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INDUSTRY NEWS PA Supreme Court Denies Appeal in 'Irrevocable' Preneed Contract Decision On August 10, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania denied a petition filed by the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association that sought to appeal the lower Commonwealth Court's decision holding that "irrevocable" preneed funeral contracts are in fact irrevocable. The lower court's decision issued last year had overturned the state funeral board's ruling that held that preneed purchasers can revoke a preneed funeral contract they had designated as "irrevocable." The state board claimed that the funds deposited into trust could not be revoked but were transferable to another funeral home to perform the contract. However, the funeral home that was the original party to the contract could be removed by the purchaser, according to the board. The Commonwealth Court disagreed with the board's interpretation in the case of Kevin M. Bean v. State Board of Funeral Directors. Bean, a licensed funeral director, sought a declaratory judgment on the whether the term "irrevocable" meant just what it said. The court initially referred the matter to the state board, which ruled that such preneed contracts are revocable. Bean then appealed the ruling to the court, which reviewed the state funeral director statute and the relevant regulations. The court held that state law defined a preneed agreement as "a contract executed between a consumer and a licensed funeral director which provides that the funeral director will provide funeral merchandise and render services to the consumer upon the consumer's death." The court ruled that preneed contracts should be interpreted according to the principles of contract law, not trust law. But the court held that even if trust law applied, "unless a power of revocation is expressly or impliedly reserved, the general principle of law is that such facts create a trust which is prima facie irrevocable." Therefore, the Commonwealth Court ruled that purchasers could not revoke a preneed contract they had designated as irrevocable. Last week's decision by the state supreme court denied any further appeal of the lower court's ruling. State Government Investigates Religious Cemeteries Care Trust Funds Earlier this month, the Massachusetts secretary of state filed a 33-page complaint against the Catholic Cemetery Association Inc., an entity that operates the Archdiocese of Boston's 22 cemeteries. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the archdiocese violated state law by failing to maintain a separate fund for cemetery maintenance and for diverting funds from cemetery maintenance to other church purposes. The archdiocese's chief financial officer responded to the allegations by pointing out that the church is exempt from the law because its cemeteries predate the existence of the statute. Also, the spokesman stated that the archdiocese follows the intent of the law by keeping funds for cemetery maintenance in a separate account and investing the funds. The complaint will be reviewed by an independent hearing officer appointed by the secretary of state's securities division to determine whether an order should be issued requiring the church to establish a separate account for cemetery maintenance, and whether the archdiocese is required to provide a public accounting of the funds. This investigation marks a continuation of an apparent trend among some state governments to increase their scrutiny of religious organizations, including the financial operations of church-related cemeteries. Constitutional restrictions on governmental intervention based on the separation of church and state may be circumvented due to the focus on the financial, not the religious, activities of the organization under scrutiny. FTC Raises Telemarketer Fees to Access Do Not Call Registry Effective September 1, 2005, the Federal Trade Commission has again raised the annual subscription fees required to be paid by telemarketers in order to access the FTC's Do Not Call Registry. The new fee schedule requires the payment of $56 per area code (originally $25), or $15,400 (originally $7,500) for access to 280 area codes or more. Up to five area codes may still be accessed free of charge, and "exempt" entities may still access the registry for free. Telemarketers must remove from their call lists any number that appears on the Do Not Call registry, and the call lists must be updated by telemarketers every 31 days. To date, consumers have registered approximately 98 million telephone numbers, including home land line and personal cell phone numbers. The FTC's Do Not Call Web site for telemarketers is www.telemarketing.donotcall.gov. ICFA NEWS Call for Applications to ICFA Board of Directors Service on the ICFA Board of Directors offers members a chance to learn about and participate in the leadership of the association, and is a meaningful way to give back to the organization and to the cemetery and funeral service profession as a whole. The ICFA's Nominating and Elections Committee is currently inviting members to apply to run for the ICFA Board of Directors. The committee will narrow all applications received to 12 nominees, which will be reviewed and approved by the board at the ICFA Fall Management Conference in Maui, Hawaii, on October 19. Information on the 12 candidates will then be distributed to the membership, which will vote during the ICFA Annual Convention & Exposition in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 16. The top eight vote recipients will serve three-year terms. To apply, you must be a designated representative of a Regular (Cemetery, Funeral Home or Allied) Member in good standing or you must be an Individual Regular Member in good standing. The deadline to apply is September 15, 2005. Applications can be obtained by calling 1.800.645.7700 or by downloading the file at www.icfa.org/pdf/2006_icfa_bod_application.doc. ICFA 2006 Convention Provides Most Comprehensive Educational Program Ever Whether you operate a cemetery, funeral home or cremation business, the 2006 ICFA Convention & Exposition will offer you a larger quantity of extremely relevant educational material than any other national conference, bar none. Please mark your calendar for March 15-18, 2006, and plan to join us in New Orleans. As you can see from the list of session titles below, this is the only Convention in the Western Hemisphere providing a fully loaded educational program for members of every segment of our industry. It is the most comprehensive Convention program the ICFA has ever presented, with a variety of subject matter to fulfill the educational needs of the full spectrum of this association's 7,000-strong (and growing!) membership. From the big picture overview of our profession and the future of our marketplace, to the nuts and bolts details of managing a cemetery or funeral home on a day-to-day basis and succeeding in the cremation market, the ICFA Convention will cover it all -- in addition to our annual trade show, with more than 220 booths offering the latest products and services available to help your business. The incredibly low registration fee relative to other national industry meetings (just $395 for ICFA members) entitles you to three solid days of educational presentations -- the best educational value anywhere in our industry. In addition, you will participate in numerous other special events, including four trade show sessions with complimentary food and drink, property tours, and a gala reception and dinner in the fascinating -- and emotionally stirring -- National D-Day Museum in New Orleans. For cemetery owners and managers, funeral directors, funeral home managers and cremationists: If you can attend only one national meeting each year, the ICFA Convention will provide the most education, the most fun and the most bang for your educational buck. The ICFA Convention has long been known for its atmosphere of open idea-sharing, and this year's event will take that reputation to new heights with an extensive slate of "how to" workshop topics, including:
