William Stalter is the founder of Stalter Legal Services and the Preneed Resource Company. Bill focuses his law practice on preneed and death care compliance, serving banks, funeral homes, crematories, and cemeteries. He has written multiple published articles
By Bill Stalter on Posted in NPS/LincolnA Texas court has approved the sale of a majority of the NPS preneed business to a Texas insurance company and its subsidiary. As we reported a few weeks ago, Liberty Bankers Life Insurance and Capitol Life Insurance Company will assume the NPS preneed business written in Missouri and Illinois as of November 1st. Funeral homes… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in NPS/LincolnThe Special Deputy Receiver over National Prearranged Services recently filed an application to assign a significant portion of the NPS preneed contracts to Liberty Bankers Life Insurance, and a subsidiary, Capitol Life Insurance Company. If approved by the court, the NPS contracts will transfer on November 1st. Preneed contracts sold in Missouri and Alabama will… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Missouri - SB1,NPS/LincolnIn an opinion issued last week, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down key NPS trial rulings that resulted in a $491 million jury verdict against PNC Bank (as the successor to Allegiant Bank). The appeals opinion states that the trial court erred when it allowed the NPS receiver to argue tort based claims… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedPrison life has been hard on Doug Cassity. The de facto executive officer of National Prearranged Services was sentenced to 10 years in Federal prison for his role in the preneed fraud that involved hundreds of millions of consumer funds. With about 6 years remaining on his sentence, Mr. Cassity has requested a release from… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Legislation,NPS/LincolnIt has been almost 2 years to the date when a $391 million dollar judgment was entered against PNC Bank, as the successor to Allegiant Bank. Allegiant Bank was one of the last trustees to administer National Prearranged Services’ preneed trusts in Missouri. PNC Bank appealed that judgment, and a decision is expected any day… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Associations,Master Trusts,Missouri - SB1There seems to be some confusion in Missouri over the permissible contractual relationships among the preneed seller, the preneed trustee and the independent investment advisor. Prior to the collapse of NPS, and the subsequent amendment of Missouri’s preneed law, Chapter 436 allowed the preneed seller to incorporate provisions in its preneed trust agreement to instruct… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in NPS/LincolnThe Special Deputy Receiver for National Prearranged Services recently filed a Bill of Costs with the Federal trial court. The Bill of Costs seeks to recover copy charges of more than $500,000 from a former NPS trustee. Those costs do not include attorneys’ fees. Litigation can be very costly. Missouri’s preneed regulators are keenly aware of the costs of… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Associations,Fiduciary,InvestmentsBack in March, the NPS Special Deputy Receiver won a judgement of $355 million against PNC Bank (as successor to Allegiant Bank). In defense of Allegiant Bank, PNC argued that Missouri’s Chapter 436 defined the trustee’s duties as owed solely to the preneed seller. That was the intent of the Missouri Funeral Directors Association when… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Compliance,Investments,Missouri - SB1,NPS/LincolnNow that a judgment has been rendered against Allegiant Bank, the NPS litigation will move on to the appeal stage where the focus will be on R.S.Mo. Section 436.031. The NPS trustees universally argued that this provision of the Missouri preneed statute relieved them of all responsibility and liability for investment supervision. As set out… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Administration,Compliance,Missouri - SB1,NPS/Lincoln,RecordkeepingFinal arguments were heard in the NPS civil trial this past Friday. With the SDR having presented evidence through the prior Friday, the defendant trustees presented their case in less than a week. This may reflect that the NPS trustees had viewed their duties as having been defined by Chapter 436 as relatively low. As… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Compliance,Fiduciary,Missouri - SB1,NPS/LincolnThe Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the OCC) supervises the fiduciary activities of national chartered banks, and in February, updated the guidelines used by its examiners. The “Personal Fiduciary Activities” booklet includes a section on pre-acceptance due diligence that fiduciaries should conduct before agreeing to serve as trustee for an account. Page 7… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Fiduciary,Missouri - SB1,NPS/LincolnThe NPS civil trial has completed its third week, and jurors probably face another four weeks of witness testimony. First from the NPS receiver, and then from the defendant