Details
October 15, 2026
9:00AM - 10:00AM EDT
Webinar: Preneed Processes Reimagined: Expectations, Authority & Innovation
Online Registration is Open!
Registration:
Webinar Reminders:
- Each online participant must register and attend with their own unique email address
- To ensure your attendance is recorded, join the program from the unique link provided in your confirmation email
- Each participant must be on the program for a minimum of 50 minutes to be eligible for CE credit
- If you have never used Zoom on your device, you will need to download the Zoom desktop application or the Zoom mobile app to view the webinar. Please note: Internet Explorer is no longer a supported browser. For the best experience, we recommend using Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Safari.
- If you have trouble viewing the webinar, please call SeminarWeb support at (737) 201-2059.
Price:
- Member: $45.00
- Non-Member Member: $65.00
Continuing Education:
- 1 CE Hour, Preneed Ethics Principles, pending approval by the State of Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors
Summary:
Today's funeral consumers are reshaping the profession through evolving expectations for personalization, transparency, affordability, and digital engagement. This program explores how generational consumer cohorts—from the Silent Generation through Gen Z—are influencing funeral service preferences, spending behaviors, and memorialization choices, while examining the market trends driving these changes.
A primary focus of the session is Ohio's Right of Final Disposition law and the funeral director's ethical responsibility during the arrangement conference to identify and verify the individual with the legal authority to make funeral and disposition decisions. Participants will review the statutory hierarchy, the value of a Designated Representative, common family conflict scenarios, and the importance of due diligence, proper authorizations, and thorough documentation. These ethical and compliance-focused practices help protect the wishes of the deceased, reduce the risk of disputes and board complaints, and support legally sound funeral service.
The program concludes by examining emerging consumer trends—including green burial, alkaline hydrolysis, natural organic reduction, and digital memorialization—and how funeral professionals can remain responsive to changing expectations while maintaining a strong commitment to ethical decision-making and legal compliance.
Presenter:
John Walls, II
Director, Preneed Business Development
Global Atlantic
John Walls is a Director of Business Development for the preneed business, managing large national account partnerships. He currently manages the business relationship with Service Corporation International (SCI), the largest funeral home company in North America.
In his nearly 30 years with Global Atlantic and Forethought Life Insurance Company, he has held various sales leadership roles and has served a range of clients from small family-owned funeral homes to the largest organizations in the country.
Prior to joining Forethought/Global Atlantic, John spent seven years with Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
John earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing from Messiah University in Mechanicsburg PA and holds a Pennsylvania Life Insurance License.
John is actively involved with the International Cemetery, Cremation & Funeral Association to help advance the funeral industry. John and his wife Leanne have 4 children and 3 grandchildren that they enjoy spending as much time as they are allowed.
