Pursuant to a notice that may, or may not, satisfy state law, the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors met in closed session this morning. At the State Board’s December meeting, Division counsel advised that 24 hours’ notice to the public was required to amend the Board’s agenda. Notice of this 9:00
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The Missouri Funeral Board: Cures for Memory Loss
With its January 9th and 10th agenda, the Missouri State Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers exhibited yet another example of memory loss. Just weeks prior, the State Board voted to have one or more special meetings on seller records and the financial examination process. The motion approved by the Board was to have…
Missouri’s Record Keeping Meeting(s): A Date to Be Determined
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…
Missouri’s Preneed Examination Process: A New Focus
For the first round of Missouri preneed examinations, the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors had no choice but to jump into preneed sellers’ records and files. Hundreds of funeral home had been selling preneed for decades without supervision or record keeping requirements. So, the first exam objective was to look at everything and…
Missouri Preneed Examinations: An Important Pivot
In their last meeting, the members of the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors took a small, but important pivot in the preneed examination process. The State Board approved a recommendation made by the Financial Examination Committee that the Committee review each examination report and prepare the letter that accompanies the report to…
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. …
Missouri’s State Board: the 2017 Sabbatical is Over
After a 8 month sabbatical, the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors will be back at work soon. Shortly after taking office in January, Governor Eric Greitens withdrew two interim appointments to the State Board, leaving it without a quorum to take formal actions. For the last eight months, the State Board has…
Missouri Preneed Annual Reports: Include Those Pre88 and Post88 Trusts
The Missouri Preneed Annual Report for 2017 is a little different from prior years. Schedule H (trust funded contracts) now seeks information about Pre88 trusts and Post88 trusts. Previously, Schedule H only referenced trusts that administered contracts sold subsequent to August 28, 2009. This had been a source of confusion for Missouri funeral homes. Accordingly,…
The NPS Appeals Opinion: What does it mean for Preneed Fiduciaries?
In an opinion issued last week, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down key NPS trial rulings that resulted in a $491 million jury verdict against PNC Bank (as the successor to Allegiant Bank). The appeals opinion states that the trial court erred when it allowed the NPS receiver to argue tort based claims…
Missouri’s Executive Order No. 17-03: Going on Record
As we had suggested in a prior post, the Missouri State Board of Embalmers is acting to facilitate the directives of Executive Order No. 17-03 before the Board’s member vacancies are addressed. Public hearings have been scheduled for Augusts 14th and 15th at the Division of Professional Registration. The State Board will also accept comments…