Preneed

Get to know Assurant

By Funeral Director Daily / June 16, 2017 /

As you are probably aware of we at Funeral Director Daily have built up our own index of public stocks which reflect six companies with, at least a part of their business entity in the Death Care profession.  Our hope is that by watching this index, and how the companies operate, we can learn something…

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Here We Go Again

By Funeral Director Daily / May 24, 2017 /

As we move up on Memorial Day next Monday and want to honor those who have went before us, it seems that there is always something in our industry that casts a pall over the business of funeral directors and cemeterians.  I discovered a recent article in the Record-Courier of Ravenna, Kent and Portage Counties…

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Shaffer to Lead Homesteaders Beginning in 2018

By Funeral Director Daily / May 12, 2017 /

A recent press release by Homesteaders Life Company, a funeral industry pre-arrangement company,  announced that a succession plan for the leadership of the company was recently passed at their May 2017 meeting.  Using forward thinking the board accepted CEO Stephen Lang’s pending retirement in March 2018 and approved the plan to have COO Stephen Shaffer…

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Kentucky Funeral Home Investigated for Fraud

By Funeral Director Daily / May 8, 2017 /

A Benton, Kentucky funeral home has had his funeral home searched as allegations of fraud have been leveled against him.  According to the West Kentucky Star.com article, the Kentucky Department of Insurance is investigating complaints from customers who allegedly paid Filbeck-Cann & King Funeral Home owner Tim King to buy insurance policies that he never…

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VA Cemeteries to Give Pre-Need Eligibility Verification

By Funeral Director Daily / April 26, 2017 /

According to a recent article by Veteran’s advocate Gary Alexander in the Gainsville (TX) Daily Register honorably discharged veterans can now apply for burial in national cemeteries pre-need.  Until recently, veterans, and their families, had to wait until need (at the time of a death) to apply for burial. The Veteran’s Administration press release states,…

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The Latest News from StoneMor Partners

By Funeral Director Daily / March 31, 2017 /

StoneMor Partners, the Philadelphia based funeral home and cemetery  limited partnership that is publicly traded, issued some interesting news this week.  First of all, CEO Larry Miller, one of the firm’s founders has announced his resignation effective on August 31, 2017, or when a replacement is named.  Secondly, according to an article in www.philly.com, the…

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Funeral Arrangements Among Common Causes of Family Arguments

By Funeral Director Daily / March 29, 2017 /

For those of you who have actually sat in the arrangement conference room the above headline probably is no surprise.  A press release from Response Source, who is advocating on the part of Pure Cremation, is an interesting read on how arguments over funeral arrangements can happen. According to the release one of the top…

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Pre-Arrangements and Wills

By Funeral Director Daily / March 21, 2017 /

Author Andrew Zashin comments in the  Cleveland Jewish News that when meeting with an attorney to consider drafting a will one should also talk about a “Preneed Funeral Contract”.  He states that  the consumer can meet with a reputable funeral director to do virtually everything he wants to do – from selecting the services to…

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Canadian Pricing Investigated

By Funeral Director Daily / March 19, 2017 /

A recent investigation by the Toronto Star and CBC was published in the Hamilton Spectator and pointed out consumer issues with pricing in Canadian funeral homes. Reporters focused in on funeral homes owned by Toronto based Arbor Memorial and the United State’s death care giant, Service Corporation International (SCI).  In a contrast to what we…

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Our Thoughts – What’s in a Name??

By Funeral Director Daily / March 17, 2017 /

Like many other states, my home state of Minnesota requires continuing education for funeral directors and pre-need licensed insurance agents.  I happen to hold both types of licenses so I typically try to find some courses where I can get credit as a funeral director and as an insurance agent in the same course. Yesterday…

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