Terms Used In Maryland Code, HEALTH OCCUPATIONS 7-4A-06

  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Embezzlement: In most states, embezzlement is defined as theft/larceny of assets (money or property) by a person in a position of trust or responsibility over those assets. Embezzlement typically occurs in the employment and corporate settings. Source: OCC
  • Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. Source: OCC
  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • Person: includes an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, representative of any kind, corporation, partnership, business trust, statutory trust, limited liability company, firm, association, or other nongovernmental entity. See
  • state: means :

    (1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or

    (2) the District of Columbia. See
(a) Subject to the provisions of this subtitle, a person may recover compensation from the Fund for an actual pre-need trust fund loss that occurred on or after January 1, 2010, and is based on an act or omission as described in subsection (b) of this section.

(b) A claim for the loss shall:

(1) Be based on an act or omission that occurs in the provision of funeral pre-need services by:

(i) A licensed mortician;

(ii) A licensed funeral director;

(iii) A licensed apprentice mortician;

(iv) A licensed apprentice funeral director; or

(v) An unlicensed employee of a licensed funeral establishment;

(2) Involve a transaction that relates to pre-need funeral planning that occurred in the State; and

(3) Be based on an act or omission:

(i) In which pre-need money is obtained from a person by theft, embezzlement, false pretenses, or forgery; or

(ii) That constitutes fraud or misrepresentation.

(c) The amount recovered for any claim against the Fund:

(1) May not exceed the actual monetary loss suffered; and

(2) May not include noneconomic, consequential, or punitive damages.

(d) A funeral establishment shall include in each sales contract that is provided by the funeral establishment a written notice to the buyer that the buyer may file a claim with the Fund.

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