Preneed: A Pandora's Box of Problems
The Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors introduced a new preneed examination handbook at its October meeting. (Click the following hyperlink to access the preneed handbook.) The proposed handbook would change the emphasis of the preneed exams from contract and recordkeeping compliance to tracking consumer funds paid to the funeral home.
For…
The rift between the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors and their Executive Director culminated in her resignation effective June 30th. Over the course of the past several years, the State Board drew the ire of the industry in a number of ways. The staff implemented regulation proposals before they were…
Our first recommendation to the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors is that they assume, and maintain, control over the preneed examination procedures. The exam procedures implemented two years ago were never submitted to the Board for review and approval. Accordingly, the examination procedures handbook should remind the staff that any change made…
With an action that caught some by surprise, the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors voted to suspend future preneed examinations and accept recommendations on a new process. We have made several posts on the faults of the Missouri examination process, and now commend the Board on taking a bold action. The Missouri…
To begin reform of its preneed exam process, the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors is seeking input from the industry by this Friday, June 8th. Specifically, the State Board is requesting comments to the Exam Procedures Handbook prepared by its staff. We have made edits to that handbook, and will…
When the State Board approved a new “adequate seller records” rule on April 25th, there wasn’t much discussion of the documents or reports to be maintained for performed and canceled preneed contracts. In a sense, the Board may not need to expand beyond the FTC’s statement of goods and services requirement. If a…
The Missouri funeral industry has haggled with the State Board for two years over preneed record requirements. But on April 25th, the State Board scrapped the staff’s adequate record proposal, and instead, adopted a brief definition of ‘seller records’. The State Board’s approach will afford funeral homes more flexibility in documenting the receipt…
The April 25th meeting of the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors marked an important transition where industry members assumed control over the protection of consumers’ preneed funds. After the first round of financial examinations, the Board’s procedures for the second round were defined by the Board’s staff, and never submitted to…
Missouri funeral homes are frustrated with the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. The second round of preneed examinations has begun, and the Board’s staff is citing sellers for “new” contract form violations on “old” contracts. Examiners are reviewing all outstanding contracts, including those covered in the seller’s first examination, and now citing the…
Ten years after the collapse of NPS, the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors has a confidence problem with licensees and legislators. Licensees see a regulator that is obsessed with DBAs, renewal reports, and exams that focus on contract provisions. Legislators see a regulator that will not fulfill the SB1 mandate to protect…