A perpetual care fund is invested for the purpose of earning enough investment income to pay the ongoing future costs of cemetery maintenance. It is not available for the spending needs of today. Some people may have designs on seizing money from this fund for current capital initiatives or debt servicing needs. A properly documented perpetual care fund study can demonstrate that the fund is not available for that purpose.

The study can show that the entirety of the fund will be necessary to generate the income needed to support the cemetery.