When was the last time you actually read your insurance policy?

If your answer is, “When I renewed it,” you’re probably not alone.

For many funeral home owners, the insurance policy gets filed away after the renewal is completed and doesn’t see the light of day again until the next renewal.

The problem is your business doesn’t sit in a filing cabinet for the next 12 months.

Things change.

You buy another vehicle. You replace or add equipment. You hire employees. You renovate part of the funeral home. You purchase another property. You add a new service. Your payroll changes. Maybe your business has grown significantly since your last insurance review.

And while all of that is happening, your insurance policy is sitting there unchanged.

That can become a problem when something happens, and you discover that the coverage you thought you had doesn't quite match the business you are operating today.

An insurance review shouldn’t simply be about looking at this year’s premium and comparing it to last year’s number. It should be a conversation about your business.

What has changed?

Did you add or remove vehicles? Did you purchase new equipment? Did you make improvements to the building? Has your payroll changed? Have you added employees or changed how they work? Are you offering services today that you weren't offering a few years ago? Have your property values or business income needs changed?

These are the kinds of questions that can uncover gaps, outdated limits or coverage that may need to be adjusted.

And that doesn't necessarily mean you need to buy more insurance.

It means you should make sure the insurance you are paying for reflects the business you own today.

At Thanexus Financial Services, LLC, we believe an insurance renewal should be more than a policy, an invoice and a signature. It should be an opportunity to have a conversation about what has changed and whether your coverage still makes sense.

So, the next time you pull that insurance policy out of the filing cabinet, don't just put it back.

Take a look.

Your business has changed. Your insurance may need to change with it.

Your insurance policy can sit in a filing cabinet.

Your business shouldn't.

Do you have questions about your premium costs? Please contact one of our Thanexus Financial Services, LLC insurance agents at 888.483.5138 for more information or a personalized quote for your individual insurance needs. All funeral directors have access to insurance coverage. This is not a benefit limited to members of Thanexus, Inc.

Thanexus Financial Services, LLC is staffed by salaried, non-commissioned producers with no personal financial interest in your decisions regarding coverage. By using salary-based compensation, our agency force focuses on service rather than volume. Our staff members are licensed in New Jersey, as well as Connecticut, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania.

Thanexus, Inc. is a funeral service cooperative and economic development initiative of New Jersey Funeral Directors Services, Inc. For more information about joining Thanexus as a shareholder, contact our Agency Manager, Jonathan C. Krowicki, at 732.282.5117.

Memorial services for longtime New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association Membership Services Representative Carol Flynn have been scheduled for November.

Friends and colleagues will gather at Oliverie Funeral Home, 125 South Cooks Bridge Road, Jackson, NJ 08527 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 8. Her celebrant service will begin at 2:00 p.m. followed by light refreshments.

Carol was ever present at the NJSFDA office and the yearly Funeral Directors Convention and Expo. One of the first to greet members and guests either on the telephone or in person, Carol was often the person at the association who addressed their questions and solved their problems.

Please join us on November 8 in celebrating Carol’s life and legacy.

Government officials and lawmakers in Illinois are advocating for a consolidation of funeral home and crematory oversight following the discovery of more than 50 decaying bodies at a funeral home in Chicago.

Currently, oversight of funeral homes is conducted by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, but crematories are regulated by the Illinois Office of the Comptroller.

The split in oversight exposed a flaw in the investigations of Clark and Johanna Morgan, a married couple. Johanna Morgan was a funeral director at South Chicago Chapel, where the bodies were found in August 2026 in an unrefrigerated area infested with rodents and maggots.

Clark Morgan, the husband of Johanna Morgan, was listed as the president of the funeral home. Clark Morgan was also listed as the owner of Heights Crematory, where investigators in 2025 found bodies stored in a trailer.

The case led funeral industry leaders to call for a more comprehensive approach to regulation and investigation.

“What happened in Chicago should cause us to look beyond the individuals involved and examine whether our regulatory systems have the authority, funding and personnel to protect the public–not just when there's a crisis, but every day,” said New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association Executive Director and CEO George R. Kelder, CFSP. “We shouldn't wait for a tragedy to discover that the people responsible for protecting the public don't have the authority, money or manpower to do their jobs.”

