With recent news about a Connecticut funeral home owner whom police accuse of taking money from clients, the state Department of Consumer Protection wants the public to know what their rights are when it comes to entering a prepaid funeral service contract.
The consumer alert was issued on Thursday from the DCP in collaboration with the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association.
“We felt it was timely to offer advice to consumers who may be reading about prepaid funeral contracts in the news and have questions about what they should be doing or what to expect in relation to their own prepaid contracts,” said Kaitlyn Krasset, a spokeswoman for the state DCP.
State police charged Philip M. Pietras in April with first-degree larceny. Pietras is the president/owner of Pietras Family Funeral Homes, which has two locations in Vernon, and single locations in East Windsor, Coventry, and Tolland.
State police said Thursday that the Eastern District Major Crime Squad has 15 active cases originating from the company’s funeral home in Tolland, according to a spokesman. Pietras’s next court date is Aug. 1 in Superior Court in Rockville.
Meanwhile, Pietras’s embalming license is listed as suspended on the state Department of Public Health’s website. The Board of Examiners of Embalmers and Funeral Directors has scheduled a July 1 hearing regarding the suspension, which occurred following charges accusing Pietras of taking and depositing checks from several clients for pre-planned funeral arrangements, but not putting them into escrow.
DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli said through the consumer alert that many people enter into these sorts of contracts to keep their loved ones from having to deal with those details on top of their grief.
“It is critical that consumers understand who is allowed to offer a prepaid funeral service contract, what should be included in that contract, and how they can verify over time that the funds are where they are supposed to be. Nobody deserves to be surprised by stolen or missing funds when it comes time to plan the funeral for their loved one,” Cafferelli said.
Those who want to make sure funds are set aside for their funeral and other services may want to enter into a
prepaid funeral service contract
— or “pre-need” contract — the consumer alert states.
At this point, people can reach out to a licensed funeral home to do this.
Before entering a contract, consumers should read the contract carefully and have it reviewed with their attorney if there are any questions or concerns, officials said.
Jesse M. Gomes, executive director of the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association, said that once people sign a contract, they should immediately get a copy from the funeral director.
Within the next 25 days, the consumer should get a statement from the escrow agent confirming the deposit of the funds as well as the yearly tax documents.
Once the funds have been established, communications should be between consumers and the escrow agent directly, not the funeral provider, for information about the escrow account and funds, according to the alert. Clients should also make sure to tell their families where the signed contract is so they know the funeral is preplanned.
Anyone who has any issue with a contract for a prepaid funeral service contract should try to resolve it with the funeral home or escrow agent, but they can file a
complaint with the Department of Consumer Protection
if the issue is not resolved.
Gomes described the investigation into Pietras as unfortunate and very disheartening for the families involved.
“We must emphasize that this is extremely unusual, and we are not aware of this ever happening in any Connecticut Funeral Directors Association-member funeral home in Connecticut,” the statement reads. “Note that the accused and his funeral homes are not members of CFDA.”
