No. The Illinois State Comptroller’s Office licenses certain private cemeteries that accept care funds, along with businesses, such as cemeteries and funeral homes, that sell pre-need funeral goods and services to consumers. It is our role to help ensure consumer dollars collected by cemeteries are placed in trust and consumer dollars collected by funeral homes are placed in trust or used to purchase an insurance policy or annuity, so they are available when consumers need them.

Other cemeteries, including family burial grounds, those with religious affiliations, and those owned and operated by municipalities, along with those funeral homes that do not sell on a pre-need basis, are outside the jurisdiction of the Comptroller’s Office.

Consumers can search for and check on the license status, location, and contact information of our licensees themselves by utilizing this website tool:
https://office.illinoiscomptroller.gov/PLACE/LicenseeSearch/

Cemeteries, crematories, and funeral homes that hold a license from the Comptroller’s Office only receive that license after a process of background checks and financial disclosures is complete. Licensed cemeteries, crematories, and funeral homes are required to submit annual financial reports. The Comptroller’s Office performs periodic compliance audits of our licensees.

A pre-need contract is a document drawn up by a pre-need licensed cemetery, crematory, or funeral home (be sure you ask to see the license). The contract spells out the goods and services that you, the consumer, are purchasing for yourself or a loved one prior to the time that you will actually need them.

Receipt of a refund depends on what kind of contract you have signed.

Contracts with cemeteries: If you have entered into a pre-need contract with a cemetery, and the contract has been paid for in full, you are generally entitled to the following refunds:
50% + interest earned of cemetery goods & services, including the opening and closing of a grave and a memorial or marker.
85% + interest earned of outer burial containers, including burial vaults, boxes, and urn-vaults.

No refund on cemetery plots: Once a cemetery plot is purchased, it is the property of the consumer. The cemetery may buy the plot back from you, but they are not required to do so. You may, however, pass the plot on to a family member or sell it to an outside party. If you sell to an outside party, expect the cemetery to charge a transfer fee of no less than $25.

Installment contracts: If you have entered into a pre-need installment contract with a cemetery meaning that you are making payments on the goods and services laid out in your contract, you are not entitled to a refund of any kind until the contract is fully paid. If you change your mind about the contract and stop making payments, the seller is entitled to keep whatever amount you have paid in to that point.

Contracts with funeral homes: If you have entered into a pre-need contract with a funeral home and If after the death of the purchaser and no goods or services were provided by the seller or if you used a different funeral home then the seller may keep no more than $300 or 10% of the payments made, whichever is less. The remainder of the trust funds or insurance or annuity proceeds shall be forwarded to the legal heirs of the deceased beneficiary or as determined by probate action.

After final payment on a pre-need contract with a funeral home, any purchaser may, prior to the death of the beneficiary and upon written demand to a seller, demand that the pre-need contract with the seller be terminated. The seller shall, within 30 days, initiate a refund to the purchaser of the entire amount held in trust attributable to undelivered merchandise and unperformed services plus any amounts held in trust attributable to the contract or the cash surrender value of a life insurance policy or tax-deferred annuity.

If you have entered into a pre-need installment contract with a funeral home, it is unlawful for any such agreement or agreements to provide for forfeiture and retention of payments upon any such agreement or series of agreements as and for liquidated damages therein in excess of 25% of the payments made or $300.00, whichever sum is less.

Contact our PLACE Hotline toll-free (877) 203-3401, or send us an e-mail at place@illinoiscomptroller.gov. If you have copies of contracts or other pertinent paperwork, please have them available to fax or email to our office. You can also contact the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and/or the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division. Contact information and complaint forms can be found here: https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/File-A-Complaint/
https://idfpr.illinois.gov/admin/dpr/dprcomplaint.html

The Comptroller’s Office licenses those monument companies which sell their goods on a pre-need basis. According to the Pre-Need Cemetery Sales Act, a monument company is not considered to be selling pre-need goods if the monument is delivered, or significant construction is started, within 180 days of the day the contract is signed. Since this is the case with the majority of monument companies, they typically fall outside the jurisdiction of the Comptroller’s Office.

It is important to note that Illinois law prohibits a cemetery from forcing you to purchase a monument (headstone, marker, etc.) only from them. Cemeteries may, however, set forth rules and regulations regarding types of monuments that they will accept (material, height, etc.) so be aware of those restrictions before dealing with a monument company. The Cemetery Oversight Division of IDFPR has jurisdiction, laws, and regulations regarding this.

If you feel that a monument company is selling pre-need goods without a license, please contact us for assistance.

As of 2003, all crematories in Illinois must hold an operating license from the Comptroller’s Office. Holding a license with the Comptroller’s Office allows us to run background checks and examine financial disclosures before a license is issued.

The Comptroller’s Office performs on-site inspections to ensure compliance with the Crematory Regulation Act.

As with cemeteries and funeral homes, those crematories which sell pre-need goods and services must obtain a separate license to sell pre-need, file annual financial reports with the Comptroller’s Office, and are subject to periodic audits.

All cemeteries in Illinois are required to be registered with the Comptroller’s Office. Private cemeteries that accept care funds and those selling pre-need goods and services, however, must be licensed, and must, therefore, abide by certain statutes as regards their financial entrustments. A registered cemetery simply has its name, location, and contact information listed with the Comptroller’s Office.

The first step is to contact us to ensure that the cemetery in question is not already registered. If it is not, a person wishing to register the cemetery must have legal proof that he/she is the landowner (a deed, for example). If this paperwork is in order, registration is as simple as filling out a few forms and paying a registration fee of $5.00. Contact us for more information.

You can contact us and ask if the cemetery is registered. If we have any information on who is responsible for the property, we will share that with you.

For complaints and concerns specifically on the maintenance and upkeep of cemeteries in Illinois, the Cemetery Oversight Division of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) should be contacted. A complaint can be filed through their website: https://idfpr.illinois.gov/admin/dpr/dprcomplaint.html