Recent Articles

Cemetery Endowed Care Funds and the Fixed Income Investment

Bill Stalter
December 27, 2008 21:08

The 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...

The long, winding road to reform: Michigan

Bill Stalter
December 19, 2008 19:39

Even 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...

The Transfer-for-value Rule and insurance funded preneed

Bill Stalter
December 12, 2008 21:08

In reporting on Forethought’s cut in growth payments last month, the Funeral Service Insider made a curious statement about the taxability. Referencing one of Forethought’s products, the article stated that a funeral home would have received the product’s growth tax free, and now...

Going cold turkey on the guaranteed preneed contract

Bill Stalter
November 25, 2008 21:46

It has to be bad when your main source tells you its time for the Methadone clinic. With the worst financial crisis in our lifetime, and spiraling costs, what funeral director isn’t already battling a case of the sweats and shakes when reviewing his/her preneed program?   And...

Mark-to-Market and Preneed: a bitter, but necessary, pill?

Bill Stalter
November 08, 2008 18:47

For twenty-two years many Missouri funeral directors have deposited 80% of the preneed funeral contract purchase price into trust, and withdrawn all income in excess of that deposit. For a $5,000 contract sold in 1998, the funeral director has been required to maintain $4,000 in trust. When that...

Who would have thought it: a Forever cemetery and financial irregularities

Bill Stalter
November 04, 2008 14:52

When its Halloween, the media is naturally attracted to a story that involves horror and a cemetery.  The Belleville News-Democrat found a new type of horror for its seasonal article involving a cemetery: Missing Trust Funds! For added suspense, the newspaper reports there are two cemeteries,...

Texas Preneed Reform

Bill Stalter
October 28, 2008 14:06

In terms of the toxic NPS fallout, Texas ranks a close second to Missouri.  In response, the Texas Department of Banking has released a legislative proposal aimed at closing what it perceives are the loopholes in Chapter 154 of the Texas Finance Code.  To facilitate discussion...

Illinois Funeral Directors: whipsawed

Bill Stalter
October 24, 2008 02:26

The IFDA master trust turned a new page today, and for participating funeral homes, the first step in a long recovery process.  With the appointment of Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust as a temporary trustee, the association begins the process of looking for a permanent trustee.  The...

The cost of custodial services: the Grandview settlement

Bill Stalter
October 15, 2008 23:51

Two class action lawsuits were filed last year over the mismanagement of Grandview Memorial Gardens (Madison, Indiana), and a settlement has been reached in the suit involving the cemetery’s preneed trust funds. Over the course of about 14 years, the cemetery went through three changes...

Consumer Advocacy: Pulling Punches

Bill Stalter
October 11, 2008 18:58

Funeral homes and cemeteries are businesses that serve families when they are most vulnerable. To guard against exploitation, the death care industry establishes standards of professionalism, and state governments pass laws and regulations. Consumer advocacy plays an important role in educating...