(1) If a preneed provider ceases to do business or the provider’s license issued by the State Board of Funeral Service is revoked or suspended or the registration to sell preneed funeral contracts is revoked or lapsed and application for a replacement registration has not been filed, the provider shall within thirty (30) days submit to the Secretary of State a complete listing of names and addresses of all active contracts. The provider shall also notify all contract purchasers in writing that their contracts are to be transferred to another registered provider of the purchaser’s choice. The Secretary of State shall review and approve the form of the notice. The transferor shall then transfer the contracts and notify the Secretary of State of the providers selected within sixty (60) days of the termination of the preneed registration. All contracts funded by burial insurance or trust funds together with interest are to be transferred. The selling provider forfeits its right to any monies it otherwise would be entitled. If the provider fails to provide for the transfer of contracts within sixty (60) days, the purchasers may directly request the trust officer to transfer the account balance to another provider selected by the purchaser. The purchaser may also request that an insurance company assign another provider as beneficiary for the insurance policy.

(2) The Secretary of State has jurisdiction over the provider and the burial insurance policy or trust funds together with interest of all active contracts, and has the authority to accomplish the necessary transfer of preneed funeral contracts and trust funds in all cases in which the terminating provider has failed to effectuate the transfer to a registered provider within four (4) months of the date the provider’s license issued by the State Board of Funeral Service was cancelled or the registration to sell preneed funeral contracts was terminated.