HOUSE BILL No. 5550 February 10, 1998, Introduced by Reps. Gagliardi, Profit, Scott, Prusi, Basham, Bogardus, Anthony, Baade, Tesanovich, Schauer, Bodem, Kukuk, Schermesser, McBryde, Hood, Voorhees, Ciaramitaro, Wojno, Cropsey, DeHart, Parks, Richner, Cherry, Mans, Goschka and Perricone and referred to the Committee on Senior Citizens and Veterans Affairs. A bill to amend 1911 PA 235, entitled "An act to provide for the payment and reimbursement by counties, in certain cases upon application therefor, of expenses incurred in the burial of the bodies of honorably discharged members of the armed forces of the United States, or their spouses, and to repeal certain acts or parts of acts," by amending section 1 (MCL 35.801). THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 1. (1) If an honorably discharged member of the armed 2 forces of the United States who served for a period of not less 3 than 90 days of active service, or who is discharged under honor- 4 able conditions after serving less than 90 days of active service 5 because of a service-connected disability, during a period of 6 time in which the United States was at war or during the Vietnam 7 conflict, or thewifeSPOUSE orwidowSURVIVING SPOUSE of a 8 member of the armed forces of the United States, dies not 9 possessed of an estate, both real and personal, exceeding the sum 04394'97 DMS 2 1 of$25,000.00$38,000.00, over and above all encumbrances and 2 was a resident of the state at the time of death and a resident 3 of the state for a period of 6 months before entering the service 4 or for a period of 3 years immediately before death, the county 5 board of commissioners or the board of county auditors, upon 6 application by the executor or administrator of the estate of the 7 deceased person, or by the person who incurred or advanced 8 expenses in connection with the burial of the honorably dis- 9 charged member of the armed forces, or the spouse of the honor- 10 ably discharged member of the armed forces, shall pay to the 11 estate of the deceased person, or to the person who incurred or 12 advanced the burial expense, the sum of $300.00. If the investi- 13 gation provided for in section 2 shows that the deceased did not 14 leave a dependent surviving, but did leave an estate sufficient 15 to meet lawful claims, including burial expenses, then the county 16 board of commissioners or the board of county auditors shall not 17 pay the expenses. The application shall be submitted within 2 18 years after the date of death of the deceased person. 19 (2) As used in this act, "service" includespersons20servingATTENDANCE in the armed forces of the United States in a 21 place of emergency when ordered to DO soserveby the govern- 22 ment of the United States,asdefinedDESCRIBED in section 1 23 ofAct No. 190 of the Public Acts of 1965, as amended, being24section 35.61 of the Michigan Compiled Laws, including the25Vietnam conflict1965 PA 190, MCL 35.61. 26 (3) As used in this section, "estate" means the ownership of 27 realty or personalty at the time of death, the title to which 04394'97 3 1 property was held either in the sole name of the decedent or by 2 the entireties, tenancy in common, or joint tenancy with the 3 spouse, child, or parent of the decedent, but does not include 4 realty owned by the decedent as the homestead of the decedent. 5 (4) As used in this section, "homestead" means a dwelling or 6 A unit in a multiple unit dwelling and includes a mobile home or 7 trailer coach. 04394'97 Final page. DMS