May a funeral home be a trustee of funeral trusts on the deposit side of a bank without moving the account to a corporate fiduciary account?

Funeral trust funds must be held by a corporate fiduciary under the Illinois Funeral or Burial Funds Act and Pre-Need Cemetery Sales Act. The Illinois Comptroller’s office confirmed this conclusion and noted that it is the funeral home’s responsibility to ensure that funds are held in appropriate accounts. Further, the Comptroller’s office stated that certificate of deposit accounts established before the enactment of the corporate fiduciary requirement, effective January 1, 2010, could be allowed to mature, but that any other funds must be held by corporate fiduciaries. See P.A. 96-879