As suggested in our prior Cemetery Preneed Exemption post, Missouri’s endowed care cemetery law (Chapter 214.270 et seq) has a huge flaw when it comes to religious cemeteries: they are either all in or all out. Religious cemeteries often have good cause for seeking exemption from state endowed care laws. Our religious cemetery clients
Preneed Development
Finally a Missouri Cemetery Preneed Exemption: Sort of.
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Cemeteries, Preneed Development
The Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors recently promulgated a rule (20 CSR 2120-3.560) to exempt certain cemetery operators from preneed licensing with the State Board. The rule was a long time coming. We first wrote about preneed licensing confusion for Missouri cemeteries back in 2009 (Lost in the translation:…
Missouri Preneed Fees: Making Guaranteed Contracts Affordable to the Funeral Home
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Price Protection, Uncategorized
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…
A Treasury Market Out of Whack: Preneed Insurers and Preneed Sellers
In our last post, we used Allan Sloan’s article on the Treasury bond market to highlight the investment exposures to death care trusts. Today we will look at how the Treasury market is also impacting funeral homes that rely upon insurance for preneed funding. Mr. Sloan’s article alluded to insurance companies being required by statute…
Preneed Turf War: Pennsylvania Funeral Directors and StoneMor
By Bill Stalter on
In an unusual move for a death care regulator, the Federal Trade Commission weighed in on the preneed turf war that has erupted between Pennsylvania funeral directors and StoneMor Partners. At the request of the chairman for a Pennsylvania legislative committee, the FTC responded with a detailed letter warning against various bill proposals aimed at…
The Factors Contributing to Preneed Shortfalls: Investment Return and Operator’s Performance Costs
When the Federal Reserve recently announced the end of the quantitative easing program, it did so with a hint that any increase in interest rates could be a considerable time off. Several global factors may now cause interest rates to remain at unprecedented lows for longer than what the Fed had suggested last December. As…
Another factor in the cremation trend: preneed insurance premiums
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Cremation, Guaranteed, Insurance Funded, Preneed, Preplanning, Price Protection, Price Protection
Our preneed provides peace of mind by freeing your family from the burdens of rising funeral costs and from making difficult decisions during their time of grief.
Since the inception of the transaction sixty years ago, that statement has defined preneed marketing. Even the AARP recently embrace the peace of mind concept. The inflationary…