trustees, the jurors are hearing two very contrasting theories of what fiduciary duties were owed by the NPS trustees. Up until a few weeks before the… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in NPS/LincolnThe National Prearranged Services civil trial is scheduled to begin this week, and trial briefs have been filed with the Court. The briefs outline the arguments that each party plans to prove during the course of the trial. It is our understanding that the Special Deputy Receiver has settled with all defendant trustees except Allegiant… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Administration,Compliance,Investments,NPS/LincolnA recent order issued by the Federal Court trying the NPS civil suit referenced a mirror trust employed by the defendant bank (12-31-14 Order – Comerica MSJ ). To facilitate the trading of investment securities, a brokerage account is established with a firm that can administer the transactions more efficiently than the fiduciary institution. The fiduciary… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Associations,Investments,Master Trusts,NPS/LincolnIt is common for master preneed trusts to have investments directed by an independent fund manager. The pooling of smaller trusts allows funeral directors to achieve the critical mass needed to engage professional asset management. When investment functions are delegated, the trustee typically wants to be relieved of the supervision and liabilities that accompany those… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Administration,Compliance,Investments,Master Trusts,NPS/LincolnEarlier this week, the Federal Court that is to try the NPS civil lawsuit next month issued an order (Order denying Morisse JOP Mtn) that will raise red flags for the banks that serve as preneed trustees. In denying the motion of an officer of Allegiant Bank, Judge Richard Webber held that the Special Deputy Receiver… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Fiduciary,Missouri - SB1,NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedAttorneys are currently arguing this issue before a Federal court in St. Louis. While the NPS civil trial does not begin for another six weeks, both the SDR and the defendant trustees want to resolve the question of who is a beneficiary of a preneed trust under Missouri law. The SDR is arguing that all… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in NPS/LincolnIn August, litigants to the NPS civil trial were required to file expert opinion reports with the court. Initially, there were essentially 8 defendant banks, and most had retained one or more experts to testify at trial. As a consequence, a plethora of expert reports were filed with the court. Many of the experts offered… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedRandall K. Sutton, former President and CEO of National Prearranged Services, died in prison on December 8th. Accordingly to pleadings filed in the NPS criminal and civil lawsuits, Mr. Sutton played a central role in the company’s operations. Another pivotal player in the Cassity schemes, Howard Wittner, was recently released from Federal prison so that… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedOver a three day span beginning December 17th, a Federal court in St. Louis will hear legal arguments from the NPS special deputy receiver and from banks that served as NPS trustees at some point during the past 30 some years. Initial legal briefs have been filed, and response briefs will be filed. The arguments… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in NPS/Lincoln,UncategorizedOur prior blog post discussed the NPS Special Deputy Receiver’s motion for a ruling on two crucial legal issues. Doug Cassity was appalled that the SDR would attempt such an unbelievable slight of hand on the Federal court, and filed his own response. According to Mr. Cassity, the SDR has cited the court to the… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Compliance,Investments,Master Trusts,NPS/LincolnIn a motion for rulings of law, the NPS Special Deputy Receiver seeks a judicial determination of two legal issues that could impact preneed trustees subject to the jurisdiction of the Eighth Circuit of Federal Court of Appeals: the beneficiary status of preneed purchasers (and funeral homes) and the required independence of investment advisors. These two… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in UncategorizedIn anticipation of a February trial date, a group from the fiduciary bank defendants has filed a motion for summary judgment in the Federal court that will try the NPS civil lawsuit. The intent of the summary judgment request is to narrow the scope of claims made by the Special Deputy Receiver. The pleadings filed… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in UncategorizedThe remaining members of the Cassity clan have filed motions in opposition to the dismissal of Doug Cassity from the NPS civil lawsuit. Rhonda Cassity and Tyler Cassity argue that they too are the victims of Doug’s scheming and fraudulent conduct, and that good ole’ Dad should be compelled to testify, and held accountable. The plan… Continue Reading
