You’ve heard me say it in ever-increasing statements. . . .the “it” being that I see a nexus coming into focus of “Traditional vs. Technological” in the Death Care profession. To further highlight that and prove the fact we recently learned that Tribute Technology, a funeral home focused technology company, named award winners…
Read MoreThe title of this article poses what seems to be a simple question. I don’t think it is. We recently printed an article that brought attention to the fact that Batesville and Tukios “made a deal” that, at least from my point of view, allowed Batesville to concentrate on its “core” business…
Read MoreFuneral Director Daily recently published an article on the merits of Guaranteed Preneeds vs. Non-Guaranteed Preneed contracts. In that article we discovered an inflation calculator that helped us explain the costs involved as insurance value grows and the cost to provide a funeral also grows. I had some fun with the calculator and…
Read MoreI think that there still is a discussion about “Guaranteed” vs. “Non-Guaranteed” preneed funeral contracts. Although, I would argue that for the past decade or so the vast majority of preneed accounts sold by funeral homes are “Guaranteed”. By that I mean that the services and merchandise is picked out at pre-arrangement time…
Read MoreWe received a joint press release from both Tukios and Batesville last week that made this statement, “Tukios, a leading provider of website technology solutions for the funeral profession, announced today that it has acquired the funeral home website hosting services from Batesville, a trusted leader in the North American deathcare industry. Effective…
Read MoreBUSINESS
Indiana Court: “Death Doula” does not need a funeral director license
According to this issue of the Indianapolis Star an Indiana court of appeals ruled in late August that the State of Indiana “violated the First Amendment rights of a Fort Wayne “death…
CANA’s Peer Support Meeting tomorrow night will focus on “Stress”
Dwight Thompson, a seasoned social worker, psychotherapist, and former funeral director with more than 20 years of experience in mental health and grief care will highlight the monthly interactive Peer Support meeting for…
FINANCE
Carriage Services jumps back into acquisitions with Central Florida purchase
It’s been pretty easy to recognize that the management team that replaced founder and long-time CEO Melvin Payne at Carriage Services has been building the foundations of the business in order to begin once…
Death Care Index flat Year-to-Date. . . .Carriage Services shows share price growth
There is no doubt that while many investors (and President Trump) have waited for the Federal Reserve to set lower interest rates going forward and negotiated tariff rates lots of other investors have…
REGULATIONS
Indiana Court: “Death Doula” does not need a funeral director license
According to this issue of the Indianapolis Star an Indiana court of appeals ruled in late August that the State of Indiana “violated the First Amendment rights of a Fort Wayne “death…
Funeral Directors are heroes
The beginning of a recent article on the ASD Blog, authored by Jessica Farren, had a quote without, to my knowledge, an author’s acknowledgement. I will post it here with no acknowledgement…
CEMETERY
CREMATION
Are we nearing the “Cremation Peak”?
There are some interesting survey results out that question if the United States will soon reach the “Peak Percentage” of cremation rates as the disposition of choice. Last year at this time…
Dilemma: The affluent consumer and traditional Death Care
On Tuesday morning I had to alter my running schedule because of rain showers. So, I took to our indoor treadmill to get my daily exercise and had a nice run while watching the…
Pension funds investment in Cremation is an interesting development
Pension funds and endowments have the responsibility of shepherding for safety, growth, and income their assets into a multitude of investments. I’ve learned that most of those types of investors invest in bonds…
PRENEED
What is the “Data point” for Preneed?
It’s s question that I have a hard time answering or getting an answer to. The question being, “What is the number of preneed policies a funeral home needs to write to move…
Report: Record number of preneeds sold in 1st half of 2025
It’s the end of summer in Minnesota and lots of our friends get ready to embark on the journey to warmer climates soon. So, it is a good time to say good-bye to…
Pennsylvania funeral home acquires “down and out” operator
There’s always a risk when a funeral home firm acquires another location. There’s even more risk when a funeral home acquires a location that has had its license suspended by a state board…
PRODUCTS
Dilemma: The affluent consumer and traditional Death Care
On Tuesday morning I had to alter my running schedule because of rain showers. So, I took to our indoor treadmill to get my daily exercise and had a nice run while watching the…
Tukios offers new enhancements for funeral home websites
One of the leaders in funeral technology solutions, Tukios, informed us last week that they have brought to market new enhancements for websites that will allow funeral homes to streamline event planning, registration,…