June 2000
NCBVA BULLETIN
INDUSTRY CALENDAR August 5-10
NFD & MA Convention and Trade Show Orlando, FL
23-26
Cremation Association of North America Annual Convention The Westin Harbour Castle Toronto, Ontario, Canada
October 30 Oct. 5 National Selected Morticians -
Disney's Yacht Club Resort Orlando, FL
9 11
National Funeral Directors Association Convention Baltimore Convention Center Baltimore, MD
31-31
Casket and Funeral Supply Association of America Fall Conference & Trade Show Adam's Mark Hotel Indianapolis, IN
19-20
Cremation Certification Program for Equipment Operators - CANA Orlando, FL
-
November
Veterans Receive Honors That Were Long Overdue The cremated remains of 41 indigent veterans that had languished in a Philadelphia morgue—some for as long as four years—have finally been buried at Fort Indiantown Gap National in Pennsylvania in a small ceremony marked by grace and simplicity. More than 50 Pennsylvania veterans from several organizations came to the service moved by news that the ashes of fellow veterans went unburied because of a communication breakdown between the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office and the city's Veterans Advisory Commission. The problem came to light after one vet's family members inquired about whether he had received a proper burial. The Medical Examiner's Office identified the remains of 62 men thought to be veterans still sitting in the morgue. The 41 buried Friday were verified as honorably discharged veterans.
5
Court Bases Decision On NCBVA's Definitions BY
J.
SCOTT CALKINS, ESQ.
NCBVA Counsel In my 44 years of legally representing the concrete burial vault industry. I have finally discovered a court decision in which the judge names the National Concrete Burial Vault Association (NCBVA) and relies on its definitions of a liner and a vault as one of the controlling reasons for holding a cemetery liable for fraudulently not honoring prearrangement contracts. Last year, in the Court of Appeals of the state of Washington, the Blue Mountain Memorial Gardens exhausted its appellate remedies after the state cemetery board found the cemetery guilty of substituting grave liners for vaults to fulfill prearranged contracts that specified "internment vault" without the knowledge or consent of the families. New owners of the cemetery in 1991 provided grave liners instead of burial vaults for as many as 71 decedents who had prearrangement contracts for burial vaults. Unless the families asked, they were not told about the substitution. If asked, cemetery employees explained that the new "commercially manufactured" grave liners were an improvement over the old cemetery manufactured vault. If the families wanted a "commercial" vault, it would cost an additional $300. A son filed a complaint with the Cemetery Board when he discovered his mother was buried in a liner even though she had purchased a contract which included an "internment vault." The cemetery contended throughout the appellate process that the terms were then and are today essentially meaningless. "Vault," "liner," or "grave box" are merely marketing terms according to the cemetery. The cemetery pointed to the absence of a definition of' the word "vault" either in the statute or the contract. The statute lumps together vaults and liners as "outer burial containers." In addition the cemetery contended that there is complete disagreement between industry experts as to the definition of a "vault," even today. The State Cemetery Board and the Court of Appeals agreed that the industry does differentiate between a vault and a liner. The Court relied upon NCBVA's definition as a nationally recognized standard. The court stated as follows: "Since 1990, the National Concrete Burial Vault Association has defined liner and vault. A liner is a burial receptacle placed in the ground in a cemetery, designed and built to support the weight of the earth above it and to prevent the grave from collapsing. A vault performs all the functions of the concrete grave liner and, in addition, is lined and sealed. It is designed and constructed to increase the overall tensile strength of the finished unit and to reduce the risk of the intrusion of exterior elements." Relying on NCBVA's definition and other relevant factors, the Court concluded that the cemetery was guilty of substituting liners for vaults and upheld the Cemetery Board's order to suspend the Cemetery's license (authority to operate) for 24 months, subject to stay if the cemetery pays a $15,000 fine and replaces the offending liners with vaults for those families who wanted vaults. This decision, although somewhat insignificant in scope, raises the obvious question for future court decisions regarding our industry and the probability of reliance on NCBVA's standards, certifications, definitions, etc. Would a court rely on the NCBVA certification and standards program in finding that an inferior vault was not made in accordance with NCBVA standards and possibly not even manufactured in a NCBVA certified facility'? That may sound unrealistic now but who knows where future courts will ascertain some type of standard to measure the manufacture of concrete burial vaults. For that matter. what about cemeteries which want to prevent inferior vaults from being utilized for internment'?