Focused on Elevating the Standards of Funeral Service and Public Welfare through Education and Training for Embalmers
AGEG News
Georgia State Board of Funeral Service
Additional Licenses Renewal Deadline Extension
The renewal period for Funeral Services (all types) is extended to May 31, 2024
Late Renewal Period of June 1, 2024 - June 30, 2024
There have been NEW Quick Reference Guides and video instructions for GOALS access added to the website - HERE
If you have previously visited the GOALS resources and are still experiencing issues, try the NEW resources.
After utilizing these resources, if you are still experiencing issues, contact the Licensing Division for assistance - HERE
**Note AGEG staff does not have access to the GOALS system and is unable to assist you with renewing your licenses**
Daniel McSwords has worked in the funeral industry since 1998. He has been a licensed funeral director and embalmer with the state of Georgia since 2003. He is a graduate of Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service. Dan is the funeral director in full and continuous charge at Albritton Funeral Directors in Tifton. In addition to being an AGEG Member, he is also a member of the Georgia Funeral Directors Association.
Dan, his wife Jackie, and their son Laken live in Hahira. He is a member of the American Legion Post 13 in Valdosta and in his free time, he enjoys riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle and spending time with his family. Dan will join the Grandpa club in June 2024.
Dan McSwords was elected as the 2024 - 2025 AGEG President during the AGEG Business Meeting on March 12, 2024,
at the Edgar H. Wilson Convention Center.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
to our presenters, attendees, exhibitors and sponsors
for your support and participation!
Each of you helped make this a great event!
Visit HERE for our Memorial Service video, speaker contact information,
sponsor and exhibitor directories, and more.
Continuing Education Certificates After the Clinic
- It is your responsibility as an attendee to maintain your certificates after attending or participating in our events.
- AGEG submits attendance certification documentation to the AL, FL, NC, SC, and TN Funeral Service Boards per their requirements.
- GA does not require we notify them of your attendance.
Replacement Continuing Education Credit Documentation
- Requests must be in writing and include your name, license number, mailing address, and email address. Requests will not be accepted by phone. Visit HERE to submit your request.
- Replacement documentation is dependent on AGEG staff being able to verify your attendance on our CE Certificate sign-in and event check-in records.
- Allow for 10 business days for our processing of your request.
- Effective April 1, 2024, AGEG will charge a $25.00 fee for replacement Continuing Education credit documentation.
AGEG is the only association in Georgia that focuses on Embalmers!
Our members are a great pool of information for embalmers across the state and the southeast. AGEG offers specific training for your profession and opportunities to earn your Continuing Education Hours for your licensing requirements. AGEG members receive discounted event pricing and AGEG News.
AGEG News comes directly to your email and includes notices about our upcoming events, funeral service obituary notices, the latest licensing, regulatory, and industry news, updates and guidance, and more. Members can participate in our Career Center and Member News share.
We hope you will be a part of this great association!
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I need to renew each year? Yes, to be a current AGEG member and to maintain your member benefits, your dues must be renewed each year. Non-members cannot use the AGEG logo and do not receive member pricing for our events.
- Do Emeritus members need to complete a form? Yes, to ensure the accuracy of our records and for you to be a current member, and maintain your member benefits, a membership form is required annually. Remember to initial the appropriate line on your dues form to indicate your **Emeritus status**.
- Do I need to renew if I am not attending the Clinic? Yes, dues are due each year regardless of Clinic attendance. Clinic attendance and registration are separate from membership.
- Do you offer membership for Students? Yes, students may join AGEG at no charge. For more information and our Student membership form CLICK HERE.
**Emeritus status is defined as: At least 65 years of age with 20 years as a Licensed Embalmer and 10 years of continuous paying dues membership with the Academy of Graduate Embalmers will entitle the Emeritus status to comping (no charge) annual dues and clinic fee.**
Financial Scams Targeting Families
We strongly encourage you to inform the families you serve of your funeral home's policies/billing practices and remind them to not give any information to individuals contacting them for payments or refunds. Instead they should hang up and directly contact your funeral home, especially when asked for payment. We also encourage a statement on your funeral home’s website.
(continuing reading below)
As previously reported AGEG has been notified of a various and continually evolving scams targeting the families served by multiple funeral homes across the state. This scam is not only impacting families in Georgia but nationwide. Reports include unauthorized individuals contacting families, stating they are from the funeral home or insurance company, and requesting immediate payment to continue with the plans made.
Examples which have been shared
- Lost check and immediate payment is required.
- Requesting payment by credit card or cash app.
- Stating the family is due a refund and requesting bank or credit card information to issue the refund.
- Asking the family to participate in a survey about the recent funeral and awarding a gift card for their participation; however, a credit card is needed to verify identity.
- Using funeral home staff names.
Reminder: Scammers have the ability to make it appear that the calls are from your funeral home and phone number.
