46-1-107 - Sale or transfer.
46-1-107. Sale or transfer.
(a) No later than thirty (30) days prior to the sale or transfer of any cemetery required to be registered by this chapter, or the sale or transfer of a controlling interest in the cemetery company that owns the cemetery, the transferor shall notify the commissioner in writing, and:
(1) Submit any documentation or records the commissioner may require in order to determine the amount of any indebtedness of the transferor to the pre-need merchandise and services trust account or the improvement care trust fund; and
(2) Disclose any agreements between the transferor and transferee regarding:
(A) Any existing cemetery trust accounts established pursuant to this chapter; and
(B) Assumption or disclaimer of liabilities of the transferor.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), the transferee shall not be entitled to a certificate of registration for the cemetery until:
(1) The provisions of subsection (a) have been complied with; and
(2) Any indebtedness of the transferor to the pre-need merchandise and services trust account or the improvement care trust fund has been liquidated.
(c) Notwithstanding indebtedness of the transferor to the pre-need merchandise and services trust account or the improvement care trust fund, the commissioner may issue a certificate of registration to the transferee, if the commissioner determines that:
(1) The sale or transfer is in the best interests of the maintenance and continued operation of the cemetery;
(2) The sale or transfer is not designed to circumvent the provisions of this chapter; and
(3) The transferee has satisfactorily agreed to liquidate the indebtedness to the maximum feasible extent.
(d) The state may, for the benefit of the pre-need merchandise and services trust account or the improvement care trust fund:
(1) Recover from the transferor all sums that the transferor has not properly accounted for and paid into the fund; and
(2) Recover from the transferee all sums that the transferee has not properly accounted for and paid into the fund.
(e) The issuance of a certificate of registration under this section shall not operate to release any person, firm or corporation from any obligations to the pre-need merchandise and services trust account or the improvement care trust fund.
[Acts 1973, ch. 272, § 6; 1977, ch. 147, § 1; T.C.A., § 46-107; Acts 1986, ch. 693, §§ 2, 9; 2003, ch. 81, §§ 1-5; 2006, ch. 1012, § 2.]