The New York Department of Motor Vehicles warns its citizens to plan ahead when it comes to obtaining or renewing their driver’s license. The busiest days of the month are the first and last days of the month. The first day of the month is busy from those who want to beat the rush or
Preneed
A Change in Accounting: Missouri’s new preneed law
By Bill Stalter on
For twenty-five years, Missouri funeral directors have had it easy with regard to accounting for consumers’ preneed payments. Chapter 436 required the preneed seller to maintain 80% of the preneed contract sales price in trust. The Missouri law also allowed the preneed seller to withdraw income so long as the 80% threshold was maintained. Consequently…
Hurry Up and Wait: Missouri’s SB1
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Legislation, Preneed
A little more than a month has lapsed since the Missouri legislature passed a reform preneed bill, but the death care industry remains stuck in neutral until Governor Nixon signs SB1 into law.
With an effective date of August 28th looming two months away, regulators and funeral homes (and cemeteries) face licensing and document deadlines. The State Board…
Redefining Preneed
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Legislation, Preneed
Federal and state regulators can not quite agree on how to define the preneed transaction. Federal regulators tend to view the preneed transaction as a current sale of goods and services (where the delivery is deferred until a future date). In contrast, state regulators are increasingly defining the transaction in terms that defer consummation of…
Houston, we have a problem
By Bill Stalter on
When Missouri’s Chapter 436/NPS reform legislation began to take shape last summer, the state’s cemetery industry sought to get out of the train’s way by incorporating new preneed provisions into a Chapter 214 bill. To clarify that cemeteries could establish preneed programs that would be regulated exclusively under Chapter 214, and not Chapter 436, statutory…
The Comptroller’s bill: raising the bar for foreign fiduciaries
By Bill Stalter on
Finding a fiduciary institution that is both knowledgeable and receptive has proven a challenge to funeral directors. Until a few years ago, the larger operators could rely upon the size of their trust to at least generate interest from prospective institutions. However, litigation exposures are now causing institutions to hesitate with even the largest of…
Missouri Death Care Legislation: A Whole New Ballgame
By Bill Stalter on
At the risk of plagiarizing the Missouri Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association, Missouri preneed funeral sellers, providers, fiduciaries and insurers face a new ballgame that will begin August 29th without a complete set of rules and guidelines. Funeral directors have a general idea where the game will be played, but they’re not quite sure what…
A shotgun wedding: The Comptroller’s elimination of the self-trusted arrangement
By Bill Stalter on
The battle to reform Illinois’ preneed funeral law was renewed by the Comptroller’s office with the release of his Amendment to Senate Bill 1862. Reform in Illinois will take months, and the final product may differ substantially from the Comptroller’s proposal. However, SB 1862 flags Mr. Hynes’ priorities, and one of those priorities could…
New York’s Preneed Law: a one-of-a-kind model
By Bill Stalter on
The New York preneed law may be the best consumer oriented preneed law in the country (see Page 47 of the AARP Survey). It requires 100% trusting, the accrual of income and limits the permissible investments. The New York State Funeral Directors Association has good reason to be proud of their preneed program. Yes, their…
Preneed Task Forces
By Bill Stalter on
Like the Swine Flu, a preneed virus has been spreading across the Midwest. Looking for a cure, state legislators and regulators have been forming research teams. It all started last summer, with Missouri’s Chapter 436 (funeral) working group and Chapter 214 (cemetery) working group. Now, Illinois is establishing a preneed task force, and Kansas…