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It would seem that the Missouri Legislature has grown impatient with the funeral industry’s efforts to regulate preneed.  New legislation, Senate Bill No. 32, would establish a two tier approach to preneed oversight.  This law would create a threshold whereby the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors would be required to notify the…

The Missouri Preneed Trust: What were you thinking?

Investment markets are down, and preneed trusts are hurting.  But one Missouri preneed trust is probably hurting more than others.  When the Missouri Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association cheerfully announced the acquisition of the Missouri Preneed Trust program by its own MFT, we were shocked.  The Missouri…

Late in 2021, PNC Bank threw in the towel.  After years of litigation and two appeals, PNC Bank agreed to a settlement with the NPS special deputy receiver.  Last month, our Illinois clients began receiving POC notices from the SDR that a portion of their claims for inflation would be honored.  Payment of funeral home…

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…

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.  …

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…

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…

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…