Come August 28th, every Missouri funeral home that plans to sell or honor a preneed contract must file a Notice of Intent To Apply. The State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors has devised this form to ease the rush that will occur when hundreds of licenses must be obtained. However, many Missouri funeral homes
Preneed
Cemetery Preneed Oversight: the bucket factor
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Cemeteries, Preneed
Recent cemetery failures are causing regulators from Illinois, Missouri and Kansas to take a closer look at the oversight provided for preneed sales of vaults, markers, urns and burial services.
Cemetery preneed is a different animal for that offered by funeral homes. As Mr. Newcomer suggested to a reporter, the big difference between the…
The Informant: Randall Sutton
By Bill Stalter on
News of Randy Sutton’s arrest was greeted by honking hearses in Missouri, Texas, Illinois, and a dozen or so other states. But, the question funeral directors are asking: What about the Cassity family?
Federal investigators need for someone to rollover and give up the Cassity crew, and apparently, Mr. Sutton is their choice.
Matt Damon’s…
Missouri’s Catch 22
By Bill Stalter on
Missouri’s Chapter 436 reform law goes into effect on August 28th, and the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors will have the responsibility of implementing the new changes. However, the State Board is caught in a Catch 22 situation.
Many of the changes will have to be implemented through regulations, but the Board…
Time to head back to school: implementing SB1
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Legislation, Preneed
My kids hate August because it means its time to head back to school. This year’s student population in Missouri will be a little larger than last year’s. The Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors has released its meeting agenda, and the state’s preneed industry will be given four crash courses beginning July 30th.
Generally, freshman orientation…
Missouri’s New Preneed Deposit Requirement
By Bill Stalter on
Governor Nixon signed Senate Bill No. 1 on July 16th, giving Missouri preneed sellers six weeks to prepare for Chapter 436’s new requirements. For trust-funded contracts, one of those requirements will be the deposit of all preneed payments to trust. Section 436.430.2 provides in part:
A seller must deposit all payments received on a preneed…
Provisional licenses: Missouri’s August 28th deadline
By Bill Stalter on
The New York Department of Motor Vehicles warns its citizens to plan ahead when it comes to obtaining or renewing their driver’s license. The busiest days of the month are the first and last days of the month. The first day of the month is busy from those who want to beat the rush or…
A Change in Accounting: Missouri’s new preneed law
By Bill Stalter on
For twenty-five years, Missouri funeral directors have had it easy with regard to accounting for consumers’ preneed payments. Chapter 436 required the preneed seller to maintain 80% of the preneed contract sales price in trust. The Missouri law also allowed the preneed seller to withdraw income so long as the 80% threshold was maintained. Consequently…
Hurry Up and Wait: Missouri’s SB1
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Legislation, Preneed
A little more than a month has lapsed since the Missouri legislature passed a reform preneed bill, but the death care industry remains stuck in neutral until Governor Nixon signs SB1 into law.
With an effective date of August 28th looming two months away, regulators and funeral homes (and cemeteries) face licensing and document deadlines. The State Board…
Redefining Preneed
By Bill Stalter on
Posted in Legislation, Preneed
Federal and state regulators can not quite agree on how to define the preneed transaction. Federal regulators tend to view the preneed transaction as a current sale of goods and services (where the delivery is deferred until a future date). In contrast, state regulators are increasingly defining the transaction in terms that defer consummation of…