Cemetery Associations

V.S.A. tit. 18, ch. 121, subch. 3

in effect

18 V.S.A. § 5431 Cemetery associations; corporations

5431. Cemetery associations; corporations Every cemetery established after June 1, 1933 that is not owned and operated by a town or by a religious or ecclesiastical society shall be established, owned, and operated by a corporation as prescribed in this subchapter. Amended 2023, No. 6, § 179, eff. July 1, 2023.

18 V.S.A. § 5432 Organization and operation

5432. Organization and operation Such corporation shall be organized, and the affairs of the corporation shall be governed and controlled under the provisions of 11 V.S.A. chapter 1, under those sections thereof which provide for the organization and management of corporations not for profit.

18 V.S.A. § 5433 Authority; powers

5433. Authority; powers Upon filing the articles of incorporation, the incorporators and other members, if any, from the date of such filing, shall be and constitute a body corporate with perpetual succession and with capacity to perform all acts within the State not repugnant to law or the provisions of this chapter.

18 V.S.A. § 5434 Penalty for doing business as a cemetery association without authority

5434. Penalty for doing business as a cemetery association without authority A person, firm, corporation, or association, or a trust, trustee, or trustees of any person, firm, corporation, or association, who, without authority of this chapter so to do, shall exercise or attempt to exercise any powers, privileges, or franchises that are specified or may be granted under this chapter to incorporated cemetery associations, or who shall by any device attempt to evade the provisions of this chapter applicable to cemetery associations in respect to the sale of lots or spaces for the permanent disposition of human remains and the disposition of the proceeds thereof, shall be fined not less than $1,000.00 nor more than $10,000.00, and may be enjoined from further doing of such acts at the suit of any taxpayer of the State. However, the provisions of this section shall not affect or impair the rights of a person, firm, corporation, or association or a trust, trustee, or trustees of such person, firm, corporation, or association under any existing contract or contracts between such parties and incorporated cemetery associations, nor shall the performance of the provisions of such contract or contracts subject parties thereto to the penalties imposed by this section. (V.S. 1947, § 4068; P.L. § 3900; 1933, No. 49, § 21; amended 2021, No. 169 (Adj. Sess.), § 15, eff. Jan. 1, 2023.)

18 V.S.A. § 5435 Sales of lots, crypts, and niches; how income applied; rules

5435. Sales of lots, crypts, and niches; how income applied; rules (a) The income of a cemetery association, whether derived from the sale of lots, spaces, crypts, or niches for the permanent disposition of human remains, from donations, or otherwise, shall be exclusively applied to paying for the land or other cemetery property; laying out, preserving, protecting, and embellishing the cemetery and avenues leading thereto; the erection of buildings necessary for cemetery purposes; the establishing of a fund to care permanently for the cemetery; the repair and upkeep of mausoleums, vaults, columbariums, crypts, and niches in the cemetery; and to paying the necessary expenses of the cemetery association. A debt shall not be contracted in anticipation of future receipts, except for the original purchase of the land, community mausoleum, or columbarium, laying out, enclosing, and embellishing the grounds and avenues therein and to a sum not exceeding $50,000.00 in the whole, to be paid out of future income. The proceeds from the sale of lots, spaces, crypts, or niches for the permanent disposition of human remains, or other income of such association, shall not be divided among its members. All its income shall be used exclusively for the purposes of the association, as provided in this chapter, or invested in a fund the income of which shall be so used. Such association may adopt such reasonable rules and regulations as it deems expedient for disposing of and conveying lots, spaces, crypts, and niches for the permanent disposition of human remains. (b) At a regular meeting or at a special meeting duly called for that purpose, a cemetery corporation may adopt bylaws respecting improvements upon its lots and grounds as to the embellishment and beautifying of the same. It may also provide that the cost of such improvements be paid out of the regular funds of the corporation. Amended 2023, No. 6, § 180, eff. July 1, 2023.

