(a)        Within 30 days of receipt of a written request from the purchaser of a revocable preneed funeral contract who has trust funds deposited with a financial institution pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-210.61(a), the financial institution shall refund to the preneed funeral contract purchaser the entire amount held by the financial institution.

(b)        Within 30 days of receipt of a written notice of cancellation of any prearrangement insurance policy purchased pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-210.61(a)(3), the issuing insurance company shall pay such amounts to such person or persons as is provided under the terms of the prearrangement insurance policy.

(c)        After making refund pursuant to this section and giving notice of the refund to the preneed licensee, the financial institution or insurance company shall be relieved from all further liability.

(d)       Notwithstanding any other provision of this Article, if a preneed funeral contract is revoked or transferred following the death of the preneed funeral contract beneficiary, the purchaser of the preneed funeral contract may be charged according to the contracting preneed licensee’s price lists for any services performed or merchandise provided prior to revocation or transfer.

(e)        This section shall not apply to irrevocable preneed funeral contracts. Irrevocable preneed funeral contracts may only be revoked or any proceeds refunded by the order of a court of competent jurisdiction, except as follows:

(1)        The Board may order an irrevocable contract revoked when the preneed contract beneficiary is no longer domiciled in this State and has submitted a written copy to the Board of a new preneed funeral contract executed under the laws of the state where the preneed contract beneficiary is domiciled. Upon receipt of the Board’s order, the original contracting preneed licensee shall immediately follow the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-210.63 to transfer the funds to the successor firm.

(2)        Irrevocable preneed funeral contracts purchased pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 90-210.61(a)(3) shall also be revocable when the underlying insurance policy lapses or is otherwise cancelled and the lapsed or cancelled policy no longer provides any funding for the preneed funeral contract. (1969, c. 187, s. 3; 1981 (Reg. Sess., 1982), c. 1336, s. 2; 1983, c. 657, s. 3; 1985, c. 12, ss. 1, 2; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 901, s. 2; 2003-420, s. 13; 2007-531, s. 11.)

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 90-210.65

  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Board: means the North Carolina Board of Funeral Service as created pursuant to Article 13A of Chapter 90 of the N. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-210.60
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Financial institution: means a bank, credit union, trust company, savings bank, or savings and loan association authorized by law to do business in this State;

    (3)        "Insurance company" means any corporation, limited liability company, association, partnership, society, order, individual or aggregation of individuals engaging in or proposing or attempting to engage as principals in any kind of insurance business, including the exchanging of reciprocal or interinsurance contracts between individuals, partnerships, and corporations;

    (3a)      "Legal representative" means the person authorized by N. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-210.60

  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Prearrangement insurance policy: means a life insurance policy, annuity contract, or other insurance contract, or any series of contracts or agreements in any form or manner, issued by an insurance company authorized by law to do business in this State, which, whether by assignment or otherwise, has for a purpose the funding of a preneed funeral contract or an insurance-funded funeral or burial prearrangement, the insured or annuitant being the person for whose service the funds were paid;

    (5)        "Preneed funeral contract" means any contract, agreement, or mutual understanding, or any series or combination of contracts, agreements, or mutual understandings, whether funded by trust deposits or prearrangement insurance policies, or any combination thereof, which has for a purpose the furnishing or performance of funeral services, or the furnishing or delivery of personal property, merchandise, or services of any nature in connection with the final disposition of a dead human body, to be furnished or delivered at a time determinable by the death of the person whose body is to be disposed of, but does not mean the furnishing of a cemetery lot, crypt, niche, or mausoleum;

    (6)        "Preneed funeral contract beneficiary" means the person upon whose death the preneed funeral contract will be performed; this person may also be the purchaser of the preneed funeral contract;

    (7)        "Preneed funeral funds" means all payments of cash made to any person, partnership, association, corporation, or other entity upon any preneed funeral contract or any other agreement, contract, or prearrangement insurance policy, or any series or combination of preneed funeral contracts or any other agreements, contracts, or prearrangement insurance policies, but excluding the furnishing of cemetery lots, crypts, niches, and mausoleums, which have for a purpose or which by operation provide for the furnishing or performance of funeral or burial services, or the furnishing or delivery of personal property, merchandise, or services of any nature in connection with the final disposition of a dead human body, to be furnished or delivered at a time determinable by the death of the person whose body is to be disposed of, or the providing of the proceeds of any insurance policy for such use;

    (8)        "Preneed funeral planning" means offering to sell or selling preneed funeral contracts, or making other arrangements prior to death for the providing of funeral services or merchandise;

    (9)        "Preneed licensee" means a funeral establishment which has applied for and has been granted a license to sell preneed funeral contracts under the Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 90-210.60

  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3