If a plot has been purchased, how can an owner be assured that the land still belongs to them?

If the plot has been fully paid for, the owner should have a deed to it. This is legal title to that plot.

If a person holding a plot and pre-need plan dies before settlement of this court case, will the pre-arrangements be honored?

The title to the land will guarantee the plot, but Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said, prepaid services and burial items such as vaults and gravestones currently cannot be guaranteed. His lawsuit against Green Acres is working to restore funds to the prepaid account to guarantee those items and services.

Services or items paid for and not received should be listed and a claim registered with Dave Scott at the Secretary of State’s Business Regulation and Enforcement Division at 601-359-9055.

Does the Secretary of State’s Office have access to all the records of Green Acres Memorial Park?

Yes. All records of Green Acres are in a self-storage facility in Vicksburg, and investigators have had access to them.

What steps are being taken to ensure that this sort of problem will not happen again? Is any movement afoot to ask the Legislature to alter state laws to keep this from happening again?

Senate Bill 2857 seeks to amend existing laws regulating perpetual care cemeteries and those that issue pre-need contracts. Among other things, it revises the registration and annual reporting procedures for participating cemeteries, strengthens audit standards and provides for the establishment of a pre-need contracts loss recovery association. It is being deliberated in the Senate Insurance Committee. The bills calls for a July 1 effective date.

Will the cemetery be allowed to have new burials in years to come or should people sell their interest as soon as possible?

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said Thursday he hopes the court will appoint a conservator or a group to oversee future burials and the day-to-day operations at Green Acres until the legal issues are resolved. Some prepaid items might not be honored unless and until the owners of Green Acres restore missing trust funds.

What legal action can or might be taken against the owners of the cemetery?

On Jan. 23, the Warren County Chancery Court issued a temporary restraining order against Green Acres, freezing its bank accounts. A hearing has been set for Feb. 2 to seek a temporary injunction against Green Acres of Vicksburg LLC prohibiting it from selling future contracts, assessing fines and requiring repayment of all trust funds.

What are the maximum penalties?

The maximum civil penalty is $1,000 per violation of the Pre-Need Act. At least 80 to 100 pre-need contracts have not been adequately funded, according to the calculations of the Secretary of State’s examiner in the Business Regulation and Enforcement Division.

What are Mississippi laws concerning cemetery ownership and operation?

Cemeteries offering pre-need burial contracts are subject to the 2002 Mississippi Pre-Need Cemetery and Funeral Registration Act regulations governing registration, annual reports, filing deadlines, bank records, contracts and procedures for hearings and discipline.

Registration requirements include information on corporate officers and agents, copies of contract forms and a $250 filing fee.

Annual reports require details of pre-need contracts sold, how they were funded, the value of the contract and supporting documentation of items purchased and bank statements, all required to be notarized.