Kelder and others argued that the regulatory oversight environment in Illinois led to a situation where the discovery on bodies at Heights Crematory did not trigger an immediate investigation into South Chicago Chapel. Instead, the problems at South Chicago Chapel were not discovered until more than a year later.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza told WLS in Chicago that the current system is “100 percent dysfunctional.”

“I've been advocating and calling for a consolidation of these services under one umbrella, and how there is no reason and no excuse to not move forward with this," Mendoza told the television station.

WLS also reported that state Representative Diane Blair-Sherlock is crafting a bill that would consolidate the oversight over funeral homes and crematories and establish a stronger regulatory system.

"We need to consolidate that into one roof. And we need to make a more efficient and responsive system," Blair-Sherlock told WLS. "It's absolutely worth it for us to do this. And to have regular inspections and I don't think it's unreasonable."

New Jersey has some of the highest costs for funeral services in the country, according to statistics gathered by a consumer advocacy group.

Funeralocity’s figures show that the Garden State ranks fifth in average costs for a traditional full-service burial, which the organization describes as including the “basic service fee, embalming and care of body, a visitation or wake prior to the funeral, a service at either church or funeral home chapel, a funeral procession to the grave site and a committal service prior to the burial.” A casket is also included in the cost.

Key Takeaways

• New Jersey ranks fifth nationally for traditional full-service burial costs, averaging $9,451, according to Funeralocity
• Bergen-Passaic has the state's highest average cost at $9,915, while southern New Jersey regions are less expensive
• Rising burial, casket, fuel and manufacturing costs continue driving funeral price increases statewide and nationwide

The New Jersey cost for an average traditional full-service burial is $9,451, according to statistics gathered by Funeralocity. That is more than $850 over the average national cost of $8,595. Costs for a full-service cremation and affordable burial are also well above the national average, Funeralocity reports. The cost of a direct cremation in New Jersey is more than $300 greater than the national average.

The Funeralocity statistics break down New Jersey’s costs by region, with the Bergen-Passaic county region registering the highest costs in the state. A traditional full-service burial in those two counties averages $9,915, well above both the state and national averages. Following closely is the Newark area, with an average of $9,863 and Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon at $9,751.

Most of the state averages more than $9,000 for a traditional full-service burial. The only two regions below that level are Atlantic-Cape May and Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton, which have the lowest average in New Jersey of $8,672 and $8,646 respectively.

Nationwide, New Jersey ranks behind only Minnesota, Connecticut, Hawaii and Massachusetts. Minnesota had the highest average for a traditional full-service burial at $9,697. Two other neighboring states, New York and Pennsylvania, ranked 15th and 16th in the list, with averages of $8,836 and $8,820 respectively.

The lowest costs in the nation were recorded in Oregon, where a traditional full-service burial averaged $7,554, according to Funeralocity.

Statistical surveys have shown that funeral costs are rising nationwide. In New Jersey, the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association Biennial Statistical Pricing Survey, last conducted in 2025, showed that prices for the actual burial rose dramatically in a two-year period. The opening and closing costs for a grave and the purchase of the grave and burial vault rose nearly 18 percent between significantly between 2023 and 2025.

More increases in costs have come in the past year.

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that the cost of manufacturing a casket had increased 4.2 percent during the past year. Funeral homes, in response, have been raising their retail prices for caskets. An informal study of Thanexus firms, conducted in May 2026, showed that 40 percent of stakeholders had submitted increases in their price lists since January 2026.

The Federal Reserve statistics showed that a significant jump in costs was recorded in December 2025 as the impact of tariffs and energy costs began to hit the manufacturing sector. Costs for gasoline and diesel fuel, needed for the transport of caskets and other funeral industry goods, as well as most products in the United States, have soared during 2026, putting additional stress on overall pricing for funeral services.

The investigation into an Illinois funeral home where 56 bodies were discovered has spread to a nearby cremation facility. A Tennessee funeral home owner was indicted on fraud and other charges. And a writer details some of the disturbing things he found out while working in the organ donation field. These stories and more are in the week in funeral news.

NEWS

Woman Says Missouri Funeral Home Mishandled Father’s Body Before Funeral Service
By Lauren Trager and Matt Woods (First Alert 4)
St. Louis, MO, resident Brandy Wren was preparing for her father’s funeral last June when she got a call from the funeral home. Her father’s body was ready to be seen, she recalled them telling her, so she headed there. The funeral service was scheduled for the following morning. Read more here.

