Bill Text: CA SB1179 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Public cemetery districts: interment rights.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-09-24 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 592, Statutes of 2016. [SB1179 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB1179-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1179 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 592
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 24, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 24, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 18, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 11, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 6, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 31, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Vidak
FEBRUARY 18, 2016
An act to amend Section 9002 of, and to add Chapter 5.5
(commencing with Section 9069.10) to Part 4 of Division 8 of, the
Health and Safety Code, relating to cemeteries.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1179, Vidak. Public cemetery districts: interment rights.
Existing law, the Public Cemetery District Law, specifies the
procedures for the formation of public cemetery districts, procedures
for the selection of the district board of trustees and officers,
and the powers and duties of the board. Existing law authorizes a
public cemetery district to sell "interment rights," defined as the
right to use or control the use of a plot, niche, or other space in a
public cemetery district for interment of human remains. Existing
law provides for the succession of an interment plot in a private
cemetery.
This bill would modify the definition of "interment rights" to,
among other things, specify that those rights are a transferable
property interest held by the owner to determine, among other things,
the number and identity of any person or persons to be interred in
the plot within a public cemetery. The bill would require the owner
of an interment right, at the time of purchase, to designate a
successor owner or owners in a signed written designation deposited
with the cemetery district. The bill would provide that the intestate
order of succession would apply, if the owner dies without making
that written designation or a valid and enforceable disposition of
the interment right by a specific devise in a testamentary device.
The bill would also require the public cemetery district to follow
specified procedures in the event that the owner dies with no heirs
at law.
The bill also would provide the circumstances and process under
which human remains may be disinterred, reinterred, or removed from a
public cemetery district after interment, and would specify the
records required to be maintained by the public cemetery district and
the person removing and relocating the human remains. The bill would
require a person who purports to be the successor owner of an
interment right to execute a written affidavit, under penalty of
perjury, that includes specified information regarding his or her
claim of successorship, and would provide that a district or district
employee or trustee is not liable for claims, losses, or damages
resulting from transferring an interment right in reliance on that
affidavit, except as provided.
By expanding the scope of the crime of perjury and imposing new
duties on public cemetery districts, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 9002 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
9002. The definitions in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 7000)
of Part 1 of Division 7 apply to this part. Further, as used in this
part, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) "Active militia" means the active militia as defined by
Section 120 of the Military and Veterans Code.
(b) "Armed services" means the armed services as defined by
Section 18540 of the Government Code.
(c) "Board of trustees" means the legislative body of a district.
(d) "District" means a public cemetery district created pursuant
to this part or any of its statutory predecessors.
(e) "Domestic partner" means two adults who have chosen to share
one another's lives in an intimate and committed relationship of
mutual caring, and are qualified and registered with the Secretary of
State as domestic partners in accordance with Division 2.5 of the
Family Code.
(f) "Family member" means any spouse, by marriage or otherwise,
domestic partner, child or stepchild, by natural birth or adoption,
parent, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, parent-in-law,
brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew, niece, aunt, uncle, first
cousin, or any person denoted by the prefix "grand" or "great," or
the spouse of any of these persons.
(g) "Firefighter" means a firefighter as defined by Section
1797.182.
(h) (1) "Interment right" means the rights held by the owner to
use or control the use of a plot authorized by this part, for the
interment of human remains, including both of the following rights:
(A) To determine the number and identity of any person or persons
to be interred in the plot within a cemetery in conformance with all
applicable regulations adopted by the cemetery district.
(B) To control the placement, design, wording, and removal of
memorial markers in compliance with all applicable regulations
adopted by the cemetery district.
(2) An interment right is a transferable property interest, and is
governed by Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 9069.10).
(i) "Nonresident" means a person who does not reside within a
district or does not pay property taxes on property located in a
district.
(j) "Peace officer" means a peace officer as defined by Section
830 of the Penal Code.
(k) "Principal county" means the county having all or the greater
portion of the entire assessed value, as shown on the last equalized
assessment roll of the county or counties, of all taxable property
within a district.
