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 Preneed Tax,TaxesWe continue our discussion of the composite Federal Form 1041QFT with a post about the individual account statement. With the composite return, income and expenses are allocated to the individual preneed account and taxes are computed at that level rather than at the trust level. To allow the IRS to test the composite tax liabilities,… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Administration,Compliance,Missouri - SB1A Missouri funeral home client recently had a consumer with a trust funded contract cancel their prearranged funeral and request a refund. The contract was sold subsequent to the 2009 law change, which provides the consumer a refund equal to all payments in excess of a 5% origination fee. Missouri law allows sellers to withdraw… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Compliance,Guaranteed,Insurance Funded,Investments,PreneedFor an industry that has been dependent on interest income, the past 9 years have been tough on the death care industry. Interest rates started to decline 9 years ago, with the bottom hitting in 2008. Zero interest rates forced death care fiduciaries to diversify into equity investments, but trusts have experienced a sideways market… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Preneed Tax,TaxesThe Illinois Department of Revenue made a revision to Schedule M of the 2014 IL-1041 form that may go unnoticed by many trust tax preparers. The change is meant to clarify that preneed accounts established pursuant to the Illinois Funeral or Burial Funds Act may take an adjustment that will eliminate the preneed trust’s state tax… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Investments,Master Trusts,Trust FundedFor Fed watchers, last week’s announcement signaled a subtle warning that interest rates will likely begin rising by the Summer of 2015. Since September of 2012, Federal Reserve statements have warned that interest rates would remain unchanged for “a considerable time” after the nation’s economic recovery strengthened. The reference to “a considerable time” was dropped… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in UncategorizedThe Memorial Business Journal’s July 10th story on the NFDA 2014 consumer survey included a commentator’s suggestion that preneed funding has declined because so few options are offered the consumer. The story’s commentators interpreted the decline in preneed funding as reflecting fewer consumers being motivated by price guarantees, and those that might be, need installment… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in UncategorizedTax day is only a week away, and preneed trust returns will look a little different this year. As we reported back in December, the IRS took the position that preneed trusts are subject to the Medicare Tax used to fund the Affordable Health Care Act. Accordingly, Federal Form 1041QFT now requires the reporting of “Net… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Care Funds,LegislationLegislation was introduced this week in the Kansas Legislature, and one of the bill’s changes seeks to clarify how cemetery care fund requirements can be computed. We have found this a source of confusion for cemeteries and regulators in many states. Depending upon the type of interment right purchased, the care fund requirement is often… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Care Funds,CemeteriesThe International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA) made an old but persuasive argument to get the IRS to exempt cemetery care trusts from the Medicare tax that will fund ObamaCare. As discussed in a prior post, the IRS had initially proposed to apply the tax to both cemetery care trusts and preneed trusts. With… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Fiduciary,Funeral,Investments,Missouri - SB1,PreneedAmong the rule proposals suggested by the Division of Professional Registration to the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors was the following definition of “External Investment Advisor”: any licensed, qualified investment advisor approved and authorized by the trustee of the preneed trust and who holds no personal interest in any assets of the preneed… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Care Funds,Cemeteries A cemetery operator recently expressed his frustration with the trust officer of his care fund trust. An examination of the trust had cited the operator for inappropriate distributions from principal with regard to expense payments. We suggested to the operator that it is very common for trustees to set up care fund accounts with a… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Compliance,Funeral,PreneedMissouri’s death care regulators will play host to their peers next week when the North American Death Care Regulators Association convention is held in St. Louis. When you host a convention in NPS’ backyard, the agenda needs to include sessions on what went wrong. The final session of the agenda will catch every regulator’s eye,… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Investments,Master Trusts,PreneedA Missouri preneed auditor recently requested an explanation from a client why certain accounts were underfunded. The handful of accounts were “underfunded” by varying amounts of a few dollars to twenty dollars. The common fact with each was an initial deposit or substantial deposit in the month preceding the Federal Chairman’s remarks that sent the… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in CemeteriesAs cemeteries struggle with harsh economic conditions, regulators are bound to look at their ‘problem cemeteries’ and weigh whether legal proceedings are necessary to preserve the care funds mandated by state law. To the extent such proceedings are premised in part on how capital gains are defined and whether distributions from capital gains are an… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in CemeteriesHere is proof that readership of newspapers is going down. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called a few weeks back about a Wisconsin legislative bill that sought investment freedom for cemetery trust funds. With the legislative battle that was waged a year ago in Wisconsin, we had expected the bill might represent a renewed effort to… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Fiduciary,Funeral,Master Trusts,PreneedIf you haven’t noticed, there has been some turnover among the associations’ preneed fund managers. With the threat of additional litigation in Wisconsin, this trend could continue. But not all of the turnover has been as publicized as what we have seen in Illinois and Wisconsin. After 20 years at the helm, Merrill Lynch recently… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Administration,Fiduciary,Master Trusts,PreneedIn the days that followed the Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association being placed into receivership, some of the WFDA’s sister associations were quick to point out they had ‘checks and balances’ that would protect consumers’ funds from the problems that tripped up the Wisconsin Funeral Trust. As we reported in our last post, a crucial ‘check… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Funeral,Insurance Funded,Preneed,Trust FundedNot that close, even from the 30,000-foot view. That’s our assessment of the Morningstar analysis of preneed and its impact on the death care industry. In “Dark Clouds for the Death-Care Industry”, a stock analyst attempted to explain the preneed transaction, and then provide an assessment of the impact of preneed on the profitability of… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in IFDA,Investments,Preneed,ReformThe Springfield Journal-Register recently reported that Illinois’ Cemetery Oversight Task Force made a recommendation to restrict preneed trusts to investing in government-backed securities. While its difficult to actually find that recommendation in the Task Force’s report, it is not a bad idea for the consumers who purchased a non-guaranteed preneed contract. However, that type of restriction would hinder funeral homes that offer guaranteed contracts. The… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Fiduciary,PreneedThe ICCFA’s November Magazine included an article by Craig Martin that provides good advice for all death care trusts. Death care trusts are notoriously bad performers, and if operators are to improve investment performance they need to work more closely with their fiduciaries and portfolio managers. Mr. Martin offers 5 tips that are equally applicable… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Fiduciary,PreneedA trade newsletter recently reported on funeral homes forming buying groups to negotiate better terms with casket vendors. Through cooperative alliances, the funeral homes can achieve the numbers required to negotiate better discounts from vendors. Those same economies of scale also benefit preneed programs that utilize trust funding. The larger trust not only provides the… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Cemeteries,LegislationThe Federal Reserve’s December 17th decision to cut its interest rate to less than a quarter of a percent is meant to encourage investors back into the stock market. But for many cemeteries, the prospect of depressed interest rates will have dire consequences to endowed/perpetual care trusts that are subject to state laws which limit… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Cemeteries,Legislation,ReformEven when the need for reform is apparent to all, the legislative process can take years. With the Michigan Senate having approved a House substitute, that state’s cemeteries are a step closer to reform that could have avoided Clayton Smart’s pillaging of $70 million dollars of endowed care funds. The Michigan Legislature’s website provides the… Continue Reading
By Bill Stalter on Posted in Cemeteries,Funeral,PreneedMortuary Management’s July/August Colleague Wisdom column underscores how difficult it can be to run a trade association. I can empathize with the funeral home operators who took the time to provide their thoughts. As an attorney who specializes in the death care industry, I have to weigh the costs and benefits of membership in trade associations from… Continue Reading
