Disciplinary actions: Cemeteries

For details about many of these disciplinary actions, please see Search business and professional licenses.

August 2012

Benson Family Funeral Services, dba The Moses Lake Cemetery — Moses Lake

  • Finding:
    • Endowment care fund — Authorized investments, deposits required, and use and care of funds.
    • Funds authorized — Endowment care fund required.
    • Other use of trust funds prohibited.
    • Prearrangement trust funds — Deposit by 20th of the month, deposit of funds, and must depoosit 50%.
    • Unauthorized loans — Anyone authorizing or receiving a loan from endowment care fund is guilty of a class C felony.
    • Unprofessional conduct — Incompetence, negligence, or malpractice that results in harm or damage to another., misrepresentation in any aspect of the conduct of the business or profession, and violating any funeral/cemetery rules or associated rules.
    • Withdrawals from trust funds — Withdrawals authorized under certain conditions.
  • Action:
    • License suspended for 2 years, stayed (not imposed) if they comply with all other sanctions and no other violations during the suspension period.
    • Fined $20,000, stayed (not imposed) if they comply with all other sanctions and no other violations during the 2-year suspension period.
    • Ordered to pay full restitution to prearrangement trust fund within 6 months.
    • Ordered to pay full restitution to endowment care fund within 6 months.
    • Ordered to pay full restitution to the marker care fund within 18 months.
    • Subject to unannounced endowment care, prearrangement trust, and marker care fund audits for 2 years.

Sticklin-Greenwood Memorial Park — Centralia

  • Finding:
    • Annual report of authority — Endowment care funds.
    • Certificate of authority — Compliance required.
    • Endowment care fund — Authorized investments.
    • Endowment care fund — Use and care of funds.
    • Failed to file reports.
    • Prearrangement sales license required.
    • Unprofessional conduct — Failed to cooperate with us in the course of an investigation, audit, or inspection.
    • Unprofessional conduct — Incompetence, negligence, or malpractice that results in harm or damage to another.
  • Action:
    • Ordered to cease and desist from the sale of prearrangement sales.
    • Ordered to pay restitution to the trust fund within 5 years.
    • Ordered to pay restitution to the endowment care fund within 5 years.
    • Fined $20,000, to be paid within 5 years.
    • Subject to an examination of endowment care fund once a year for 5 consecutive years.
    • John Baker shall not be involved in the ownership or operation of the cemetery in any capacity for 25 years.

West Hills Memorial Park — Yakima

  • Finding:
    • Failed to deposit to the endowment card fund in a timely manner.
    • Failed to deposit to the cemetery prearrangement trust fund in a timely manner.
    • Invested cemetery prearrangement trust funds in instruments not issued or insured by the federal government.
    • Didn’t file the required Endowment Care Fund Report in a timely manner.
    • Didn’t file the required Cemetery Prearrangement Trust Fund Report in a timely manner.
    • Failed to submit requested financial documentation relating to audit.
  • Actions:
    • Fined $30,000, to be paid within 60 days.
    • Subject to unannounced audits of endowment care and prearrangement trust funds for 3 years.
    • Ordered to submit all annual trust fund reports and supporting documents within required 90 days from end of fiscal year.
    • Submit monthly bank statements for 3 years.
    • Cemetery Certificate of Authority and Prearrangement Sales License endorsement suspended for 3 years (stayed). Stay is contingent on compliance with all other sanctions.
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