Burial plot items may be counted or excluded depending on for whom they are being held and whether they serve the same purpose as another item held for the same person.
See the following table for details on when burial plot items are counted or excluded:
If… |
Then the treatment is... |
The burial plot items are being held for someone other than the customer or any member of the customer’s immediate family |
Counted. |
If the burial plot item serves the same purpose as another item (for example, an urn and a casket) |
The duplicate item is counted. Only one of each type of burial item can be excluded per person. |
The burial plot items are held for the customer or any member of the customer’s immediate family |
Excluded. |
Both burial plot items and funeral service purchases are included in the contract, but the type and value of the burial plot items cannot be specifically identified in the contract |
The entire agreement is evaluated under the burial fund policy (MA705D). |
NOTE An excluded burial plot item that is held in a contract may earn interest. The interest earned is also excluded when left on account even when the contract contains both counted and excluded items (for example, cemetery plots for the customer as well as his four cousins).
Term |
Definition |
Burial Plot Items |
Includes burial spaces, grave sites, crypts, mausoleums, caskets, urns, niches, or other repositories which are normally used for the remains of deceased persons. The term also includes needed and reasonable improvements or additions to such items like vaults, headstones, markers, plaques, burial containers, and arrangements for opening and closing the grave site for burial. Contracts for care and maintenance of the grave site, can also be excluded as a burial plot item. |
Held for |
An ownership situation in which the person has title to or possesses a burial plot item intended for another’s use. This includes when the person has purchased a pre-need burial contract for specific burial plot items as the agreement shows the person’s legal right to the items in the contract. NOTE A burial space is not held for a person when making payments under an installment sales contract since the person will not own or have the right to use the space until all payments have been made. However, it is still entitled to the conditional burial plot item exclusion if regular payments are being made as required by the contract. |
Immediate Family |
The immediate family includes a customer's spouse and any of the following related by blood, adoption or marriage: · Children; · Siblings; and · Parents. The person does not need to be dependent or live in the same household. |
The type of proof needed depends on what the customer owns. If the customer owns more than one of a type of burial plot item, the customer must also provide a statement regarding for whom it is being held. The statement must include the name of the person(s) and their relationship to the customer.
NOTE Only the value of non-excluded burial plot items must be proven.
Proof of the value if burial plot items includes legal documents, like sales contracts and purchase agreements or a collateral contact to the contractor when all of the following information is included:
· Name of the purchaser;
· Name and address of the seller;
· Description and location of the burial plot item;
· Date of the purchase;
· Cost of the burial plot item at time of purchase; and
· Current value of the burial plot item.
· When installment payments are still due, whether the payments are being made according to the contract terms..
Program |
Legal Authority |
ALTCS |
42 USC 1382b(a)(2)(B) 42 USC 1382b(d) 20 CFR 416.1231 |