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Late Fall 2009 www.thedead-beat.com Volume 10 Issue 4
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Columns
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“Dear Counselor….” By Bill Stalter Dear
Counselor, Under
Missouri’s old preneed law, I was not required to register as a preneed seller
because the only preneed I sold were joint account contracts.
In the future, all I plan to sell are joint account contracts.
Do I have to be licensed under the new law as a preneed seller?
Yes.
If you sell any form of preneed contract after August 28, 2009, even if
it is only joint account contracts, you have to be licensed as a preneed seller. Many
funeral homes have stated that they do not plan to sell preneed in the future,
and question whether they must have a preneed seller license.
At its last meeting (December 9, 2009), the Board took the position that
a funeral home would not have to obtain a preneed seller’s license if the only
outstanding contracts
it has are joint account contracts sold prior to August 28th.
However, if the funeral home has any outstanding contracts funded by
either insurance or trust, the Board position is that the funeral home must
obtain a preneed seller license unless
it ceases to do business (as a seller) and transfers the contracts (and
trust/insurance) to another seller.
Under that situation, the funeral home must then comply with the
requirements of Section 436.500. If
you have only joint account contracts sold prior to August 28th,
and want to avoid the preneed seller requirements, you can use a third party
seller (such as the MFT).
If this situation applies to a funeral home that has already applied for
a preneed seller license, it might be able to withdraw the application (and
fee).
However, you would still be required to obtain a provider license.
The same is true even if you never sell another preneed contract.
As a licensed provider, you will be required to report the joint account
contracts sold prior to August 28th.
Bill
Stalter answers our questions for educational purposes only.
It is The
Dead Beat’s
intent to give the reader general information about legal issues, not to provide
legal advice. If a
reader needs legal advice, he or she should hire an attorney.
Reading The
Dead Beat should
not be used as a substitute for legal advice from an attorney.
When Bill provides legal advice he does so for Stalter Legal Services in
Overland Park, Kansas. Bill
also provides consulting services through Preneed Resource Consultants, which
can be found at www.preneedresource.com.
We
need some questions for the “Dear Counselor….” column. Please send your questions to Bill’s e-mail or The
Dead Beat’s and we will get some answers in future issues. email: wastal@swbell.net bill@stalterlegal.com Or Editor@thedead-beat.com Or Fax: 1-417-537-4797
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