Whitener v. W. Va. Board of Embalmers & Funeral Directors

Harshbarger, Justice:

W. Va. Code, 47-14-2 et seq., 1 designates a recipient of money paid in advance for funeral-related goods and services, to be a trustee, and requires that such money be deposited in a federally insured bank, trust company or savings and loan association, in a separate account in the name of the trustee, held in trust subject to the terms of the contract by which it is paid; and that the fund may be recaptured by the purchaser.

Appellees, a West Virginia embalmer and funeral director, a funeral home, and a potential customer, sought to determine the Act’s constitutionality…