In preceding posts, we have outlined recommendations to the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors regarding the preneed examination process and record keeping requirements. While our correspondence was not included on the Board’s December 13th agenda, the Board entertained a motion to amend the agenda to include our correspondence on the afternoon
Master Trusts
Missouri Seller Records: 2017 Reboot?
This time last year, the hot topic before the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors was the staff’s proposed regulation to define what constitutes adequate records of a preneed seller. The proposal was revised more than once during 2016, but it was eventually tabled by the Board before any consensus could be reached. …
The $64 Million Dollar Question: Is the Money there?
While the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors’ Complaint against the Missouri Funeral Trust alleges the program has failed to maintain adequate records, documents and oversight, funeral directors want to know whether the trust is adequately funded. Although the State Board raised issues with some contracts reported with zero deposit balances, the Complaint…
Missouri’s Longest Preneed Audit: Continued until October
After five months of trading Complaints and Answers, the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors and the Missouri Funeral Trust have been assigned an October hearing date before the Administrative Hearing Commission. The dispute between the State Board and the MFDEA’s master trust program has been waging for years over issues such as…
Missouri Funeral Trust: Time to Put Up or Shut Up?
The Missouri Funeral Trust now faces the predicament we predicted a few months ago (The MFT’s Catch 22). The Court recently granted the State’s motion to dismiss, and dropped the State Board from the lawsuit. The main motivation for the lawsuit was probably to gain leverage in bringing a long and frustrating…
The Missouri Fund Manager: What was Grandfathered?
There seems to be some confusion in Missouri over the permissible contractual relationships among the preneed seller, the preneed trustee and the independent investment advisor. Prior to the collapse of NPS, and the subsequent amendment of Missouri’s preneed law, Chapter 436 allowed the preneed seller to incorporate provisions in its preneed trust agreement to instruct…
The Missouri Funeral Trust Lawsuit: Is Investment Performance a Trade Secret?
The MFT did not catch a break with the court assigned to its lawsuit against the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors and Catholic Fraternal Life. The hearing scheduled for September 28th was continued for another four weeks, and in the meantime, the parties continue to file evidentiary discovery requests. The Association’s…
The Missouri Funeral Trust and its Catch-22
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…
The MFT Lawsuit Claims: The Client List
The lawsuit brought by the Missouri Funeral Trust against the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors and CFL Pre-Need includes a number of unique and dubious claims. For example, the lawsuit defines CFL Pre-Need, an insurance company, as a competitor but not funeral home clients that are licensed as a preneed seller. The…
Trust Shortages: Sponsorship Fees
It was been almost 7 years since we posted the piece titled “Trade Association Membership: weighing the costs vs. the benefits”. Towards the end of that article, we discuss how the master trust sponsor fee provides a crucial source of revenue to state associations. That post was written subsequent to the dissolution of…