MO Funeral Law Flashcards
Board
State board of embalmers and funeral directors
Embalmer
Any individual licensed to engage in the practice of embalming
Funeral director
Any individual licensed to engage in the practice of funeral directing
Funeral Establishment
A building, place, or premises devoted to or used in the care and preparation for burial or transportation of the human dead and includes every building, place or premises maintained for that purpose or held out to the public by advertising or otherwise to be used for that purpose
Person (Persons)
Includes a corporation, partnership or other type of business organization
Practice of Embalming
The work of preserving, disinfecting, and preparing by arterial embalming, or otherwise, of dead human bodies for funeral services, transportation, burial, or cremation, or the holding of oneself out as being engaged in such work
Practice of funeral directing
Engaging by all individual in the business of preparing, otherwise, then, by embalming, for the burial, disposal, or transportation, out of the state of, and the directing and supervising of the burial, or disposed of, did human bodies, or engaging in the general control, supervision, or management of the operations of a funeral establishment
Preneed agent
Any person authorized to sell a pre-need contract for or on behalf of a seller
Provider
The person designated or obligated to provide the final disposition, funeral burial services or merchandise described in the pre-need contract
Seller
The person who executes a preneed contract with a purchaser, and who is obligated under such preneed contract to remit payments to the provider
Licensing requirements for embalmers
- Must be licensed to practice embalming.
- 18 years old.
- High school diploma or equivalent.
- In good moral character.
How to become licensed as an embalmer (in MO)
- Register with the state board while attending mortuary school. After register, the student can assist under direct supervision. Board provides registration forms charges in a fee
- Graduate from an American Board a funeral service examiners accredited mortuary school within five years of date of application for license.
- Pass either state board test or national conference exam with a 75% average or score.
- Serve apprenticeship.
ABFSE
American Board a funeral service examiners
Who administers all (funeral service) tests?
The international conference
Must receive a 75% score
What do you do if you fail the national conference exam (embalmer)
- You may retake it at the next exam date if you notify the board within 30 days in advance
- Must repay exam fee after each retake
What do you have to do to complete embalmers apprenticeship?
- Employed full-time in a licensed funeral establishment as an intern for 12 months
- Must be full-time = 30 hours per week
- Must embalm at least 25 bodies under the supervision of a licensed embalmer (remember 2 a month plus 1 extra at Christmas)
- Supervised by a MO licensee/reciprocity
- Supervisor must be physically present for embalmings for the first six months.
- After six months, the supervisor can be an hour travel away from the apprentice
Licensing requirements for funeral directors
- Must be licensed to practice funeral directing.
- 18 years old.
- High school diploma or equivalent.
- Citizen or resident of Missouri or eligible non-resident.
- Good moral character.
- Must pass a test covering state statues in rule, the government benefits, transportation, in this position of dead human remains, etc.. (75% pass)
—- exception: the board may waive requirements for six months to a spouse, next of kin or executor of a dead or disabled funeral Director
Process of becoming a funeral Director
- Submit application to board and pay application and examination fees
- Serve a 12 month apprenticeship 15 hours per week.
- complete internship and pass a written test over laws and regulations.
- Provide proof of 10 funerals arranged and conducted.
- Must pass state board exams.
- Must appear for examination within 24 months of filing application.
Process of becoming a funeral Director in Missouri by reciprocity
- Hold a valid license in state of residence.
- Makes application to state board.
- Must be on board form and paid a fee
- Must include copy of his original
License - Submit proof of educational and professional qualifications.
- Pass reciprocity exam with a 75%
- Submit a letter from his own state board, saying that he is in good standing, and that there are no pending complaints, no discipline against license, score on his state exam
— state of residence must have equal standards to Missouri or have practiced for at least five years
—- state of residence must also Grant reciprocity to Missouri licensees
License renewal for funeral directors and embalmers
- License must be renewed bi-annually (every 2 years) PRIOR to June 1st
- License expires May 31
- Board does not grant a grace period
- Expired license can be reinstated for up to two years without re-taking the test (cannot practice until license is renewed)
- Funeral Director must notify board within 30 days of change of address
Where does your license have to be displayed?
Must be displayed in each office working in or recorded in the office of the local registrar
The board may file a complaint with the AHC for any of the following causes
(there are more, I just put in the highlighted terms most likely on the test)
- Impairment of drugs and alcohol.
- Found guilty of fraud, dishonesty violence, controlled substance, offense made during Funeral directing or embalming
- Be judged as insane or incompetent.
- Violation of professional, trust or confidence.
- Use of any advertisement, which is false, misleading, or deceptive.
- Resigning a death certificate, or signing a death certificate on a body, not in bombed by or under the supervision of the licensee.
- Refusing to surrender a body upon request of the next of kin.
