A 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.
NPS
Question for The Jury: Exculpatory Clauses and Preneed Investment Supervision
It 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…
Getting Personal: liability and the preneed trust officer
Earlier 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…
Preneed Trust: Is it the Consumer’s Funds?
Attorneys 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…
Testimony Guidelines for the NPS Experts
In 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…
A Legacy of Disgrace: the NPS Management Team
Randall 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…
Exploiting the Gaps In Chapter 436: NPS’ take on a preneed law
Over 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. …
Doug Cassity: A Master at the Slight of Hand
Our 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…
Investment Advisors: How Independent?
In 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…
The NPS Civil Trial: our first glimpse of the legal arguments
In 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…