IBA Compliance Connection

Your go to source for compliance!

We send annual 1099 forms on behalf of our funeral home customers to their funeral trust customers. Our trust department serves as trustee for the trusts. Some of the forms are returned as undeliverable, with a yellow label showing a corrected address from the USPS. Since these are customers of the funeral home, whose direct relationship is with the funeral home, do we have the authority to update those addresses? We have a process for changing addresses manually, when authorized by the customer, but we were unsure about changing the mailing address based on the USPS label.

—

by

admin

We do not foresee any problems with updating the funeral trust beneficiaries’ addresses in reliance on notifications from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Also, as trustee for the trusts, it would be in your bank’s interest to have accurate addresses for the beneficiaries, particularly given your obligation to send annual statements under the Illinois Funeral or Burial Funds Act.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

  • Illinois Funeral or Burial Funds Act, 225 ILCS 45/2(e) (“A seller or provider shall furnish to the trustee and depositary the name of each payor and the amount of payment on each such account for which deposit is being so made. . . .”)
  • Illinois Funeral or Burial Funds Act, 225 ILCS 45/2(h) (“A trustee shall at least annually furnish to each purchaser a statement containing: (1) the receipts, disbursements, and inventory of the trust, including an explanation of any fees or expenses charged by the trustee under Section 5 of this Act or otherwise, (2) an explanation of the purchaser's right to a refund, if any, under this Act, and (3) identifying the primary regulator of the trust as a corporate fiduciary under state or federal law.”)