As suggested in our prior Cemetery Preneed Exemption post, Missouri’s endowed care cemetery law (Chapter 214.270 et seq) has a huge flaw when it comes to religious cemeteries: they are either all in or all out. Religious cemeteries often have good cause for seeking exemption from state endowed care laws. Our religious cemetery clients
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Missouri Exempt Cemeteries: The Exception that is the Rule
When Missouri’s endowed care law was passed in 1994, all cemeteries were required to register with the Office of Endowed Care Cemeteries. Cemeteries can seek licensing as either an endowed care cemetery or a non-endowed cemetery, or the cemetery could claim it was exempt from Chapter 214 pursuant to the definition of “Cemetery” pursuant to…
Meet Me in St.Louis: the Death Care Regulators Convention
Missouri’s death care regulators will play host to their peers next week when the North American Death Care Regulators Association convention is held in St. Louis. When you host a convention in NPS’ backyard, the agenda needs to include sessions on what went wrong. The final session of the agenda will catch every …
Missouri’s Document Production Request
The examination of a Missouri preneed seller begins with a request that certain documents be submitted to the State Board within 3 weeks. The purpose for the document production is to allow the examiner to perform a desk audit of the seller’s operable documents before an on-site visit is made. From those documents the examiner…
Missouri’s Trust Funded Report: perserving self regulation
The ‘deadline’ for Missouri preneed sellers to ‘voluntarily’ report their pre-SB1 trust funded sales is a mere two weeks away. Again, this is a voluntary report. As such, missing the ‘deadline’ or failing to use the Board’s form carries no penalty to the preneed seller. So, why file?
The reason expressed by one State…
The Comptroller’s Preneed Report: poor follow through
While the Comptroller succeeded in getting SB1682 passed, and into law this past February, the office hasn’t revised its annual preneed reporting form to reflect the law’s changes. The report contemplates depository accounts and self-trusted accounts, which were eliminated by SB1682.
Funeral directors, accustom to the IFDA’s assistance, may also find the trust report…
A Stitch in Time Saves Nine: the statement of goods and services
When funeral arrangements are made subsequent to the death of a family member, the meeting with a funeral director can be very emotional. Addressing the paperwork required by law often adds to the stress of the arrangement meeting. Sensitive to the individual needs of the family, funeral directors attempt to balance legal requirements with the…
Step Out of the Box: a California request
According to Wikipedia,
Regulation is "controlling human or societal behavior by rules or restrictions." Regulation can take many forms including legal restrictions promulgated by a government authority…….
So, regulators are charged with the task of interpreting “legal restrictions” and determining what businesses can or cannot do. When the applicable law is well drafted, and further…
Preneed Contract Forms: Worth The Paper They’re Written On?
With the exception of a few states, each form of preneed funding has its own statutory requirements. Consequently, different contract forms are required for each method of preneed funding. So, what does this mean for the consumer worried about the safety of funds paid to the funeral home or cemetery.
Among the pecking order of…
Early Audit Warning: Fees and Assessments
It seems paradoxical to see preneed regulators ramping up audit programs while state budgets are being slashed to the bone. Yet, several I-70 corridor states will soon implement new preneed audit programs.
Missouri’s preneed funeral audits will be funded out of a combination of license fees and preneed contract fees. Missouri’s new cemetery law did…