Seems like funeral homes always have the ampersand in their name: Sims & Wainwright, Skelley & Larney, Smith & Jones, whatever. Why would this be?
I think you might be seeing a pseudo-pattern. I think a lot of companies are partnerships regardless of whether they are the in the old “slab ‘n’ grill” business or not. Off the top of my head, the only funeral homes I can think of are not partnberships. Two are just family names e.g. “Whatever Funeral Home” , and one is called “Whatever & Sons.”…
I wouldn’t read too much into it…
P.S.
I know that one of my examples has an ampersand, but it’s not a partnership…
I think it has to do with instilling confidence and credibilty. Would you rather bury your Mother and “Ted’s fabulous funeral world” or at “Wellington & Dodd Funeral Home”?
I’d say that’s why the names always sound like Banks, or Investment firms.
NGNL: Yes, I wanted to ask about that in my OP, but couldn’t figure out how to word it. Sounds likely.
Tarantula: But in any business, you generally have division of labor and specialization. Like, Sims is the mortician, and Wainwright is the funeral director. Both equally important, but Sims couldn’t do Wainwright’s job, nor the reverse. Perhaps that’s how it got started?
You’re not ** burying** your folks there - they’re just getting dollied up…
I stand by my original assertion.
Most likely, one name is the funeral director and the other is the business manager. My husband works at a funeral home, and most of the ones that are still independently owned and operated usually function in this manner.
Most professional services industries MUST be registered as partnerships, limited liability companies (LLC) or professional corporations (PC). Lawfirms, CPA firms, medical firms, etc., are all some form of partnership or partnership hybrid.
My guess is that Funeral Homes fall under this rule since they do embalming and preservation.
The reason for this is that a professional has to be held personally accountable for his actions, inaction, or negligence. They cannot be permitted to hide behind the corporate veil.
Cillasi, you’re on the right track - but bear in mind that in most states, the LLC/LLP entity in fact provides a form of corporate veil, just not for professional liability.
First, some background: “Corporate veil” refers to the essence of corporate personhood, which is the fact that the entity holds legal responsibility for liabilities, rather than individual shareholders.
At the very small business level, the veil may not be very meaningful because creditors often require shareholders to guarantee the corporation’s debts. But once a corporation has a track record, creditors become willing to extend financing to corporations based only on the corporation itself.
This is completely incompatible with professional responsibility - if your lawyer, doctor, accountant, funeral director screws up, you want them to be accountable, and not pass it on to an entity.
By the same token, there’s no reason purely “business,” non-professional liabilities - such as for rent, insurance, etc. - shouldn’t be covered by the entity and insulated from the shareholders, if the creditors are willing. Ergo the LLC/LLP, which usually separates professional from non-professional liabilities, providing a veil only for the latter.
Oops, big mistake. I space-cased a very important letter: P. My description of LLC/LLP in fact applies to what in New York, and many other states, is called a PLLC/PLLP (“Professional Limited Liability Company/Professional Limited Liability Partnership”). I believe in some jurisdictions, however, the same limitations apply to plain LLPs/LLCs that are in fact composed of licensed professionals.
And now I really am being too much of a lawyer…
One of the bigger funeral service providers is SCI (Service Corporation International). They refer to themselves as “death care”.
It’s traded on the NYSE as SRV.
Now, more and more funeral homes are being bought up by huge corporations, like Loewen (blech!).
However, the ones I see around here, are usually named like F. John Smith Funeral home-they’re traditionally family owned.
(My dad’s a funeral director)
Around here, the only one who’s name I consistently remember is a small chain called Amigone Funeral Homes. No, really, that’s what they’re called.
We have a funeral home here in the south called
“Newcomer” funeral home. That HAS to be a family name.