The next section of Missouri’s preneed record keeping proposal targets trust disbursements made for purposes other than preneed contract performances or cancellations:
(5) Records showing any disbursement from a preneed trust or joint account for any purpose other than cancellation or fulfillment of a preneed contract with a description of the purpose for the disbursement, and the date, amount and to whom the payment was made.
This section is in response to the misconduct of the National Prearrangement Service trustees that permitted unfettered disbursements by NPS. Trustees may not have an issue with this requirement if the seller can comply with a copy of the trust’s tax ledger statement or an annual disbursement report. (As discussed in our prior post, some banks may be limited in what they can provide in the way of a disbursement journal.) However, if the State Board is seeking records that reflect the fees disbursed from each consumer account, then sellers would have to be advised if the trust’s QFT attachment would suffice. Depending on what the proposal is ultimately seeking, Missouri sellers would need to discuss with their trustee whether existing records can be used to comply.
Sellers that rely upon joint accounts for preneed funding may need to seek clarification that a bank certification (that no funds have been disbursed) would suffice.