WilbertEDU® Sessions for December
Poul Lemasters rejoins the WilbertEDU Stage on December 2nd, to talk about a very popular topic, Funeral Ethics, and Law for the Deathcare Provider. Poul’s professional career covers both funeral service and law. He has worked in the funeral profession for over 25 years and holds both a funeral director’s license and embalmer’s license in Ohio and West Virginia. His deathcare experience includes managing both small and large funeral homes and working with both independent and corporately owned funeral homes. He remains active in local, state, and national funeral and cemetery associations.
As an attorney, Poul is admitted to practice law in both Ohio and Kentucky. He currently works with funeral homeowners, funeral directors, embalmers, cemeteries, cemeterians, cremationists, and crematory owners. He assists in areas of legal, compliance, regulatory, litigation, and operational issues. Poul also serves in various roles with national groups, knowing that as deathcare providers, we are trained to help. Sometimes when we focus on helping, we can unwillingly create problems. Unfortunately, what we perceive as good intentions cannot protect us when it comes to the law. In today’s world, ethical dilemmas are becoming a common problem that ultimately becomes public, which can alter the definitions of what is ethical and what is not.
Poul details real-life scenarios, how ethics can break a company, then will demonstrate how to develop ethical guidelines for success. Let Poul help you, your business, and your employees understand how ethics can build or break any company. Ethics aren't simply subjective thoughts; they are objective baselines that must be measured. Join us as Poul educates the audience on the world of ethics in funeral service today!
Our last webinar of the year is entitled “What is Probate Court and How Does It Impact Funeral Service.” Our presenter, Donald B. Ferfolia, Jr., is the fourth generation of the Ferfolia family to serve families at Ferfolia Funeral Home in the Cleveland area as a Licensed Funeral Director. He is a graduate of John Carroll University and earned his license in 2001. While caring for families at the funeral home, Don continued his education at the University of Akron and earned his law degree in 2007. He was admitted to the Ohio Bar in 2007 and focuses his legal work on assisting families when settling a loved ones’ affairs, adding a unique dimension of service to families served by Ferfolia Funeral Home.
Don also enjoys speaking to the community on topics that deal with funeral service, the legal questions surrounding the death of a loved one and is frequently a speaker at Ohio Funeral Directors educational events covering topics such as probate, pre-need, and legal issues in the funeral profession. Don is also part of the mandatory master’s training educational programming required when an apprentice is hired in Ohio.
Probate court is a specialized type of court that deals with the property and debts of a person who has died. The basic role of the probate court judge is to assure that the deceased person’s creditors are paid and that any remaining assets are distributed to the proper beneficiaries. Probate is a legal procedure by which a court oversees the distribution of property of a person who has died. Many states have a specialized probate court and in some states, it is called by other names, such as Surrogate’s Court, Orphan’s Court, or Chancery Court.
In this December 16th WilbertEDU seminar, Don will give insight into what probate is and what the difference is between when one has a will and when one does not. He will also talk about probate and its role in the funeral, and ultimately, the funeral home.