H811 Summary

• Repeals G.S. 58-58-97(d) and comprehensively amends North Carolina's funeral service licensing and regulation laws under Article 13A of Chapter 90.

• Establishes new requirements for independent funeral directors and funeral service licensees, including mandatory professional liability insurance ($1,000,000 minimum) and restriction to contracting with no more than two funeral establishments.

• Creates new independent funeral director exception allowing practice outside establishment ownership with specific conditions: business records maintained and available for Board inspection, compliance with FTC rules, establishment license fee payment, liability insurance, and service limitation to two establishments maximum.

• Modifies preneed funeral contract regulations by increasing the threshold for small estate distributions from $100 to $1,000, allowing cancellation of insurance preneed contracts under specified conditions, and clarifying administrative fee retention for contracts executed after January 1, 2014.

• Authorizes hydrolysis (water-based dissolution) as an alternative human remains disposition method subject to same licensing and regulatory requirements as cremation, and clarifies procedures for abandoned dead bodies in funeral establishments' possession.