Flash player is required to view weather conditions. Download

site web  

Ohio law and a 2001 opinion from the Ohio Attorney General's Office state that only licensed funeral directors can solicit, sell, negotiate and arrange funeral services. That includes pre-paid, or "pre-need," funeral contracts negotiated by insurance agents who are affiliated with or employed by funeral homes.

But despite the law, the so-called practice of unlicensed funeral directing is "widespread," said state funeral board inspector Chuck Wisby, echoing

claims of licensed funeral directors across the state.

"It is what it is — it's contract fraud," said Cleveland funeral director Gregg Zamborsky, who has complained about the practice to the state funeral board, attorney general's office and the Ohio Inspector General.

Zamborsky and fellow critics say the practice, a violation of the Ohio Consumer Sales Practice Act and a fourth-degree felony, puts consumers — and their wallets — at risk.

"These people aren't 'counselors,' they're commissioned sales hacks, that's all it is," said Joshua Slocum, executive director of the Funeral Consumers Alliance, a national, nonprofit watchdog group based in South Burlington, Vt.

"The problem with unlicensed people selling prepaid funerals is, one, they're usually working on a commission," Slocum said. "When your bread and butter to put on your dinner table is dependent on how many products you sell, that's going to be your primary concern.

"No. 2, these folks are generally woefully ignorant of federal and state funeral law. They don't understand the (Federal Trade Commission's) Funeral

Rule, they often don't present the price list the way they're supposed to, and they make unrealistic promises to consumers."

The Ohio attorney general's office, in a 2001 opinion, said that an agent who is affiliated with a particular funeral home but who is not a licensed funeral director may not be involved in funeral sales.

Dave Tackett, board chairman of the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science, supports the opinion.

"If they are actually going out in the name of funeral homes selling funeral services, that's crossing the line," even if they call it "estimated final expenses," Tackett said.

Still, Tackett admits the effects of not following the law are murky.

"Now the question (funeral directors) ask is, 'Who's being harmed by this?" Tackett said. "The point is we have a statute and you're supposed to follow it."

State funeral board President Ross C. DeJohn Sr., in fact, employs an insurance agent for pre-need sales at his Cleveland-area funeral home.

"All they're selling is charges and merchandise," the 14-year board veteran said.

The 2001 attorney general opinion was requested by the state funeral board. DeJohn said the issue is still unresolved.

"I'm not going to debate that with you," DeJohn said. "That's a question that has to be ironed out and is being reviewed (by the funeral board)."

Are the insurance agents simply selling insurance, for instance, or are they selling funeral services?

Funeral board members say they're working on legislation to clarify that distinction.

"We've got to get that spelled out," board member Robert Shank said during an April board meeting.

Experts say the most common scenario is insurance agents affiliated with a funeral home meet with a family to arrange the funeral plan and contract, then have a licensed funeral director sign off on the contract. Such a scenario amounts to "funeral directing," according to the attorney general's opinion. The opinion also states, "In light of the plain language of (the law), a licensed funeral director is prohibited from delegating the task of selling pre-need funeral contracts for funeral services to unlicensed persons."

While some funeral directors speak of a gray area, at least one insurance company that does much pre-need business in Ohio says state law is clear.

"When the funeral contract is being completed, it should be done by a licensed funeral director. That's what we call the funeral transaction," said Gerry Kraus, vice president of compliance for the Des Moines, Iowa-based Homesteaders Life Insurance Company, a major insurer of pre-need funeral plans in Ohio.

"The insurance part we see as separate and in Ohio, that line is very distinct."

Kraus said his company is careful to make sure its agents understand the law "so our people don't cross the line and make headlines."

"If we have a funeral home that wants to use nonlicensed personnel, we tell them they have to work with documents other than funeral contracts," he said.

Kraus said it's appropriate for agents to present several funeral

home price lists to a client and draw up an insurance policy to fund the estimated cost of a funeral plan.

But they can't describe the funeral goods and services or discuss how they would be provided, he said.

Using the 'counselor' title

You can't call yourself a counselor in Ohio unless you have the appropriate license to do so. The title is reserved for marriage counselors, mental health counselors, school counselors, social workers and so on.

It's not to be used for insurance agents and funeral home staffers who arrange pre-need funeral plans and call themselves "family service counselors" or "pre-arrangement counselors."

"Our board does not like that, and our statute protects the title of 'professional counselor' and 'professional clinical counselor' and/or any other title or description incorporating 'counselor,'" said James Rough, executive director of the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & Marriage and Family Therapist Board.

So last month, after hearing about the practice in the funeral industry, Rough sent a letter to the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors to be sent with other information to the state's 1,200 funeral homes telling funeral directors to stop using the title for their staffers unless authorized to do so.

Failure to abide by the law is a fourth-degree misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to 30 days in jail, a $250 fine for individuals and a $1,000 fine for organizations.