Preneed: A Pandora's Box of Problems
In the end, Clayton will likely spend many of his final days in a federal penitentiary. The Memphis Commercial Appeal outlines the plea bargain to be entered by Clayton Smart to conclude criminal investigations in Tennessee, Oklahoma and Michigan.
Comments made to the Commercial Appeal story express outrage with the prosecutors and the plea bargain.
Here is a twist on the “Another theft from a death care trust”: this one does not involve a cemetery operator or a funeral director. Last week, an Indiana grand jury indicted a banker, an investment advisor and an attorney. What may sound like the beginning of a joke that most funeral directors and cemeterians can relate…
The preneed bill that angered the Funeral Consumers Alliance in February continues to advance within the Tennessee legislature. SB 2705/HB 2763 has been placed on the calendar for the Commerce Committee for April 1st. If passed, the legislation may well make Tennessee the first state to lower its preneed trusting requirement. Despite the need for…
One of the many issues facing regulators in the Clayton Smart debacle was the surrender of thousands of Forethought life insurance policies by a Forest Hill preneed trustee. New light will probably be shed on this issue with revelations that Robert Nelms and Clayton Smart may each have been using the same financial management company: Security…
The Clayton Smart debacle has been, and will continue to be, the subject of articles calling for preneed reform. A recent AARP article titled R.I.P. Off will be one of the more controversial (leading to frequent citations by consumer advocates). While the article is biased and should be rebuked by the death care industry for its various…