Statute of limitations for conviction or a crime
- If the state board receives a notice of violation, they must initiate action on the complaint within THREE YEARS of the date they received the notice or be forever banned from doing so.
This rule does not apply to sexual misconduct or repeated actions of negligence
Procedure of a complaint
- The public or executive Director or staff can file a complaint to the board.
- Complaints must be acknowledged in writing.
- Complaints are closed records however, licensee is entitled to a copy.
- Bought Files compliant with administrative hearing commission.
- AHC makes determination for discipline
What happens if the AHC finds cause for discipline?
- Censure (reprimand)
- Probation (not to exceed five years)
- Suspended license (up to three years)
- Revoked license
Who makes up the state board?
- SIX members, FIVE LICENSED and ONE PUBLIC MEMBER
- All members appointed by the governor with advice and consent of senate
- Board members serve for FIVE years
Qualifications for being a state board member
- License members must be active practice for five years
- Public member must not have any involvement in the funeral industry & cannot participate in technical question discussions
- All members must be a US citizen’s residence of Missouri for one year, a qualified voter, and a good moral character
- No more than three members of the board from one political party
- All board members must take an oath
Meetings for the state board
- Board must have at least two meetings a year to administer exams
- At a meeting, and majority of members appointed constitutes a quorum
- Board must elect a chairman, vice, chairman and secretary
- Compensated no more than $50 a day
Merchandising practices
- People must receive a statement of goods and services.
- establishment cannot bill more for a cash advance items in the actual cost to the establishment
- All merchandise displayed for sale in funeral establishment must have the price clearly marked at all times.
To be a licensed funeral establishment you must
1) the under the supervision of a license funeral Director
2) have funeral Director named on the application
—3) establishment must comply with the state county and city zoning
4) Have all embalming performed by a licensed embalmer
5) embalming facilities are sanitary and comply with department of health standards; has a log book
When will the board Grant or deny an application for a funeral establishment?
The board with Grant or deny application within 30 days. Board will inspect facility within the 30 day period
When must a funeral establishment renew their license?
January 1 every other year
What type/function of establishment license do full service funeral homes have?
Type A: for embalming only
Type C: for care and preparation, other than embalming or cremation only
(Type E: for visitation and ceremonies only)
If funeral home decides to close when must they notify the state board?
Establishment must notify state board 60 DAYS BEFORE ceasing to do business
How can different parts of a funeral establishment facility be separated?
If part of establishments facilities are in a separate building, this building must have a separate establishment license, UNLESS buildings are joined by a PASSAGE, WALKWAY, or DRIVEWAY
If a funeral home is destroyed can it continue operations
If an establishment is destroyed, IT MAY CONTINUE OPERATIONS from another licensed establishment or an unlicensed facility APPROVED by the board for up to SIX MONTHS
When change of funeral establishment ownership has occurred…
1) eliminating one or more owners does not require a new license, but must file an amended application within 30 days
2) if a new owner is added, must file for new license
3) if a corporation owns the establishment, then it is not necessary to get a new license if the stockholders of the corporation change
Preparation room floors and walls
- Floors must be smooth, nonabsorbent, and easily kept clean. -Floors must contain drain, is subject to cleaning by flooding.
- Walls and ceilings must be light colored, easily clean, and in good repair
- Walls must have washable surfaces
Preparation, room sewage and liquid waste disposal
All sewage and water carried waste from entire establishment must be DISPOSED OF IN A PUBLIC SYSTEM or other system which meet department of health standards
What are the three approved aspirators for preparation room use
- Electric aspirator
- Water operated aspirator must be protected from back siphoning
- Water controlled aspirator
All aspirators must be 12 inches above the maximum height of the embalming table
Solid waste disposal in preparation room
All waste materials (bandages, cotton clothes) must be stored in leak, proof, nonabsorbent, containers
What do you do with body parts that are not connected to the body?
Human body parts, not placed into the casket, must be INCINERATED or BURIED AT LEASET 3 FEET DEEP
Miscellaneous requirements for preparation room
- Prep room must have a mechanical exhaust system that doesn’t create a nuisance
- Eyes wash kit/station
- Facilities for sterilizing instruments and table
- Cabinet for storing instruments
- Nonabsorbent Blocks used for positioning the body; all wood blocks must be painted with an enamel
How should embalming tables look when not being used
Embalming tables must be cleaned, sterilized, AND COVERED with a sheet
What two sinks are required for the prep room
- Slop drain sink (where the aspirator goes)
- Separate sink to wash hands; if not in prep room, be within 10 feet of prep room, and not accessible to public
Preauthorization of embalming
- Preauthorization must be in writing
- A person can pre-authorize his own embalming
- Next of kin may pre-authorize embalming
- Preauthorization can be included in a pre-need
Can an embalmer embalm, without written verification
If attempt for SIX HOURS to locate a family member and has written verification from law enforcement that they have assisted, THEN MAY PROCEED THE EMBALMING, but cannot charge unless later agreed to by family
How long can a funeral establishment hold an unembalmed body?
