A bill has been filed in the Missouri General Assembly that proposes to divide the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors membership evenly between the public and industry representatives. That Board currently consists of 5 industry members and 1 public member. The bill sponsor, Representative Joe Don McGaugh, is from a district that includes
examinations
Facing 14 Years’ of Hard Time: One Missouri Funeral Director’s Failure to Deposit Preneed Funds
By Bill Stalter on
The Missouri Iron County Mountain Echo ran the following story on August 15th:
A former Ironton Funeral Home Director has pleaded guilty to two counts of stealing in Iron County Circuit Court. The charges stem from the sale of pre-need funeral plans. George Treaster of Ironton entered a plea of guilty to two…
Missouri Preneed Examinations: Round 2
By Bill Stalter on
When the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors meet on January 6th, the main topic of discussion will be the scope of the next round of preneed financial examinations. With the passage of Senate Bill No. 1 in 2009, the State Board was given the responsibility of conducting a preneed examination…
Establishing a Red Flag System: Massachusetts Preneed Oversight
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Uncategorized
The Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure and the state Board of Registration of Funeral Directors and Embalmers are taking flak over the one and half million dollars of preneed funds that may been diverted by the owner of the defunct Ryder Funeral Home in South Hadley. The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported that 200 Massachusetts…
Transferee Liability: Hidden Obligations
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Missouri - SB1
The Dead Beat recently published a letter from a Missouri funeral home operator that was critical of the ‘handling of the NPS debacle’ by the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. The operator questioned how the Board could ‘allow’ his firm to sign official documents requiring that NPS contracts be honored. The official…
Missouri’s Exam Progress: Time for Changes?
By Bill Stalter on
The Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors will meet in a few weeks, and the topic of fees may be on the agenda. The staff broached the fees topic at the spring meeting, but the matter was tabled for subsequent discussion. Fees and the preneed examination process go hand in hand, and…
The On-Site Audit: getting to know your business
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Exams/audits, Preneed
Here in the Midwest, the death care industry is just beginning to experience the increase in preneed reporting and oversight. Some funeral directors are already frustrated with the new requirements, and are biding the time to when they can vent towards the preneed regulator.
Over the past 4 years, state agencies in Illinois, Kansas and…
Missouri’s Examination: an idea of what to expect
By Bill Stalter on
The new era of preneed exams and audits got off to a slow start in Missouri, but now there are indications the process is picking up speed. The first notices of preneed financial examinations went out to sellers last January, and some are now going through on-site examinations. A second wave of examination notices has gone out, and the State Board has begun preparations for…
Is there a light at the end of this tunnel? Missouri’s Exam Process
By Bill Stalter on
The Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors will take another step on December 7th towards the process of defining the examination process for preneed funeral contracts. True to mantra that has been repeated over the past several months: this is a work in progress that will evolve as more is learned.
The agenda…
Who’s the Boss?
By Bill Stalter on
That’s the question a member of the Missouri State Board asked of his staff last Wednesday during a discussion of controversial examination procedures. Prior to the NPS fiasco, the answer to that question would have been “the Board is”. While SB1 (appropriately) continued to vest preneed supervision in the State Board, the new law also…