[§441-22.7]  Further additional charges or fees for perpetual care prohibited; unfair or deceptive act or practice; penalty.  (a)  Subsequent to the execution of a valid written contract for the sale of cemetery property, interment services, funeral services, and related commodities by a mortuary, cemetery, or pre-need funeral authority to a purchaser in accordance with this chapter, further additional charges or fees for perpetual care shall be prohibited beyond those originally agreed upon in the contract and no such charges or fees shall be charged or collected by the seller for any purpose and upon any occasion; provided that a reasonable fee may be charged for administrative costs related to the transfer of ownership rights, including the cost of research, document and file preparation, photocopying, notary fees, records transfer and storage, and any other costs directly related to the transfer of ownership rights.

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 441-22.7

  • Cemetery: means any property, or part interest therein, dedicated to and used or intended to be used for the permanent interment of human remains. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 441-1
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Funeral services: means arranging for or providing for pick up of human remains, embalming, placing the same on display, or otherwise providing for final disposition of human remains. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 441-1
  • Interment: means the disposition of human remains by cremation and inurnment, entombment, or burial in a place used, or intended to be used, and dedicated for cemetery purposes. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 441-1
  • Pre-need funeral authority: means any person who is engaged in the business of selling pre-need funeral services, or holds money in trust to provide for future funeral services; provided that this shall not apply to the designated trustee of the funds. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 441-1

     (b)  A mortuary, cemetery, or pre-need funeral authority who violates subsection (a) is guilty of engaging in an unfair or deceptive act or practice under § 480-2, and shall be fined not less than $500 nor more than $10,000 for each violation.  The penalties provided in this subsection are cumulative to the remedies or penalties available under all other laws of this State.