Section 10-14-12. Separate accounts and records; agreement form approval; owner acting as trustee; bond; removal of trustee or escrow agent; allocation of funds; financial reports

   (a) Each registrant under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b), or both, of Code Section 10-14-4 shall establish and maintain a separate and distinct account for the perpetual care trust fund for each cemetery and for the preneed escrow account. There shall be no commingling, codeposits, or transfers of funds between the accounts, except pursuant to court order and with the knowledge and consent of the Secretary of State.

(b) Each registrant shall keep and maintain separate books, records, accounts, and documents regarding the transaction of its business. The books, records, accounts, and documents related to the keeping of funds pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations promulgated under this chapter shall be kept and maintained by the registrant separately from the other books, records, accounts, and documents related to the transaction of business.

(c) A cemetery owner or an officer or director of a cemetery company may be a trustee of the perpetual care trust fund of a cemetery which the individual or cemetery company owns upon approval of the Secretary of State.

(d) The Secretary of State shall have the authority to prescribe or approve the form of the perpetual care trust agreement and shall have the authority to approve or disapprove any amendments to said trust agreement as of July 1, 1983.

(e) The Secretary of State shall have the authority to prescribe or approve the form of the preneed escrow account agreement and shall have the authority to approve or disapprove any amendments to said escrow account agreement as of July 1, 1983.

(f) A trustee or escrow agent of a registrant may be removed pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 10-14-19 or by other means provided by the laws of this state.

(g) Each perpetual care cemetery and preneed dealer shall file a report concerning the perpetual care trust and the preneed escrow account annually with the Secretary of State, provided that, after notice and a hearing, the Secretary of State may order more frequent reports in the event any such report is not filed in a timely manner or if the report filed contains errors and deficiencies. The report shall be on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State.

Code 1981, § 44-3-137, enacted by Ga. L. 1983, p. 1508, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 44; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 44; Code 1981, § 10-14-12, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2000, p. 882, § 1.