(l) "Voter" means a voter as defined by Section 359 of the
Elections Code.
SEC. 2. Chapter 5.5 (commencing with Section 9069.10) is added to
Part 4 of Division 8 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5.5. INTERMENT RIGHTS
9069.10. An interment right does not include the right for
disinterment of human remains except on consent of the cemetery
district and the written consent of the surviving spouse, child,
parent, or sibling, in that order of priority.
9069.15. (a) This chapter does not apply to, or prohibit, the
removal of remains from one plot to another in the same cemetery or
the removal of remains by a cemetery district upon the written order
of any of the following:
(1) The superior court of the county in which the cemetery is
located.
(2) The coroner having jurisdiction of the location of the
cemetery.
(3) The health department having jurisdiction of the cemetery.
(b) The cemetery district shall maintain a duplicate copy of an
order pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) The cemetery district shall retain a true and correct record
of a removal of remains pursuant to subdivision (a) that includes all
of the following:
(1) The date the remains were removed.
(2) The name and the age at death of the person whose remains were
removed if available.
(3) The cemetery and plot from which the remains were removed.
(4) (A) If the removed remains are reinterred, the plot number,
cemetery name, and location to which the remains were reinterred.
(B) If the removed remains are disposed of other than by being
reinterred, a record of the alternate disposition.
(5) If the removed remains are reinterred at the cemetery, the
date of reinterment.
(d) The person making the removal shall deliver to the cemetery
district operating the cemetery from which the remains were removed a
true, full, and complete copy of the record containing all of the
information specified in subdivision (c).
9069.20. (a) An interment right provides a transferable property
interest to the person listed as the owner in the records of the
cemetery district, subject to any written designation to the contrary
signed by the owner and deposited with the cemetery district, or to
the owner's successor pursuant to either this section or subdivision
(a) of Section 9069.25. An interment right shall not be construed as
conferring title to the property burdened by the transferable
property interest.
(b) The owner of record of an interment right may designate in
writing the person or persons, other than the owner of record, who
may be interred in the plot to which the owner holds the interment
right.
(c) The owner of an interment right shall, at the time of
purchase, designate a successor owner or owners of the interment
right in a signed written designation deposited with the district.
(d) Use of an interment right transferred from the owner to a
successor pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be made in compliance
with applicable provisions of state and local law, and of applicable
requirements or policies established by the district board of
trustees.
9069.25. (a) If the owner of an interment right dies without
making a valid and enforceable disposition of the interment right by
a specific devise in a testamentary device, or by a written
designation pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 9069.20, the
interment right shall pass according to the laws of intestate
succession as set forth in Sections 6400 to 6413, inclusive, of the
Probate Code. In the event that the owner has no heirs at law, the
district shall follow the abandonment procedures established under
Section 9069.
(b) A surviving spouse, registered domestic partner, child,
parent, or heir who has an interment right pursuant to this section
may waive that interment right in favor of any other relative of the
deceased owner or spouse of a relative of the deceased owner.
9069.30. When a public cemetery district acts to transfer
ownership rights or make an interment on the basis of the affidavit,
given under penalty of perjury pursuant to Section 9069.35, the
district, and any employee or trustee of the district, shall not be
liable for any claims, losses, or damages asserted in any action
unless the district had actual knowledge that the facts stated in
writing are false.
9069.35. A person who purports to be the successor owner of an
interment right shall execute a written affidavit declaring, under
penalty of perjury, all of the following:
(a) He or she is the person entitled to succeed to the interment
right pursuant to Section 9069.20.
(b) He or she has exerted all reasonable efforts to find other
persons who may have an equal or higher claim to succeed to the
interment right.
(c) He or she is unaware, to the best of his or her knowledge, of
any opposition challenging his or her right to succeed to the
interment right.
9069.40. Upon the sale to a person of a plot in a cemetery within
a district, the district shall notify the purchaser, in writing, of
any interment rights, that this chapter governs the succession of
ownership of the interment rights, and the district's duly adopted
policies, rules, and regulations governing the use, sale, or other
transfer of interment rights.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for
certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.