Cannot hold in an embalmed body more than 24 hours, unless refrigerated or encased in an airtight container
What is a cremation box?
A rigid material and sealed box
Requirements for an urn
Each urn must be durable, and must entirely enclose remains
What must you have before cremating a body?
- Written authorization for cremation from the state
- In Missouri, the cremation authorization is a filed, signed and completed DEATH CERTIFICATE
Can a funeral establishment cremate in unclaimed individual
- Can proceed with cremation if he has attempted for 10 DAYS to locate a person to authorize
- Must have written statement from law enforcement that they assisted with attempting to locate next of kin without success
Who is allowed in the crematory?
No one is allowed in Crematory area during cremation, except employees, family and it’s designees, and persons authorized by law
Can you cremate two bodies at the same time?
Only one body in a cremation chamber at one time unless simultaneous cremation is authorized in writing
If there are not enough Cremains for the box, what do I do?
If cremated remains do not adequately fill the cremation box, the extra space may be FILLED WITH shredded PAPER or clean absorbent COTTON
If there are too many cremains for one box, what do I do?
If cremated remains exceed the cremation box or urn, the remainder is to be placed in a SEPARATE CONTAINER, or if permission, given disposed of in some other manner
Can you ship cremated remains?
- If cremated remains are shipped, then cremation box is to be packed in corrugated cardboard box and securely closed with tape.
- Remains only to be shipped by method has an internal tracking method.
Basic requirements of contract with consumer
- Must be in writing
- Font type easily read
- Sequentially numbered per seller
Include the address and phone number of the year insurance company , bank, trustee, seller, provider, beneficiary, purchasing, license number, and preneed agent
Whose signatures must be on a preneed statement
Purchaser, provider, preneed agent, seller
What is the per contract preneed fee the state administers?
$25 paid to the state board once a year at the time of preneed seller report
When must a pre-need provider renew
October 31
Provider PrenEEd= HallowEEn
When must a provider notify the board of authorizing a seller?
15 days
OSHA training
- Provide it once a year
- Training must occur during work hours
- Training must be free to the employee
- Must have a question and answer period
- Must inform about blood, bodily fluids, and cleaning up spills
What is the penalty for a pre-need violation?
Class D felony not to extend seven years $10,000 fee
Burial at Sea rules
Must be THREE nautical MILES away from shore
Permissible in short-term exposure limits
PEL: .75 ppm/8 hours
STEL: 2ppm/15 minutes
ADA
- Americans with disabilities act
- Enforced by the justice department
Violation of the FTC funeral rule?
$46,517
When did the FTC Funeral Rule go into effect?
April 30,1984
Revised in 1994
What information is required on the General Price List?
- Name
- Address; must include each branch
- Telephone Number
- The words “General Price List”
- Effective Date for the price list
What are the GPL 6 mandatory disclosures?
- Consumers’ right to select the goods and services desired
- Embalming
- Alternative container for direct cremations
- Basic service fee
- Casket Price List
- Outer Burial Container Price List
What are the GPL-required itemized prices? (1st 8, there are 16)
- Forwarding of remains to another funeral home
- Receiving remains from another funeral home
- Direct Cremation
- Immediate Burial
- Basic services of funeral director & staff, and overhead
- Transfer of remains to funeral home
- Embalming
- Other preparation of the body
What are the four minimum services?
- Forwarding of remains to another funeral home
- Receiving remains from another funeral home
- Direct Cremation
- Immediate Burial
What are the GPL-required itemized prices? (2nd 8)
- Use of facilities and staff for viewing/visitation
- Use of facilities and staff for funeral ceremony
- Use of facilities and staff for memorial service
- Use of equipment and staff for graveside service
- Hearse
- Limousine
- Either individual casket prices or the range of casket prices
- Either individual outer burial container prices or the range of outer burial container prices that appear on the outer burial container
Are casket handling fees allowed? (Are you required to handle third party caskets?)
- you are required to handle third-party caskets, and you cannot charge a handling fee
- tell the family that if they order a casket from another company, they will have to ship it to the funeral home on truck and deliver it themselves.
Can you charge a separate price for direct cremation and urn?
Price for direct cremation must be the same with or without the addition of an urn
What happens if you desert a body?
Anyone who abandons, disposes, desserts, or leave a corpse without properly reporting the location of the body to the proper law enforcement officials commits a CLASS D FELONY
How old do you have to be to donate your body?
- Can donate any part of his or her body
- Must be 18 or 16 with parental consent
- Must be of sound mind
Can embalmers perform/take transplants?
