Sec. 715.011. POWERS AND DUTIES OF NONPROFIT CORPORATION; TRUST FUND

(a) A nonprofit corporation authorized to restore, operate, and maintain a historic cemetery may divide cemetery property into lots and subdivisions for cemetery purposes and charge reasonable assessments on the property for the purposes of general improvement and maintenance of the cemetery.

(b) The nonprofit corporation may sell and convey the exclusive right of sepulture in any unsold plot in the cemetery if, before the sale and conveyance of any right of sepulture, the nonprofit corporation establishes a trust fund to provide for the perpetual maintenance of the cemetery.

(c) The county auditor of the county in which the cemetery is located shall act as the trustee of the trust fund.

(d) The nonprofit corporation shall deposit in the trust fund the amount required under the written plan incorporated in the court's order not later than the 20th day after the last day of the month in which the total purchase price of a plot has been paid in full.

(e) The nonprofit corporation shall file a monthly statement with the county auditor, signed by the president and secretary of the nonprofit corporation, that verifies that all funds required to be deposited in the trust fund during the preceding month have been deposited in the trust fund and that any income disbursed from the trust fund during the preceding month was used by the nonprofit corporation for the maintenance and care of the cemetery.

(f) The principal of a trust fund established under this section may not be reduced voluntarily, and it must remain inviolable.

(g) The trust fund and the trustee are governed by Title 9, Property Code.

(h) The trustee may receive and hold as part of the trust fund any property contributed as a gift or grant to the trust fund for the perpetual maintenance of the historic cemetery.

(i) The income of the trust fund may be applied in the manner the directors of the nonprofit corporation determine to be for the best interest of the cemetery and may be used only for the maintenance and care of the cemetery.

(j) A district court of the county in which the historic cemetery is located shall appoint a suitable successor trustee of a trust fund established under this section if the county auditor resigns the position of trustee of the trust fund or fails to act as its trustee.

(k) The county auditor or other person who acts as the trustee of a trust fund established under this section is not civilly or criminally liable for acts performed in the good faith administration of the trust fund.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 899, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 28, 1995.