to the selection of burial rights, burial or funeral services, or burial or funeral merchandise. The full disclosure required shall identify the prices of all burial rights, burial or funeral services, and burial or funeral merchandise provided by the registrant;
    3. Not make any false or misleading statements of the legal requirement as to the necessity of a casket or outer burial container;
    4. Provide a good faith estimate of all fees and costs the customer will incur to use any burial rights, merchandise, or services purchased;
    5. Provide to the customer a current copy of the rules and regulations of the registrant;
    6. Provide the registrant's policy on cancellation and refunds to each customer;
    7. Provide refunds if burial or funeral merchandise is not delivered as represented; and
    8. Provide the customer, upon the purchase of any burial right or burial or funeral merchandise or service, a written contract, the form of which has been filed with the Secretary of State.
  2. In a manner established by rule of the Secretary of State, the written contract shall provide on the signature page of the contract, clearly and conspicuously in boldface ten-point type or larger, the following:
    1. The words "purchase price" together with the sum of all items set out in the contract in accordance with subsection (d) of this Code section;
    2. The amount to be placed in trust;
    3. Either:
      1. A statement that no further expenses will be incurred at the time of need; or
      2. A statement that additional expenses will be incurred at the time of need, the registrant's current price for each such expense, and a statement that such prices may be expected to increase in the future; and
    4. The telephone number designated by the Secretary of State for questions and complaints.
  3. The written contract shall be completed prior to the signing of the contract by the customer and a copy of the contract shall be provided to the customer. As used in this subsection, the term "signing" includes any manual, facsimile, conformed, or electronic signature, and the term "electronic signature" means an electronic symbol or process attached to or logically associated with a document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document.
  4. The written contract shall provide an itemization of the amounts charged for all burial rights, burial or funeral services, burial or funeral merchandise, cash advances, and fees and other charges, which itemization shall be clearly and conspicuously segregated from everything else on the written contract.
  5. The written contract shall contain a description of the burial or funeral merchandise covered by the contract to include, when applicable, size, materials from which the burial or funeral merchandise is made, and other relevant specifications as may be required by the Secretary of State.
  6. The written contract shall disclose the location at which funeral services are to be provided and the space number of each lot or grave space.

(Code 1981, §10-14-18, enacted by Ga. L. 2000, p. 882, § 1; Ga. L. 2012, p. 625, § 2/HB 933; Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 10/HB 323.)

The 2017 amendment, effective May 9, 2017, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "burial rights" for "burial or rights" near the middle of the second sentence in paragraph (a)(2).


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