An Act To Permit Funds for Prearranged Funerals To Be Invested under a Wider Range of Options
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1304
Committee: Insurance and Financial Services
Sponsors: WHITTEMORE, ALFOND, CUSHING, HASKELL, BECK, GIDEON, MARTIN
Amends: 32 MRSA §1401

Legislative Document 
No. 1304 
S.P. 469 
In Senate, April 9, 2015 
An Act To Permit Funds for Prearranged Funerals To Be Invested 
under a Wider Range of Options 
Reference to the Committee on Insurance and Financial Services suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator WHITTEMORE of Somerset. 
Cosponsored by Senators: ALFOND of Cumberland, CUSHING of Penobscot, HASKELL of 
Cumberland, Representatives: BECK of Waterville, GIDEON of Freeport, MARTIN of Eagle 
Lake, McCABE of Skowhegan. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  32 MRSA §1401, sub-§1, ¶B, as amended by PL 2005, c. 65, Pt. C, §16, 
is further amended to read: 
B.   The payee shall deposit the money in either a federally insured deposit or share 
account or a trust account; the type of account must be disclosed to the payor or the 
payor's representative and a deposit in a trust account may be invested in or used to 
purchase only an account in a financial institution authorized to do business in this 
State, as defined in Title 9-B, section 131, subsection 17-A, or a credit union 
authorized to do business in this State, as defined in Title 9-B, section 131, subsection 
12-A, or in a trust account.  The money deposited in a trust account may be invested 
only in the following: 
(1)  Federally insured deposit or share accounts; 
(2)  Securities issued, insured or guaranteed by the United States or by any 
agency or corporate or other instrumentality of the United States; 
(3)  Municipal securities that are exempt from registration under Title 32, section 
16201, subsection 1; and 
(4)  Permanent life insurance, other than variable life insurance and annuities, 
from an insurer authorized to transact insurance in this State, subject to the 
provisions of Title 24-A, chapter 27.  A payee or mortuary trustee may not 
receive any commission, fee or other consideration from an insurer in connection 
with the procurement or purchase of insurance permitted by this subparagraph.; 
(5)  Bonds, notes and bills that are issued by and are the direct obligation of the 
United States Treasury; 
(6)  Commercial paper rated as either "A-1" or "P-1" by Moody's Investors 
Service, Inc., Standard and Poor's Corporation or the rating equivalent of Fitch 
Investors Service, Inc. or any other nationally recognized statistical rating 
agency; 
(7)  Money market funds rated "AAm" or "AAm-G" or better by Standard and 
Poor's Corporation or the rating equivalent of any other nationally recognized 
statistical rating agency; 
(8)  Certificates of deposit issued by a duly chartered commercial bank or thrift 
institution in the State protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation if 
the bank or institution possesses assets of at least $100,000,000 and maintains a 
ratio of capital to assets equal to or greater than 6 1/2%; 
(9)  Bonds that are issued by United States corporations, corporations acceptable 
to the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, Office of Securities 
or United States public entities and that are rated "A" or better by Standard and 
Poor’s Corporation, or the rating equivalent of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. or 
Fitch Investors Service, Inc. or any other nationally recognized statistical rating 
agency; and 
(10)  Other investments specifically approved by the Department of Professional 
and Financial Regulation, Office of Securities. 
Except for fees allowed by this section, all investments made with trust assets remain 
trust assets. 
SUMMARY 
Current law permits funds held in prearranged funeral and burial plans to be invested 
in certain listed permissible investment categories. This bill expands those options by 
permitting these funds to be invested in the same categories of investments that are 
authorized under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 39-A, section 403, subsection 9 as 
permissible investments for trust funds for self-insurers under the laws governing 
workers' compensation.