It only took 15 months, but the Missouri State Board finally approved a rule to clarify what fees a preneed seller may charge when offering a guaranteed price contract to consumers.   Low investment returns from insurance and trusts forced many funeral homes to stop offering guaranteed price contracts to consumers.  Funeral homes’ cost increases were outpacing what they would receive on a preneed contract.  Consequently, funeral homes were limiting consumers to non-guaranteed plans or to single premium insurance contracts.  We first sought to have the Missouri State Board clarify by rule when a preneed seller could charge a fee to price protect a funeral, or to charge a fee when allowing the consumer to pay for a preneed contract by installments.  A draft rule was approved by representatives from the State Board, but the Board lost its quorum before the rule could be approved.   Finally, on April 25th, the State Board approved 20 CSR 2120-3.530, and now Missouri preneed sellers may include such fees without fear of a challenge from the State Board.