All cemeteries in Alabama are endowment care cemeteries if they have charged fees
for interment rights after April 30, 2002, except for cemeteries owned or operated
by government entities and religious institutions. Endowment care cemeteries must
establish and fund an endowment care trust fund with and held by a bank, trust company,
savings and loan association, or a board of trustee consisting of at least three
bonded board members. The endowment care fund must be held intact, except for income
from the trust that may be used exclusively for cemetery maintenance. As of May
1, 2007, all endowment care cemeteries, including newly organized cemeteries, must
have at least $25,000 in the endowment care trust fund. Code Sections of the
Alabama Preneed Funeral and Cemetery Act applicable to Endowment Care Cemeteries
are Sections 27-17A-45 thru 27-17A-56.
Endowment care cemeteries are required to maintain a log of all cemetery property sales. The logs should show all transactions made since April 30, 2002. At a
minimum, the logs should be updated quarterly, so that at no time is it ever more than a quarter behind. The specific requirements of the log are contained in
Preneed Regulation 482-3-005. Use of the Department’s example Cemetery Property Sales Log complies with the aforementioned regulation.
Each endowment care cemetery must submit an Endowment Care Cemetery Annual Report. This report along with a
statement of the activities of the Endowment Care Trust must be submitted to the Commissioner within 90 days of the
close of each calendar year. The report requires disclosure of the amount held in trust at the end of both the current and prior year.