Mount Vernon Memorial Park v. Board of Funeral Directors & Embalmers

Plaintiff Mount Vernon Memorial Park, a corporation (Mount Vernon), appeals from an adverse judgment on its petition for writ of mandate. The petition was filed pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5 after defendant Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers (Board), took disciplinary action against it. Such action was predicated upon Mount Vernon’s violation of certain Business and Professions Code sections relating to “preneed funeral arrangements,” and the Board ordered that Mount Vernon’s funeral director’s license be revoked, staying its order for one year on condition that certain acts be performed to bring Mount Vernon into compliance with the relevant statutes.

On appeal, Mount Vernon contends:

Until August 1967, Mount Vernon was licensed to act as a cemetery authority by the State Cemetery Board (Cemetery Board) and M-F-O Inc., a corporation, was licensed by the Board as a mortuary. In August 1967, M-F-0 Inc. merged into Mount Vernon and the latter became a “dual licensee,” i.e., a single entity licensed by both agencies (see 52 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 202 , 206).

In 1965, the Legislature enacted what is commonly termed the “Short Act,” which added certain…