Indianapolis, IN [September 28, 2015] — Cohen & Malad, LLP filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Indiana residents improperly solicited for pre-need funeral and cemetery services by Crown Hill Funeral Home and Cemetery. The lawsuit alleges that Crown Hill violated the Indiana Pre-Need Act by directly soliciting patients in mental health and health care facilities for expensive prepaid cemetery and funeral arrangements. Many of these patients suffer from conditions that require a loved one to have power of attorney or legal guardianship to make medical and/or financial decisions for them.
“Indiana’s Pre-Need Act exists to protect vulnerable Hoosiers from improper sales tactics by cemeteries and funeral homes. It’s alarming to learn that Crown Hill has been preying on the mentally ill to increase profits. Crown Hill sold our client, a mentally ill patient in a mental health facility, an $11,000 cemetery package while her family was completely unaware and when she didn’t even want buried at Crown Hill,” said attorney Vess Miller of Cohen & Malad, LLP. “We hope this lawsuit will end these outrageous practices.”
The lawsuit seeks to recover damages for victims who entered into contracts with and paid fees to Crown Hill while they were patients at hospitals and health care facilities.