The clock is on for the second round of Missouri preneed audits financial examinations, and the Missouri Division of Professional Registration wants to avoid the slow start that plagued the process 5 years ago. Although the State Board has yet to approve the Division’s proposals for seller recordkeeping and the scope of the exams, exam
Recordkeeping
Missouri Preneed Seller Records: Receipt Journal
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Compliance, Recordkeeping
The first record described in the proposed Missouri recordkeeping regulation could actually require preneed sellers to maintain three, maybe four, sets of journals:
(1) receipt and disbursement journals containing a record of deposits to and withdrawals from both preneed trusts and preneed joint accounts, specifically identifying the date, source, and description of each item deposited…
Missouri Seller Records: The State Board Proposal
By Bill Stalter on
At its March meetings, the State Board again received from the Division staff a rule proposal that would define the minimum records that a preneed seller would have to maintain. The first recordkeeping proposal was offered last July, but was never discussed. The recordkeeping proposal was subsequently included on the December agenda, but was only…
A Missouri Mid-Semester Cram: the March agenda
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Compliance, Recordkeeping
The staff for the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors posted the 779 page agenda for next week’s meetings. Doesn’t the state have a policy against the waste of natural resources? Granted the agenda includes minutes and regulation proposals from several prior meetings, but a Cliff’s Notes would be helpful to know what’s…
Missouri Preneed Seller Records: Trying to Get Everyone on a Similar Page
By Bill Stalter on
As reported in several prior posts, the preneed examination process in Missouri has been a work in progress for the past five years. Funeral homes in that state have been selling preneed for more than 30 years without much oversight or recordkeeping guidelines. When the law was re-written in 2009 in response to the NPS…
New Missouri Preneed Recordkeeping Requirements: base records and uniformity
By Bill Stalter on
The Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors will meet December 9th, and their agenda includes a proposed regulation for new preneed recordkeeping requirements. Borrowing perhaps from other states’ preneed audit manuals, the regulation sets out a list of journals, ledgers, documents that a preneed seller would be required to maintain. For an…
The Missouri Funeral Trust and its Catch-22
By Bill Stalter on
A status hearing is scheduled for September 28th in the lawsuit filed by the Missouri Funeral Trust against the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors and Catholic Fraternal Life. The lawsuit is now 4 months removed from the request for a temporary restraining order that, among other relief sought, would stay the financial…
Preneed Trust Shortages: Missouri’s Income Withdrawals
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Exams/audits, Investments, Legislation, Master Trusts, Missouri - SB1, Recordkeeping, Reporting, Trust Funded
Prior to Missouri re-writing its preneed law in 2009, preneed sellers could draw off realized income so long as the withdrawal did not reduce the trust’s fair market value below trust deposits. Seeking income, many Missouri sellers directed their trustees to invest in bonds. As interest rates declined during the early part of the prior…
Trust Funded Preneed and Insurance Assignments
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Compliance, Exams/audits, Guaranteed, Insurance Funded, Non-guaranteed, Preneed, Recordkeeping, Trust Funded
Funeral homes frequently allow the assignment of insurance as partial payment towards a trust funded preneed contract, but the manner in which the assignment is made can cause problems for them. Preneed trustees will not accept an insurance policy for a host of reasons. Insurance proceeds paid to a trust are not tax free and…
NPS’ Legacy of Damages: No One Knows How Deep the Waters Were
By Bill Stalter on
When NPS first collapsed, the estimate of the company’s liabilities to funeral homes was reported to have been as much as a billion dollars. When the SDR finally brought the case to trial, the damages awarded by the jury were less than half of the original estimate. While this author believes the actual damages are…