Press Releases

September 3, 2024

Declinable preneed funeral guarantee fee:

I hope this memo finds you well. As your Legislative Committee Chair, I am writing to provide you with an important update on recent developments regarding legislation for a declinable preneed guarantee fee. This emergency legislation is set to go into effect in January. This directly impacts our profession and the attached memo shares the current details of this legislation. The VFDA board will vote on our position with this action during our meeting in September and will recommend changes to the General Assembly. If you wish for your voice to be heard, please reach out to your district representative no later than September 1 to share your thoughts.

The contact information for each districts representative is listed below:

· Central District – Margaret Edie – margaret@morrissett.com

· Northern District – Gary Maxwell – liongem1@yahoo.com

· Shenandoah District – Lindsey Whitmore – lindsey.whitmore@dignitymemorial.com

· Tidewater District – Eric Wray – ericwray@icloud.com

· Southside District – Paul Whitten – paul.whitten@dignitymemorial.com

· Blue Ridge District – Robert Givens – rgivens9@verizon.net

· Southwest District – Amanda Perry – amanda@perrycremation.com

Daniel Woodfin

August 8, 2024

UPDATE TO MEMBERS ON SB521; PRENEED FUNERAL CONTRACTS
Declinable preneed funeral guarantee fee
Our 2024 Legislative Agenda had, as it’s main piece of legislation, SB521 patroned by Senator Angelia Williams Graves. The legislation sought to allow funeral homes that sell preneed insurance to have the option of charging a fee to guarantee preneed items and gave purchasers of the preneed policy the option to decline the fee.
The bill passed without issue and instructed the Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers to fast-track promulgation of regulations to implement the provisions of the act – within 280 days of enactment. The bill was signed by Governor Youngkin on March 28, 2024, and the 280 days will be January 2, 2025.
During the process, it was missed that the legislation defined “Declinable preneed funeral guarantee fee” to include the full funeral contract price, not just the preneed items. As a result, we will come back during the 2025 legislative session to clear up the definition.
As the Regulatory Advisory Panel worked through the regulations to add language consistent with the legislation, there was a section, “Supplies and Services Purchased” in which language congruent with other changes was not made as requested. While not including it would not change the code or the content of a signed preneed agreement, it would certainly make it very clear that the guarantee would be only on a fully paid contract. We should seek to add appropriate language to clarify that. The following was suggested:
“If goods and services are guaranteed by prefinancing and/or payment of a declinable preneed guarantee fee, and your contract is fully paid or funded at the time of your death, no additional cost will incur for your family or estate even thought the actual prices of goods and service may increase between the date of this contract and the time of need. (Please see the disclosure document.)”
Your Legislative Affairs Committee is pursuing the changes on behalf of the VFDA and will keep you posted as we continue the process.

Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers

Please see the following information from the Office of Vital Records, Virginia Department of Health, regarding upcoming updates to the E-Amendment process.

Dear Licensed Funeral Directors, Funeral Service Licensees, and Stakeholders,

We are excited to announce the deployment of the Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS) Release 5.0 – Totally Electronic E-Amendment. This release will take effect on Monday, December 4, 2023. We know you have been patiently anticipating this release – and so have we. We extend a big thank you to our EDRS Stakeholders group, our EDRS development team, and the Vital Records staff for all the hard work in making this happen. Attached are the following documents for your review:

Letter from Seth Austin, OVR Director and State Registrar
Written instructions on how to submit an E-Amendment under the new process
Video instructions on how to submit an E-Amendment under the new process
Reference documentation on administrative amendments and judicial amendments
If you have any questions about this release or other EDRS-related issues, feel free to reach out to the OVR Field Services team.

Regards,

Office of Vital Records
OVR.FieldServices@vdh.virginia.gov

August 21, 2023

Scammers prey on grieving families, impersonating funeral homes
Scammers are impersonating funeral homes to steal money
The scammer spoofed the funeral home’s number, even knew employees’ names
FTC: Resist pressure to act immediately, contact the funeral home directly
Xavier Walton

Updated: AUG 18, 2023 / 08:06 AM CDT

(NewsNation) — Scammers are impersonating funeral home staff to prey on mourning families, the Federal Trade Commission warned.

One California woman, who is still dealing with her own grief, shared her story with NewsNation to warn others.

Jen Lothspeich met her husband Dustin Lothspeich in 2012, got married and ended up having a child together, named Harrison.

But in March, 40-year-old Dustin died unexpectedly and changed Jen’s whole life.

“I’m thankful for all the time that we had, but I’m bitter for all the time that we don’t,” Jen said.

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While planning a final farewell to her late husband, and hanging on by an emotional thread, Jen received a call from what she thought was the mortuary, which was saved in her phone with the director’s name.

She explained that the man on the phone said he was a coworker of the funeral director Jen had been talking with, claiming that there was an issue with insurance that wasn’t settled and that she owed $49.90.

But Jen panicked, thinking she owed almost $5,000.

The scammer spoofed the funeral home’s number and even knew the employees by name, Jen said.

Another incident similar to Jen’s happened in Ohio.

The Ohio Department of Commerce said scammers were using obituaries to select their targets.

“At this point, they’re probably at their lowest and most vulnerable position they are in life,” Eugene Fahey, the vice president of Altmeyer Funeral Homes, said.

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This is one reason why the FTC sent out a warning, saying to resist the pressure to act immediately and to always contact the funeral home directly. Another tip the FTC shared was to make sure to note how the scammers tell their victims to pay.

“You’re not in the right mind at that point,” Jen said.

When Jen discovered it was a scam, she said she felt sick.

“The last thing he did was call me back and said, ‘We are going to refuse your business because of how rude you’ve been to us. You’re going to have to figure out what to do with your husband.’”

The scammer threatened Jen into thinking the funeral home would just be done with her husband’s body and that she would have to figure it all out on her own.

Jen didn’t fall for the scam, but according to the National Funeral Directors Association, others have. The association is aware of these scams and is notifying places across the country as well.