| 4/6/2009 3:00:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | EDITORIALS
Funeral trust law working through legislature
OUR VIEW
State Rep. Dave Cheatham, D-North Vernon, continues to make good progress on legislation that will protect people against fraudulent practices surrounding funeral trust funds.
Cheatham has listened to local people who felt they were wronged, and has put together legislation that has now made its way through the Indiana Senate.
On its way through the legislative process, the bill has been strengthened.
Cheatham's original bill now contains two important provisions that further refine his 2008 law, which he authored in response to the Grandview Cemetery scandal
At first, the law only strengthened penalties against embezzling monies deposited into funeral trust funds, or for using those monies for any purpose other than a funeral, burial or cemetery upkeep.
Now, the refined bill would extend the statute of limitation of when a victim of funeral trust fraud can press charges against a trust fund manager.
Under current law, a fraud victim can only press charges within five years of their original investment into the fund. That's too short a time frame. Some people buy a funeral package long before it ever is used, and fraud is usually discovered only after funds are withdrawn for a funeral or burial.
The tougher bill would extend the statute of limitations to five years after the fraud was discovered, or five years after a funeral or burial took place.
The second portion the bill gives fraud victims more ways to recoup lost money. The bill would allow the property of a funeral trust violator to be seized as a means to recover damages, if that property was used to commit the crime.
Cheatham cited an extreme example: If a violator used their car to drive to the bank to withdraw funeral trust funds, that car could be seized.
The bill now returns to the House where lawmakers will consider changes made in the Senate. It then will go to the governor for final action.
The bill needs to be passed. There is nothing so sinister as taking advantage of people who already are grieving the loss of a loved one.
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