The next section of the proposed record keeping rule for Missouri preneed sellers addresses the timely deposit of consumer funds to preneed trusts. Missouri’s prior preneed law did not specify when consumer deposits were required to be deposited to trust, and National Prearranged Services exploited that omission. NPS claimed that consumer funds need not be deposited to trust until the consumer had paid their contract in full. The following language was included when Chapter 436 was re-written in 2009:
A seller must deposit all payments received on a preneed contract into the designated preneed trust within sixty days of receipt of the funds by the seller, the preneed sales agent or designee.
To be able to confirm compliance with the trust deposit requirement, the State Board staff has proposed the following record requirements:
- For trust and joint account funded preneed contracts:
(1) Records showing the date and amount of the funds received by the seller’s agent;
(2) Records showing the date and amount of funds received by the seller;
(3) Records showing the date and amount of the funds deposited into any account and identifying the institution receiving the deposits and the account into which funds are deposited;
However, Missouri sellers are questioning why records for when the deposit is received by the seller’s agent, and then again when it is received by the seller. The trust deposit record language could be stated as follows:
- For trust and joint account funded preneed contracts:
(1) Records showing the date and amount of the funds received by the seller or the seller’s agent;
(2) Records showing the date and amount of the funds deposited into any account and identifying the institution receiving the deposits and the account into which funds are deposited;
Both sections of the timely deposit record could easily be met with an Excel worksheet similar to this this form.