436.430. Trust-funded preneed contract requirements.
Trust-funded preneed contract requirements.
436.430. 1. A trust-funded guaranteed preneed contract shall complywith sections 436.400 to 436.520 and the specific requirements of thissection.
2. A seller must deposit all payments received on a preneed contractinto the designated preneed trust within sixty days of receipt of the fundsby the seller, the preneed sales agent or designee. A seller may notrequire the consumer to pay any fees or other charges except as authorizedby the provisions of chapter 333, RSMo, and this chapter or other state orfederal law.
3. A seller may request the trustee to distribute to the seller anamount up to the first five percent of the total amount of any preneedcontract as an origination fee. The seller may make this request at anytime after five percent of the total amount of the preneed contract hasbeen deposited into the trust. The trustee shall make this distributionto the seller within fifteen days of the receipt of the request.
4. In addition to the origination fee, the trustee may distribute tothe seller an amount up to ten percent of the face value of the contract ona preneed contract at any time after the consumer payment has beendeposited into the trust. The seller may make written request for thisdistribution and the trustee shall make this distribution to the sellerwithin fifteen days of the receipt of the request or as may be provided inany written agreement between the seller and the trustee.
5. The trustee of a preneed trust shall be a state- orfederally-chartered financial institution authorized to exercise trustpowers in Missouri. The trustee shall accept all deposits made to it for apreneed contract and shall hold, administer, and distribute such deposits,in trust, as trust principal, under sections 436.400 to 436.520.
6. The financial institution referenced herein may neither control,be controlled by, nor be under common control with the seller or preneedagent. The terms "control", "controlled by" and "under common controlwith" means the direct or indirect possession of the power to direct orcause the direction of the management and policies of a person, whetherthrough the ownership of voting securities, by contract other than acommercial contract for goods or nonmanagement services, or otherwise,unless the power is the result of an official position with or corporateoffice held by the person. Control shall be presumed to exist if anyperson, directly or indirectly, owns, controls, holds with the power tovote, or holds proxies representing ten percent or more of the votingsecurities. This presumption may be rebutted by a showing to the boardthat control does not in fact exist.
7. Payments regarding two or more preneed contracts may be depositedinto and commingled in the same preneed trust, so long as the trusteemaintains adequate records that individually and separately identify thepayments, earnings, and distributions for each preneed contract.
8. Within a reasonable time after accepting a trusteeship orreceiving trust assets, a trustee shall review the trust assets and makeand implement decisions concerning the retention and disposition of assetsin order to bring the trust portfolio into compliance with the purposes,terms, distribution requirements, other circumstances of the trust, and allother requirements of sections 436.400 to 436.520.
9. All expenses of establishing and administering a preneed trust,including trustee's fees, legal and accounting fees, investment expenses,and taxes may be paid from income generated from the investment of thetrust assets. Principal of the trust shall not be used to pay the costs ofadministration. If the income of the trust is insufficient to pay thecosts of administration, those costs shall be paid as per the writtenagreements between the seller, provider and the trustee.
10. The seller and provider of a trust-funded guaranteed preneedcontract shall be entitled to all income, including, but not limited to,interest, dividends, capital gains, and losses generated by the investmentof preneed trust property regarding such contract as stipulated in thecontract between the seller and provider. Income of the trust, excludingexpenses allowed under this subsection, shall accrue through the life ofthe trust, except in instances when a contract is cancelled. The trusteeof the trust may distribute market value of all income, net of losses, tothe seller upon, but not before, the final disposition of the beneficiaryand provision of the funeral and burial services and facilities, andmerchandise to, or for, the benefit of the beneficiary. This subsectionshall apply to trusts established on or after August 28, 2009.
11. Providers shall request payment by submitting a certificate ofperformance to the seller certifying that the provider has renderedservices under the contract or as requested. The certificate shall besigned by both the provider and the person authorized to make arrangementson behalf of the beneficiary. If there is no written contract between theseller and provider, the provider shall be entitled to the market value ofall trust* assets allocable to the preneed contract. Sellers shall remitpayment to the provider within sixty days of receiving the certificate ofperformance.
12. If a seller fails to make timely payment of an amount due aprovider under sections 436.400 to 436.520, the provider shall have theright, in addition to other rights and remedies against such seller, tomake demand upon the trustee of the preneed trust for the contract todistribute to the provider from the trust all amounts to which the sellerwould be entitled to receive for the preneed contract.
13. The trustee of a preneed trust, including trusts establishedbefore August 28, 2009, shall maintain adequate books and records of alltransactions administered over the life of the trust and pertaining to thetrust generally. The trustee shall assist the seller who established thetrust or its successor in interest in the preparation of the annual reportdescribed in section 436.460. The seller shall furnish to each contractpurchaser, within thirty days after receipt of the purchaser's writtenrequest, a written statement of all deposits made to such trust regardingsuch purchaser's contract including the principal and interest paid todate.
14. A preneed trust, including trusts established before August 28,2009, shall terminate when the trust principal no longer includes anypayments made under any preneed contract, and upon such termination thetrustee shall distribute all trust property, including principal andundistributed income, to the seller which established the trust.
(L. 2009 S.B. 1)*Word "trusts" appears in original rolls.