03/02/2026

KNOW THE LAW: Clarification on Memorial Care

Effective January 1, 2026

TN Law Limits Memorial Care

One of our board members called last week to ask for clarification on the amount you can charge for memorial care, and if it needs to match your installation fees.

Per TN Law (excerpt below), if you charge for memorial care, you may charge up to the amount you charge for installation, which cannot exceed $0.75 per square inch.

However, the memorial care does not need to match your installation fee, and 100% of the memorial care must be deposited into a memorial care fund.

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46-1-204. Improvement care trust fund. [Effective on January 1, 2026. See the version effective until January 1, 2026.]

(c) A cemetery company may charge a fee for the memorial care of every commodity installed in the cemetery. The fee must not exceed seventy-five cents (75¢) per square inch of the ground covered by the commodity. At the end of each calendar year, the cemetery company may increase the fee charged pursuant to this subsection (c) for the memorial care of commodities by no more than the percentage representing the consumer price index at the end of that calendar year. The fee charged for memorial care of a commodity must not exceed the fee charged by the cemetery company for installation of the commodity. A cemetery company must not charge a different memorial care fee based on the source of the commodity.

Please reach out to our office if you have any questions. 

Cindy Foree

Cemetery Association of Tennessee

(615) 714-9605