12/11/2025

New TN Cemetery Laws for 2026

Your Association Passed New Legislation in 2025

IMPORTANT CHANGE NEEDED ON CEMETERY CONTRACTS 1/1/2026!!!

During the 2025 legislative session, our association passed a bill which made several revisions to the laws that govern our industry. This bill cut unnecessary regulatory burdens which were harmful to our industry and did not serve Tennessee consumers. This new law goes into effect January 1, 2026.

One change in the law in particular requires new language on your cemetery contracts effective January 1, 2026. 

SECTION 8. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 46-1-105(a), is amended by deleting the

first sentence and substituting:

There is established within the state general fund a cemetery state administrative

fund referred to as the "cemetery state administrative account”.

SECTION 9. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 46-1-105, is amended by deleting

subsection (c) and substituting:

(c) A renewal of a certificate of registration must not be issued unless the applicant

pays, in addition to the renewal fee, a state administrative fee of twenty dollars ($20.00) for

every pre-need sales contract entered into during the preceding renewal period, except that

the applicant is not required to pay the state administrative fee on any pre-need sales

contract entered into that was subsequently cancelled prior to the applicant's request for

renewal of a certificate of registration. If the pre-need contract covers both cemetery

merchandise and funeral merchandise as defined in§ 62-5-403, then the cemetery company

is only required to pay one (1) administrative fee for the contract, which must be credited to

the cemetery state administrative account. A cemetery company shall not charge a

consumer more than one (1) state. administrative fee for the execution of one (1) or more

cemetery contracts entered into by the consumer at any one (1) time.

Please note that the name of the TN Consumer Protection fee has been changed to “State Administrative Fee”. Burial Services has informed the CAT that beginning Jan. 1, 2026, the cemetery contract line item formerly notated as  “TN Consumer Protection Fee” must read “State Administrative Fee” in order to be in compliance with SECTION 8. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 46-1-105(a) and also SECTION 9. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 46-1-105.

To allow time for printing new contracts if needed, Burial Services has confirmed that they will allow cemeteries to temporarily be in compliance by striking through the old existing language on current contracts and clearly inserting the new wording. This temporary grace period will last through March 31, 2026. After that time, striking and substituting the new language will no longer be permissible.

Here is the link to the full new 2026 TN Cemetery Law.

There are other very important changes to the cemetery law. Below are some key points of this new legislation. Although we belief the following summary to be accurate, please refer to the statute in the link above and consult with your own attorney or trustee for any clarity or interpretation you might need. 

• Provides for a 3-year average of the trust value when calculating the earnings withdrawal allowed under the 5% Rule from your improvement care trust each year.

• Resets the cap on both memorial care and installation fees $.75 per square inch with annual CPI adjustments, while still requiring them to be the same rate for the families we serve as they are for outside memorial dealers. (Rates as of 2025 were only $0.34 per square inch.)

• Removes the cap on document fees on cemetery contracts, allowing the cemetery to set their own fees.

• Removes the requirement for a deposit into your improvement care trust when selling second and subsequent interment rights for a site on which improvement care has already been paid.  

• Allows a cemetery to reclaim abandoned interment rights after 75 years of no known contact with a family, with a set process required to notify the family, and provisions for restitution to the family if they return to claim those interment rights within 25 years following reclamation.

• Changes the name of the Cemetery Consumer Protection Fee to Cemetery State Administrative Fee. REQUIRES NEW VERBIAGE ON CEMETERY CONTRACTS!!!

• Clarifies that cemeteries do not sell land, but rather they sell interment rights.

We encourage cemetery operators in Tennessee to review the new bill and consult with your attorneys and trustees for additional guidance. 

Have questions? Email us at: cemetery-tn@gmail.com

Cindy Foree

Cemetery Association of Tennessee

(615) 714-9605

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