- Embalmers can enucleate eyes of deceased when eyes have been donated
- Must be CERTIFIED by the DEPARTMENT of OPHTHALMOLOGY
If a body is donated to a medical or research facility, What happens?
Institution that received the body MUST HOLD THE BODY FOR 30 DAYS if family wants to claim the body after paying for cost of interment
How deep are bodies to be buried in Missouri
Depth at which bodies must be buried is set by cities and counties
How old can you be to consent an autopsy of a relative?
Over 16
Rules for transporting dead people
- Must be in a burial case, coffin, or casket that is securely closed
- Casket must be wooden,metal or metal lined
- Must be thoroughly embalmed and packed with cotton
- Body must be separately wrapped in a sheet that is saturated with solution of 1 ounce bichloride of mercury per gallon of water
- Must have extensive info on deceased: name, destination, place and time of death, cause of death, attending physician or coroner,embalmer
Body tagging bill
Name, date of birth, date of death, Social Security number
How long does a funeral home have to keep death information
At least five years
How long can a certificate be issued by local registrar?
- Certificate can be issued by local registrar for 24 HOURS
(Not needed anymore because we have MOEVER by they still ask this question on the test)
How do you get personal data for a death certificate
- To be obtained from next of kin or best qualified person or source available.
(- Ask for a birth certificate or tax return
- Insist on official documents to verify info and check what you write)
Who can complete a death certificate?
- PHYSICIAN in charge of the patient care for the illness or condition that caused the death
- Associate physician
- Chief medical officer
- MEDICAL EXAMINER
- Physicians assistants
Nurse practitioner (advanced practitioner)
Delayed filing of death certificates
- FIVE DAYS after death certificate may be filed in accordance with the department of health rules
- After one year or more, death certificate will have the word ‘DELAYED’
What happens if somebody dies on a common carrier?
Remember: place of death is where they’re taken off the common carrier
The place of removal is where the death certificate will be filed
If outside the US the death certificate will show the actual place of death
What happens if the place of death is unknown?
- File with MOEvER, and show place of death, where the body was found
- show date of death when the remains were found
Where do you file death certificates?
- With the local registrar
(Through the MOEV ER system)
when does the board conduct financial exams?
- Must conduct a financial exam of books and records of each seller at least once every FIVE YEARS
When must you notify the state that you are going out of business?
Prior to selling or disposing of a majority of his assets stock or season to do business a seller must notify the state board at least 60 DAYS before
What happens if a purchaser cancels trust
Trustee pays within 15 days after written notice
What is the three day rule?
Consumer has three days to get a refund if the contract was signed in the consumers home
How long does a funeral home have to forward money to insurance company
30 days
What if the purchaser of a preneed cancels the joint account?
Bank pays within 15 days after written notice
Can a purchaser change funeral homes within the state?
- Yes, purchaser has the right to change provider even if irrevocable contract
- New provider must accept the designation in writing
- No additional fee or cost for changing provider
What if the seller cancels a contract? (due to nonpayment.)
- Seller must notify the purchaser in writing that the contract will be canceled if payment is not received within 30 days of the postmark date of notice
- Must include amount due payment date due and date of cancellation
When does the seller have the right to cancel a trust fund or joint account preneed contract
After 60 days of being behind on payments
When does the bank pay for the cancellation of a joint account?
Bank must pay within 15 days of receipt of notice
Cancellation of insurance funded contract
Within 15 days, you must notify the purchaser that cancellation of preneed does not cancel insurance policy, and their insurance cancellation must be made in writing to the insurance agency
When must you renew your pre-need agent license?
Must renew on November 30
pre-Need ReNew November
Can I sell pre-needs if I’m not a preneed agent
No
(a funeral director must also have a funeral pre-need agent’s license)
What rule must every trustee of a trust fund the contract follow?
Prudent investor standard
Can payments on trust fund contracts be commingled
Yes, but must be adequate
Can a funeral home invest funds from a trust fund
Yes, but must be invested or reinvested in investments that have reasonable potential for growth or income, cannot invest funds in any term life insurance product
Insurance funded contracts
- Must have a seller (funeral home)
- Seller and provider or agent cannot collect more than the insurance premium, except as provided by statute or rule
- payment must be given to the insurance agency no more than 30 days
Joint account funded contracts
- Funds must be deposited within 10 days
- Can’t invest in term life insurance that won’t grow and no loans against it
- After creating the contract, seller must put money in the bank within 15 days
- No 5% or 10% fees almost to go in and stay in
When do you have the turn in money for contracts?
60 days for a trust
30 days for insurance
10 days for a joint account
Trust funded contracts
- Seller has 60 days to put money in trust
- Can take 5% origination fee
- Can take 10% of contract
(so the funeral home can take up to 15%) - seller is entitled to all income from trust
- Income must remain in trust until canceled or fulfilled