18 V.S.A. § 5436 Perpetual care fund

5436. Perpetual care fund A cemetery association established prior to June 1, 1933 may create a perpetual care fund out of surplus money on hand or that has been given to it by will, deed, or otherwise. A cemetery association established after such date shall create such a perpetual care fund by applying thereto from the initial proceeds received from the sale of lots or spaces for the permanent disposition of human remains a sum that shall be equivalent to and not less than 20 percent of the sale price of each lot or space so sold, and such association may at any time increase the same by the addition of surplus money or property received by it by will, deed, or otherwise. (V.S. 1947, § 4071; 1947, No. 202, § 4072; P.L. § 3903; 1933, No. 49, § 24; amended 2021, No. 169 (Adj. Sess.), § 17, eff. Jan. 1, 2023.)

18 V.S.A. § 5437 Investment

5437. Investment A cemetery association shall invest trust funds in the same manner as town cemeteries pursuant to section 5384 of this title and may delegate the management and investment of cemetery association funds pursuant to subdivision (b)(3) of that section. Amended 2021, No. 84 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. July 1, 2022.

18 V.S.A. § 5438 Cemetery accounts; annual reports

5438. Cemetery accounts; annual reports (a) A cemetery association shall keep and maintain adequate and correct accounts of its business transactions, which at all reasonable times shall be open to the inspection of every member of such corporation. It shall keep separate and apart from its other funds all monies and property received by it for the perpetual care of the cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium that is owned by it or for the lots therein, and it shall keep accurate accounts of such perpetual care funds separate and apart from its accounts of other funds. (b) The treasurer of such corporation shall make, sign, and file at the annual meeting a report countersigned by the president, concerning the affairs of the corporation and the perpetual care funds, which report shall contain, among other things, a statement as to the amount of the treasurer’s bond and a true statement of the total amount of the fund or funds received and set apart for the perpetual care of the lots, cemetery, community mausoleum, and columbarium. Such report shall contain a list of the securities in which such fund or funds are invested, the income received from the fund or funds, all disbursements from such income, and the balance of money or property held and on hand in such fund or funds, and copies thereof shall forthwith be filed with the town clerk of the town and with the Probate Division of the Superior Court for the district in which the cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium is situated. Amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238a, eff. Feb. 1, 2011; 2023, No. 6, § 181, eff. July 1, 2023.

18 V.S.A. § 5439 Dissolution of cemetery associations

5439. Dissolution of cemetery associations A cemetery association, which is not owned and operated by a church or by a religious or ecclesiastical society, may be dissolved under the provisions of 11B V.S.A. chapter 14. Upon dissolution, all lands owned or held by it for cemetery purposes and all perpetual care funds, trust funds, and all other property held or owned by it, less dissolution expenses, may be transferred to the town in which the lands are located, and thereafter these lands may become public burial grounds, and the town shall hold the perpetual care funds and trust funds in trust for the care, improvement, and embellishment of the lots in the cemetery, according to the terms upon which they were held by the association. Amended 1975, No. 74; 2023, No. 6, § 182, eff. July 1, 2023.

18 V.S.A. § 5440 Merger of cemetery associations

5440. Merger of cemetery associations (a) An incorporated cemetery association or society, whether chartered by special act of the General Assembly or organized under articles of association, may merge with another incorporated association or society in the same town, thereby forming a new corporation under such name as may be designated in the articles of association hereinafter referred to. (b) Such merger shall be made by vote of a majority of the trustees or directors of each corporation. When so made, certified copies of the proceedings shall be forwarded to the Secretary of State. (c) The trustees of each such corporation may authorize the secretary thereof to sign the name of such corporation to the articles of association of the new corporation, and authorize one or more other persons to sign such articles of association. Such articles shall be filed with the Secretary of State. The articles shall set forth the name of the new corporation and they shall conform generally to the provisions of 11B V.S.A. chapter 1. When such articles are filed and recorded by the Secretary of State, all right, title, and interest in all property owned by each, and in trust funds held by each, shall vest in such new corporation, and the corporate functions of each of the corporations so merged shall cease after such new corporation has completed its organization.

Source: Vermont General Assembly (legislature.vermont.gov)URL: https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/chapter/18/121Fetched: 10/21/2026