2006 Wide World of Sales: A Healthy Dose of Reality The ICFA's Wide World of Sales Conference, January 12-13, 2006, at Treasure Island in Las Vegas, Nevada, has lined up three keynote speakers and 18 sales and management experts to provide cemetery and funeral service sales managers, top counselors, owners and suppliers with two full days of "Reality-Based Selling." Topics include:
Registrants who sign up for the conference by September 30 receive the Early, Early Registration rate. Companies sending more than one attendee receive additional discounts. For more information and to download a registration form, visit www.icfa.org/sales06.htm or call 1.800.645.7700. ICFA Expands Fall Conference CEO Network Program Again For the second time, the ICFA has expanded the number of seats available for its CEO Network Program at the Fall Management Conference, October 19-22 at Kapalua Bay in Maui, Hawaii. Originally, the program was to hold 18 people. Due to high demand, that number was later changed to 36 and now has been further extended to 45. To maintain the intimate "small-group" networking intended for the program, participants will be broken into three groups of 15 for that portion of the conference. To date, 42 people have signed up; just three spots remain. Registrations for the full conference continue to come in at a high rate as well, with 86 attendees and 51 spouses currently registered. This compares with 51 attendees and 27 spouses at the same time last year. Hotel rooms for the conference are filling up quickly. All rooms outside of the ICFA room block are sold out, so those who are planning to attend are encouraged to make their reservations at Kapalua Bay as soon as possible. The hotel will release the ICFA block to the general public after September 9, and rooms will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at that time. For more information and a registration form, visit www.icfa.org/fall05.htm And more ... The ICFA has secured music performance rights from the three music licensing agencies: ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. ICFA Music License members can now become fully licensed for the 2005 year for the annual price of $238 per location, with no additional fees. Membership is open to any company in the cemetery and funeral service profession in the United States. Companies that are already members of the ICFA in another category must acquire the additional membership category (a Music License Membership) to be eligible for the Music License benefit. The ICFA Store allows members to purchase the latest ICFA resources and training products online. Some products are available for immediate direct download, including the newly released Wirthlin Report on consumer attitudes and article packages on cremation, cemetery and funeral home valuations and trust funds. The ICFA News Page takes you to sources throughout the world for industry news and updates. It brings you the most comprehensive selection of funeral service and cemetery news available anywhere, along with frequently updated general news items related to national and world events. The News Page reports the news before anyone else and is one of the most visited page on the ICFA Web site. Stop in each day and you'll see why. The Network is an online e-mail service that offers ICFA members an easy, free way to share questions and answers to everyday on-the-job challenges. Recent discussions have examined issues such as working with the Muslim community, distance between burial sites, direct mail marketing, the growing popularity of geocaching at cemeteries, recruiting staff and more. Ideal for smaller companies with smaller budgets. Join today! The ICFA Internet Expo is the largest online exposition in the cemetery and funeral service industry. Cemetery and funeral home owners and operators will find 300+ providers in more than 100 product and service categories. Exhibit space is provided as a free, exclusive benefit to all ICFA supplier and professional members. Check it out today! Need a labor relations and employment law attorney? Check out ICFA's HR Law Benefit program offering members no-cost telephone legal consultations, paid for by the ICFA via an exclusive retainer agreement. ICFA members now also have access to an attorney for tax-related questions regarding trust earnings, care fund allocations, capital gains, investments and more. The ICFA has retained Leslie Schneider, CPA, a tax attorney with Ivins, Phillips & Barker in Washington, D.C., for telephone consultations for up to 20 minutes with no obligation. To take advantage of this member benefit, call Schneider at 202.393.7600. The ICFA and Applied Merchant Systems of Chicago, Illinois, currently offer members a Credit Card Processing Program with a special low discount rate of 1.75 percent, with no per transaction processing fee. This new benefit makes it less expensive for cemeteries, funeral homes, memorial designers and related businesses to accommodate customers who wish to pay via credit card. For more information, call 1-800-675-6573. The ICFA Insurance Program, administered by Driver Alliant, allows members to purchase commercial property and casualty insurance -- including general liability, commercial property, automobile liability and physical damage, umbrella liability, professional liability, workers compensation, employee benefits and more -- at rates they probably would not be able to afford on their own. To advertise in the ICFA Wireless: The ICFA accepts limited advertising in the ICFA Wireless newsletter, a bi-weekly newsletter e-mailed to all ICFA members that are current on their dues and have provided a current e-mail address. For rates and to place your insertion, contact Quan Phan at qphan@icfa.org or 1.800.645.7700. To unsubscribe from the ICFA Wireless: Send an e-mail with "unsubscribe" in the subject line to: wireless@icfa.org. Please include your name and company name in the body of the e-mail. International Cemetery and Funeral Association 107 Carpenter Drive, Suite 100 Sterling, VA 20164 1.800.645.7700 703.391.8400 Fax: 703.391.8416 www.icfa.org Copyright 2005 International Cemetery and Funeral Association. |
