With the upcoming new year, Illinois smaller funeral homes will begin searching for a corporate trustee for their preneed funds. With the Legislature’s approval of the Governor’s Amendatory Veto of SB1682, funeral directors lose the authority to serve as fiduciary of their own preneed funds.
hynes
Licensing cemeteries
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Cemeteries
Recent problems in Illinois and Kansas have prompted funeral directors, and funeral regulators, to recommend that more regulation should be required of cemeteries, including licensing. What’s good for us is good for you.
When the Illinois Comptroller assured the public that the state was acting promptly to revoke Burr Oak’s license, many distraught families could…
But, we had a deal….
By Bill Stalter on
Rather than defend the legality of its master trust, the IFDA sought to enforce the gentlemen’s agreement that the association perceived it had with the Comptroller. The 2006 exchange of correspondence reported by the State Journal-Register underscores the risks that death care operators take when they structure arrangements that exceed the parameters of applicable law.…
The Illinois Comptroller’s Doubletalk: Who’s the Seller?
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in IFDA
Last week’s exchange between the State Journal-Register and the Illinois Comptroller’s office underscores just how poorly some regulators (and funeral directors) understand the preneed transaction.
The newspaper’s June 24th editorial included the following statement:
The directors allege they didn’t find out about the audit until fall 2007 when the comptroller revoked the IFDA’s license to…
The IFDA’s Defined Benefit Plan
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in IFDA
It may be a mere coincidence, but the $9.7 million demand made by Comptroller Dan Hynes upon the IFDA is approximately 25% of the $39 million dollar “deficit” that the master trust had accrued by 2006. In applying the letter of the law, the Comptroller has rejected the IFDA approach of crediting individual preneed accounts…
A shotgun wedding: The Comptroller’s elimination of the self-trusted arrangement
By Bill Stalter on
The battle to reform Illinois’ preneed funeral law was renewed by the Comptroller’s office with the release of his Amendment to Senate Bill 1862. Reform in Illinois will take months, and the final product may differ substantially from the Comptroller’s proposal. However, SB 1862 flags Mr. Hynes’ priorities, and one of those priorities could…