AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 46, relative to cemeteries.
HB0713 revises Tennessee’s cemetery laws in several ways, primarily by changing how cemetery companies may charge for memorial care, installation, and administrative fees, and by updating the required deposits into cemetery trust funds. The bill caps certain memorial care and installation charges at 75 cents per square inch of ground covered by a commodity, allows annual increases tied to the consumer price index, and prohibits different fees based on whether a commodity comes from the cemetery or an outside source. It also requires cemetery companies to install outside-furnished commodities within 30 days, weather permitting, unless the cemetery’s installation fee exceeds the statutory cap, in which case the interment right owner may use noncemetery personnel.
The bill also creates a new chapter governing community mausoleums and community columbariums, defines “interment right,” and establishes a process for deeming interment rights abandoned after 75 years without contact, reasonable notice efforts, and a one-year claim period. If an abandoned right is reclaimed, the cemetery must keep records, and a claimant may receive an equivalent-value interment right from available inventory for up to 25 years. The bill further changes the state administrative fee structure for pre-need cemetery contracts, clarifies that only one fee may be charged per consumer transaction, and updates terminology throughout Title 46 from “lots” and “lotowner” to “interment rights” and “interment right owner.” The act is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2026.
The overall sentiment reflected in the available voting history appears favorable, with the bill advancing through the House Business and Utilities Subcommittee and the House Commerce Committee by strong margins and no recorded opposition in the latter committee. The committee action suggests broad support for the bill’s regulatory updates and fee standardization. No committee transcripts were provided, so there is no detailed discussion record to indicate broader public debate.
The main points of contention likely center on consumer costs, cemetery company discretion, and property-rights issues. The bill limits what cemeteries can charge for installation and memorial care, which may be viewed as consumer protection, but it also gives cemetery companies a statutory path to reclaim long-unused interment rights after extensive notice procedures. Potential concerns may come from cemetery operators over fee caps and mandatory installation timelines, while consumers or heirs may be concerned about the abandonment/reversion process and the circumstances under which a cemetery may reclaim burial rights.
The bill amends multiple provisions in Tennessee Code Annotated Title 46 governing cemeteries, trust deposits, pre-need contracts, and cemetery company fees. It changes the calculation of improvement care trust deposits, imposes caps and CPI-based adjustments on memorial care and installation fees, requires uniform administrative fees, and revises state administrative fee rules for pre-need cemetery contracts. It also adds a new chapter establishing definitions for community mausoleums and columbariums and creating a statutory abandonment and reversion process for interment rights, while updating terminology from lot-based language to interment-right language across the chapter.
Available voting history indicates the bill was received positively in committee, advancing 10-1 from the House Business and Utilities Subcommittee and 20-0 from the House Commerce Committee. That pattern suggests the measure was broadly acceptable to legislators, likely because it standardizes cemetery practices and fee structures while addressing long-standing regulatory gaps. No transcripts were provided, so there is no direct record of floor or committee debate beyond the votes.
The likely areas of disagreement are the bill’s fee caps and the new abandonment rules. Cemetery companies may object to limits on memorial care and installation charges, restrictions on differential pricing, and the requirement to allow outside installers when fees exceed the statutory scale. By contrast, consumers, interment right owners, and heirs may be most concerned about the 75-year abandonment threshold, the sufficiency of notice efforts, and the cemetery’s ability to reclaim rights that may have family or sentimental value. The bill attempts to balance those interests by requiring notice, publication, recordkeeping, and replacement-value remedies for later claimants.