Just west of the Houston, TX, metropolis, the Katy Prairie Preserve hosts more than 300 native bird species. Among the 20,000 acres of Texas grassland, wetland and working land is an unusual site, called Blazing Star Sanctuary, where local birder Bernice Hotman plans to remain once her life comes to a close. “My choices were the columbarium at my church or Blazing Star,” she says. “I decided I’d rather be with the bobwhite and the Dickcissel music than the organ music.” The sanctuary is one of a small but growing number of conservation burial grounds across the United States where people can inter their loved ones on properties protected as both a final resting place for humans and permanent habitat for wildlife. Read more here.

Tennessee Funeral Home Owner Indicted, Facing 52 Charges Including Fraud, Exploitation and Abuse of a Corpse
By Shelby Wright (10 News)
A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe into deceptive business practices has resulted in a 52-count indictment against a 38-year-old funeral home owner, Chadrick "Chad" Mundy. In May, TBI agents began looking into allegations of theft and fraud involving Mundy Funeral Home. Over the course of the investigation, the TBI said Mundy filed several fraudulent insurance claims related to burial policies and “financially exploited elderly and vulnerable clients for personal gain.” Read more here.

Woman Sues Funeral Home, Claims Brain Matter Was Returned with Late Partner’s Possessions
By Belle Johnson (WJHL)
A grieving woman is suing a Bristol funeral home for more than $2 million, claiming that when she received her partner’s belongings after his cremation, they included clothing stained with brain matter. Read more here.

Three Missouri Funeral Homes Have Licenses Revoked
By Drew Tasset (Ozarks First)
Licenses for funeral homes three Missouri towns have been revoked by the Missouri State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors. The board said it revoked licenses for James & Gahr Mortuary, located in Rolla and St. James; Dent County Memorial Chapel in Salem; and individual licenses for Donn and Connie James. The entities are no longer allowed to operate a funeral establishment, sell preneed contracts or represent themselves as licensed funeral professionals in Missouri. Read more here.

Glenwood, IL, Cremation Business Searched in Chicago Funeral Home Investigation
By Leslie Moreno (Fox 32)
A cremation business in Glenwood, IL, is now part of a broader investigation connected to the Chicago funeral home where authorities discovered 56 bodies last month. Read more here.

OPINION

What I Found Out About Organ Donation Shocked Me
By Greg Segal (The New York Times)
I know as well as anyone that organ donation saves lives–over 40,000 annually in the United States in recent years. But I was stunned to learn that organ procurement organizations–the federal contractors that coordinate organ donation from the deceased–that made those transplants possible were routinely violating ethical standards and putting patients at risk. Read more here.

My Dad Had Some Unusual Requests for His Funeral. Three Years Later, People Are Still Talking About It
By Carrie Friedman (HuffPost)
So often, our culture looks at funerals as maudlin events. They don’t have to be. Our dad was hilarious, so it not only made sense to add humor to his service, it also honored his wishes. Read more here.

A New Jersey licensed funeral director has been sentenced to 366 days in federal prison for defrauding the government out of more than a half million dollars in disability insurance payments.

Steven A. Stankovits, of Matawan, was sentenced in July 2026, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

Stankovits was convicted after a four-day trial in federal court in Newark in March 2026 on four counts of mail fraud and one count of false statements to Social Security. The charges were related to his illegally receiving disability insurance payments from the administration, totaling more than $585,000, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey issued after his conviction.

He was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Zahid N. Quraishi in Trenton. Stankovits was fined $50,000 and was ordered to pay restitution of $585,629.80 and forfeit $480,968 in proceeds from the fraudulent scheme, a second press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office states.

According to an indictment, Stankovits had applied for and was granted disability insurance benefits in 2010, retroactive to 2007, based on his claim that an injury left him unable to work, lift even a carton of milk or bend down to put on his clothes. He also said he could not sit comfortably for more than 15 minutes and had to give up skiing.

An investigation, however, found that Stankovits had worked at two funeral homes during that period, doing gardening, shoveling snow, climbing ladders and carrying 160-pound caskets down a flight of stairs. Stankovits also continued to ski, taking flights to Italy and various ski resorts in the United States. He also held a season skiing pass in Killington, VT.

Stankovits is still listed as an active licensee on the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs website.