The Mississippi Secretary of State seems to be taking a very proactive approach to the regulation of preneed and perpetual care funds. Over the course of the last few years, the Regulation and Enforcement Division of the Secretary of State’s office has averaged an enforcement proceeding per month. We were curious what type of enforcement
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A False Sense of Security: the hold harmless for investment oversight
By Bill Stalter on
We previously discussed how the funeral home or cemetery assumes most of a preneed trust’s investment risk when selling a guaranteed preneed contract, and therefore should be afforded a role in the trust’s investment decisions (Fund Managers: Is Your O&E Coverage Current?). But in that same post, we were careful to point out…
Cemetery Preneed Challenges: bucket accounting
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Cemeteries, Preneed
As alluded to in our prior post, the cemetery’s ability to deliver burial rights and merchandise prior to death complicates the preneed transaction. In a post, we labeled this the ‘bucket factor’ (Cemetery Preneed Oversight: the bucket factor). In addition to burial spaces, cemeteries can deliver markers, monuments, vases, urns, outer …
Another factor in the cremation trend: preneed insurance premiums
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Cremation, Guaranteed, Insurance Funded, Preneed, Preplanning, Price Protection, Price Protection
Our preneed provides peace of mind by freeing your family from the burdens of rising funeral costs and from making difficult decisions during their time of grief.
Since the inception of the transaction sixty years ago, that statement has defined preneed marketing. Even the AARP recently embrace the peace of mind concept. The inflationary…
Preneed Contract Forms: Worth The Paper They’re Written On?
By Bill Stalter on
With the exception of a few states, each form of preneed funding has its own statutory requirements. Consequently, different contract forms are required for each method of preneed funding. So, what does this mean for the consumer worried about the safety of funds paid to the funeral home or cemetery.
Among the pecking order of…
Early Audit Warning: Fees and Assessments
By Bill Stalter on
It seems paradoxical to see preneed regulators ramping up audit programs while state budgets are being slashed to the bone. Yet, several I-70 corridor states will soon implement new preneed audit programs.
Missouri’s preneed funeral audits will be funded out of a combination of license fees and preneed contract fees. Missouri’s new cemetery law did…
The Preneed Tax
By Bill Stalter on
Several states have passed laws in the past few years mandating greater preneed oversight. But with state budgets in decline after the 2008 market crash, regulators are hard pressed to find a way to pay for consumer protection.
Colorado’s new law simply states that the contract seller shall bear the cost of its examination.
In…
The Quest for Knowledge: Nebraska preneed reporting
By Bill Stalter on
For more than 20 years, Nebraska preneed sellers have filed an annual report that accounts for the aggregate contributions and distributions from their trust funds. The annual report form also computes the amount of income that must be accrued to the account if the seller elects to withdraw excess income from the trust. In its…
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…
Missouri Cemetery Preneed Law: zero to eighty while blindfolded
By Bill Stalter on
The fear of SB1 drove the Missouri cemetery industry to push for Chapter 214 legislation in 2009, only to have the wheels come off at the stroke of midnight last May. While legislation was passed, the original bill was gutted, and the resulting changes were incoherent and confusing. It was no surprise that the industry…