home business, which may include: paychecks, rent, and new equipment and are paid for by all funeral directors each time they write a pre-need contract. Ten dollars from the amount of each funeral is subtracted, at the funeral homes expense, to be placed in a statewide trust that ensures all pre-planned and paid for funerals will be covered without the original purchaser or the state being required to expend additional funds. Prior to 1996 no funeral home had attempted to take money out of the pre-need trust in the form of Surety bonds; Stuart Enterprise, Inc. was the first entity to do so.Bonding status is up for renewal each year. If a funeral home is rejected for renewal, and a request is put forward that the money be placed into a trust, the funeral home is given a three-month period to pay off the bond. However, if a funeral home is unable to do so, the Sherman Trust will then be responsible for the debate of all future pre-needs that the funeral home is unable to pay for. So far, only Stuart Enterprise, Inc. has attempted to access this loophole; this company is slowly losing revenue each year and is unable to make their payments. To obtain sufficient consideration, privately owned funeral homes throughout the state of Florida joined with several veterans groups to put an end to the use of Surety bonds. However, before they were able to get the attention of Representative Baxley, they had to become a unified front. Knowing that the amount of support an issue has increases the amount of time and consideration given to it the Funeral Home Owners and Supporters Alliance (FHOSA) contacted all newspapers in and around Florida and sought televised coverage when ever possible, until they believed they had gathered enough support. FHOSA was formed and with the aid of Representative Dennis Baxley they were able to explain their concern to Representative Mayfield of Vero Beach, Florida, who in turn presented the case to the House of Represe...
