Since the onset of Covid, the death care industry has experienced an uptick in preneed sales. As witnessed recently on the Bankrate website, the financial planning industry has taken notice. Bankrate is a website that provides comparisons of various financial products, and recently posted an article titled “The pros and cons of funeral trusts
final expense trust
New York Times: How to Plan Your Own Funeral
By Bill Stalter on
Earlier this year, the New York Times ran a story that on funeral planning that raised several valid issues and recommendations. We will use the next few blog posts to explore certain issues and recommendations in greater detail. With this post we will start with the article’s discussion of prepaying for a preneed contract, and…
Church and Funeral Directors in Partnership
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Churches/Ritual
We came across the Dioceses of Liverpool website some time ago when researching the income tax consequences of church sponsored preneed programs. We had found that preneed funeral programs in England, Canada and Australia were often established and operated independent of the funeral home. With a high cremation rate, English churches saw an opportunity to…
Individual Funeral Trusts: Are the costs too high?
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Consumer Advocates, Preneed
The Missouri law governing means testing for public assistance (RSMo. Section 214.010) was amended this past August to allow an individual to set up an ‘irrevocable funeral trust account’ and exclude $9,999 of funds for funeral and burial expenses. This legislation was sought by a funeral director that wanted to offer families an…
Missouri Legislation: a final expense trust
By Bill Stalter on
The General Laws Committee of the Missouri Senate will hold a hearing this Wednesday (April 7th) on SB 1025. This bill provides hope to many small, rural funeral directors who would rather avoid the preneed transaction and the regulatory morass of SB1.
The bill would add a new Section 208.010.5 whereby individuals seeking to…
Picking Up The Tab For Death Care: Municipalities and Counties
By Bill Stalter on
Taxpayers, through their local governments, have always borne some of the cost of death care. Taxes go toward the maintenance of abandoned cemeteries and the final disposition of the indigent. But as the New York Times reports, the economy is causing more families to abandon the care of their dead to local governments. While many…
Going cold turkey on the guaranteed preneed contract
By Bill Stalter on
It has to be bad when your main source tells you its time for the Methadone clinic. With the worst financial crisis in our lifetime, and spiraling costs, what funeral director isn’t already battling a case of the sweats and shakes when reviewing his/her preneed program? And now you’re being told to go cold turkey on …