The merger ballot opened on September 24. One day later, per ConnectingDirectors, lawyers for a group of Selected Independent Funeral Homes members asked the District of Columbia Attorney General to halt that vote.
Per the article, published Sept. 25 by Tony Russo, the members "are filing a formal complaint with the Attorney General for the District of Columbia seeking an injunction on the vote until the board conforms to its own rules." The report names no lawyer or firm. No case number has surfaced, and no record of the complaint appears on the DC Attorney General's website as of Sept. 28. The office's newsroom, its press-release pages and its site search return nothing on Selected, NFDA or the merger.
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The path into that office is visible in the deal papers. The letter of intent's preamble identifies Selected as a District of Columbia nonprofit corporation, and the DC Office of the Attorney General, led by Brian L. Schwalb, takes reports of nonprofit violations through a dedicated portal.
The complaint escalates a legal campaign that began with a demand letter dated September 14. Obitley reported that the letter gives Selected until October 2 to release its own financial records. Per ConnectingDirectors, the board has met exactly one demand since: it released the letter of intent on Sept. 25, after lawyers for the member group pushed for it. The outlet reports the board "ignored the other requests including describing what would happen to all the member's personal and business information kept by Selected." Russo wrote that the board "would rather fight its members in court than reveal the details of the deal they're asking them to vote on."
WHAT THE LETTER ACTUALLY SAYS
The document the board did release is now the primary text in the dispute. Section I describes NFDA acquiring Selected's programs, activities and assets, "following which Selected will dissolve as a corporate entity." That clause sits inside a section the letter itself designates as one of the "Non-Binding Provisions," covering Sections I, IV, V and VIII, which "are not intended to create or constitute any legally binding obligation."
Section V carries the language that reaches every program members use. "NFDA shall have ultimate and sole discretion in all matters related to adoption and utilization of the assets acquired from Selected," the letter reads, in exactly that word order. A "Selected Executive Counsel" of current Selected board members will provide recommendations to the NFDA board, which the letter says "will consider the recommendations."
Two member-facing promises come with time limits. Selected's programs "will continue without material change for at least one year after the Closing," and changes proposed during that year "would be subject to discussion and mutual approval by the Parties." The guarantee covers only programs and services "as agreed to in the Definitive Agreement," a document that does not yet exist. On governance, the letter creates "two new voting NFDA Board of Directors positions" filled across terms in 2027-28 and 2029-30, named the "SEC Board Seats." After the 2029-30 terms, the seats are gone.
By the Numbers
THE DATA QUESTION
One of the ignored demands was the member data question. Members asked the board to describe what would happen to their personal and business information kept by Selected. Section V of the letter of intent gives NFDA "ultimate and sole discretion" over the "adoption and utilization of the assets acquired from Selected." If member records are among those assets, NFDA alone decides how they are used. The board has not said whether they are, and the question is 14 days old with the vote now open.
WHAT COMES NEXT
The vote runs on two rulebooks, as Obitley has reported. NFDA's bylaws change needs two-thirds of members voting under Article XIII, and its ballot closes October 7 at 4 p.m. CT. Selected's ballot closes October 8, and its CEO, Rob Paterkiewicz, told Obitley on Sept. 9 that dissolving the association takes a simple majority. Selected's 2023 Form 990 shows $2.55 million in revenue against $2.47 million in expenses.
The demand letter's October 2 deadline arrives before either ballot closes. If the board treats it the way it treated the other requests, members will finish voting without seeing the association's books and without an answer on their data. As of Sept. 28, the only public trace of the complaint that could halt the whole vote is a single article on ConnectingDirectors.
*Sources: ConnectingDirectors, "Headed to Court? Selected Board Faces AG Complaint Over NFDA Merger Details" (Tony Russo, Sept. 25, 2026); Selected-NFDA Letter of Intent PDF (effective July 15, 2026, released September 2026); NFDA bylaws voting notice (September 2026); DC Office of the Attorney General website review (Sept. 28, 2026); Obitley prior reporting ("selected-loi-released-shutter-clause," "selected-opposition-plan-before-vote," "selected-ceo-simple-majority-revelation," "nfda-bylaws-vote-double-standard").*
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