It’s always an ugly scene when a party to a fiduciary relationship gets caught with his/her hand in the cookie jar. Unfortunately, this has been happening with alarming frequency in the death care community, and Indiana has had enough. In a relationship that requires mutual cooperation, the death care industry has taken the position that "someone should have
Reform
Maryland’s Proposed Preneed Protection Fund: all things considered
By Bill Stalter on
It must be spring: preneed reform bills are sprouting like crocus.
The direction taken by the Maryland and Tennessee legislatures in proposing protection funds drew recent criticism from the Funeral Consumers Alliance. While consumer advocates have some valid points regarding these legislative efforts, the obstacles facing states are far more complex than what most…
Grandview Memorial Gardens: Round up the suspects
By Bill Stalter on
The families of those buried at Grandview Memorial Gardens are angry. First they are advised that the trusts meant to fund future burials and the care for those graves are not properly funded. Next, they learn that some of the cemetery’s gardens have a problem with grave spaces flooding with water. When Indiana regulators and…
Right of Sepulcher – Personal Preference and Wisconsin
By Bill Stalter on
A Wisconsin bill that would establish a right of sepulcher looks bound for passage (AB 305). There are several things to like about this bill. It would establish an individual’s right to control the disposition of his or her body, and to designate an agent authorized to carry out that directive. The bill…