The Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors staff has some new faces, and in contrast to most rookies, these newcomers are playing pivotal roles in developing examination procedures for the state’s preneed funeral sellers. The Division of Professional Registration chose personnel with prior auditing experience, but as these ‘rookies’ are learning, there is
Funeral
Comptroller: It’s Not My Call
By Bill Stalter on
For a brief period, the Illinois Comptroller posted a notice that sidestepped the inquiries made by funeral directors about the application of their Merrill Lynch settlements. The OIC website has since be revised.
One of the inquiries to the OIC may have involved whether the settlement funds could be applied to the litigation costs for…
California: the delay in updating
By Bill Stalter on
Microsoft’s early efforts to force regular program updates were a nightmare. Like a gremlin that visited at night, the update often changed default settings that you never completely understood in the first place. Sometimes the update would impact the compatibility of other critical programs. To avoid the hassle of these updates, I toggled off the…
Preneed Reporting: drilling down to each consumer
By Bill Stalter on
For most Illinois funeral homes, March 15th is the due date for the filing of their preneed data with the Comptroller’s office. For those funeral homes that bolted from the IFDA after the master trust melt down, this has been an extremely frustrating process. The majority of funeral homes must file on line, with supporting…
The Next Twist in the IFDA/Merrill Lynch saga
By Bill Stalter on
The Springfield Journal-Register reported last week on the latest lawsuit to hit Merrill Lynch, the IFDA and the law firm that represented the Association.
One aspect of the lawsuit focuses upon the claim that the key man insurance policies sold to the master trust were not suitable investments. Without an insurable interest, the policies could…
Groundhog Day in Missouri: Preneed Exams before Spring
By Bill Stalter on
The start of Missouri’s new era of preneed oversight began when document requests were mailed to sellers on January 3rd. Sellers were requested to provide the following documents by January 28th:
· A current statement from your state or federally chartered financial institution’s authorized to exercise trust powers in Missouri of any preneed trust accounts…
The Comptroller’s Annual Report: a broken trail
By Bill Stalter on
This blog commented a few weeks ago on Dan Hynes’ failure to follow through on his own legislation. Since that post, the new Comptroller revised the Annual Report to eliminate references to self-trusted funds. However, funeral homes that transferred out of the IFDA master trust will still find the report difficult to complete.
The Comptroller’s…
The Merrill Lynch Settlement Funds: Some Strings Attached
By Bill Stalter on
Many Illinois funeral homes were surprised when they opened their mail this past week. The Illinois Department of Insurance wrote to each funeral home that was determined to have a claim in the $18,000,000 Fund established by Merrill Lynch for IFDA master trust participants. The letter included a check and a spreadsheet allocating the check amount…
Dropping A Dime in the Land of Lincoln
By Bill Stalter on
A few years ago, a past president of the NFDA wrote in The Director that funeral directors should begin blowing the whistle on industry cheaters. This blog raised a concern over whether funeral directors understood applicable preneed laws well enough to become whistleblowers. A recent news article in the Morris Daily Herald contains facts to…
Missouri’s Trust Funded Report: perserving self regulation
By Bill Stalter on
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…