(a)  Except as provided in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), the board of trustees or corporate trustee of an endowment care fund or one or more special care funds shall file a fidelity bond executed by an admitted surety insurer with the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau in the amount of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), guaranteeing payment to each such fund of any monetary loss incurred by the fund occasioned by acts of fraud or dishonesty by the trustees or trustee. The board of trustees or corporate trustee of both an endowment care fund and one or more special care funds need file only one such bond.

(b)  Any cemetery authority which has a fidelity bond on all officers and employees issued by an admitted surety insurer and which by its terms would cover any acts of fraud or dishonesty by the trustees or corporate trustee of its endowment and special care funds need not file a separate bond with the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau as provided in subdivision (a), but shall submit to the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau satisfactory evidence of such a fidelity bond. Such fidelity bond, except as provided in subdivision (c), shall provide at least fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) specifically designated to guarantee payment of any monetary loss incurred by the endowment care or special care funds of the cemetery authority occasioned by any acts of fraud or dishonesty by the board of trustees or corporate trustee thereof.

(c)  Upon application, the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau may reduce the amount of the bond required pursuant to this section if moneys in the endowment care fund and special care funds administered by the applicant board of trustees or corporate trustee are substantially less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000). In such cases, the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau may permit filing of a bond pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) which, while the bond is on file, is not less than the aggregate amount of all moneys in the endowment care fund and special care funds administered by the applicant. If the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau permits exceptions pursuant to this subdivision, it shall adopt procedures to assure that affected bonds do not fall below such amount.

(d)  The trustees or corporate trustee of an endowment care fund or special care fund shall take no action respecting trust funds unless there is on file with the bureau a bond as required by this section. The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau may suspend the certificate of authority of any cemetery authority having endowment or special care funds with respect to which there is no bond on file with the bureau as required by this section, or whenever such a bond falls below the amount required by this section.

(e)  Any state or national bank authorized to engage in the trust business pursuant to Division 1 (commencing with Section 99) of the Financial Code shall be exempt from the requirements of this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 568, Sec. 253. Effective January 1, 2001.)