Attention
- If a family you serve has been impacted or has information about any contact of this nature, they should contact their local authorities to report the incident.
- For funeral homes, we encourage your staff to also contact your local authorities to report the incident.
- Additional ways to report
- Visit https://www.usa.gov/scams-and-fraud
- Report to the Federal Trade Commission online, or by phone at 1-877-382-4357 (9:00 AM - 8:00 PM, ET).
- Also, report any scam that happened online to the FBI
Visit HERE to understand more about imposter scams and information you can share with the families you serve and your staff.
Here are tips from Federal Trade Commission
- Resist the pressure to act immediately. Honest businesses will give you time to make a decision. Anyone who pressures you to pay or give them your personal information is a scammer.
- Contact the funeral home directly. Use a phone number that you know is real, not one you got from the scammer’s text, email, or phone call. If you don’t know it, you’ll find it on the General Price List you got from the funeral home.
- Know how scammers tell you to pay. Scammers want to get your money immediately, and in a way that makes it hard to track them down and hard for you to get your money back. Never pay someone who insists you pay with a wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or a gift card. And never deposit a check and send money back to someone.
License & Regulatory News & Announcements
Georgia State Board of Funeral Service
Required Continuing Education Hours
- As previously reported, the Georgia State Board of Funeral Service has changed its Continuing Education requirements. The hours required biennially have not changed, but the Board now requires that at least five (5) hours of the total ten (10) hours required be obtained in-person or via live webinar that is instructor led with student interaction, where student participation is monitored and verified.
Licensing Division of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office
GOALS (Georgia Online Application Licensing System)
Georgia State Office of Vital Records
April Webinars
- Vital Records Website, Forms and Security Paper Review - April 25, 2024 from 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Please join The Training and Support Team as we discuss the State Office Website, Forms and Security Paper. This webinar will cover how to navigate the website for internal as well as external partners. How to locate forms and order Security Paper. This will also be an opportunity to provide feedback and ask questions surrounding communications from the State Office of Vital Records.
Register for the Vital Records webinars - HERE
Questions? Contact your regional consultant
REMINDERS FROM AGEG
AGEG NEWS AND DEATH NOTICES
AGEG uses an email system and the industry changes for emails hosts and these systems have tightened. We offer the following tips to ensure you continue to receive our emails:
- Check your spam/junk folder frequently. If you find our AGEG News or Death Notices in your spam/junk folder, mark the email as a safe sender or add the email address to your address book.
- Open our emails to reflect you want to receive them.
If you prefer to be removed from our email list, please CONTACT US so our records may be updated accordingly.
The AGEG office has sent an email to all Members whose email addresses our staff was unable to add to our system. This email gives directions to ensure you continue to receive our emails. If you have any concerns about the validity of any of email coming from AGEG (or appearing to be from AGEG), please CONTACT US
BE AWARE OF EMAIL SCAMS
Please be aware of emails claiming to be from the AGEG Office or AGEG Board of Directors. We do NOT use Zelle or Pay Pal and do NOT use third party companies to solicit hotels rooms for our Clinic. If you receive an email of this nature, we recommend the following actions:
- Do not click on any links or reply to the email
- Report or mark the email as spam
- Delete the email from your email system and your trash folder
Remember, CONTACT US if you have any questions or if we can be of assistance.
MEMBERSHIP & EVENTS
Fully completed forms are required for 2024 membership and event registration.
Memberships and event registrations are not accepted by phone or text.
MEMBERSHIP
Memberships are due each year on January 1, regardless of Clinic attendance. Membership is per individual (not funeral home or company). Emeritus members must complete a membership form annually to continue their membership.
The AGEG logo may only be used by current AGEG members and must be used in a proper manner.
AGEG Members will receive automatically be added to our AGEG News email system. This system is updated annually in April and non-renewals will be removed.
For credit card payments, return your form to the AGEG office. You will be sent an invoice and payment is expected within 10 business days of your invoice being sent.
For Frequently Asked Membership Questions visit HERE.
AGEG EVENTS
Pre-registration is always encouraged and helps us prepare for your attendance. All attendees must register, whether in advance or on-site. Event registration is separate from membership dues.
For discounted Member rates, your membership dues must be current. Pay attention to deadlines and payment instructions, fees increase over time and for on-site registration.
Payment is expected prior to event.
For credit card payments, you will be sent an invoice and payment is expected within 10 business days of your invoice being sent.
Dietary restrictions or needs must be sent with your event registration so arrangements may be made in advance with the venue.
FUNERAL SERVICE RELATED DEATH NOTICES
You may send notices of funeral professionals and their loved ones passing to the AGEG office email or CONTACT US. Outside of normal business hours, after sending the notice by email you may call the AGEG office. Remember to include the relation for loved ones of funeral service professionals. Notices will be shared with our members via email, posted on our public Facebook page, posted in our private Facebook group, included in our annual Memorial Service, and posted on our website HERE.
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