Full Answer
Most states have established rigorous laws that specifically apply to cemeteries. Private interests in the place of burial are subject to the control of public authorities, which have the right to require the disinterment of bodies if deemed necessary.
If the cemetery plot is purchased by two or more owners as joint tenants, each joint tenant has a vested right of internment. Subsequent owners take subject to vested rights of internment. Thus, even if a married owner sells the cemetery plot, the new owner takes subject to the spouse’s vested right of internment.
Funeral home and cemetery negligence are appalling acts that are frequently more common across the United States. The deceased have no way to protect or defend their bodies and dignity from physical abuse and/or desecration. Families that want to honor the memory of their loved ones feel defenseless against these horrific acts.
Title to a cemetery plot is either in the form of a deed to real property or a certificate of ownership issued by the cemetery. In California, the owner and also the owner’s spouse each have a vested right of internment if when they were married there were at least two available internment spaces.
Can you negotiate a cemetery plot price? Technically, you can try to negotiate for a better price on a cemetery plot. After all, cemetery plots are just another piece of real estate, subject to the whims of the market.
City or county authorities have the authority to establish and regulate burial grounds. (California Health & Safety Code § 8115.)
Like other deeded property, cemetery plots can be considered an asset to the owner. The owner can legally sell or otherwise transfer the property, including transfer by inheritance.
If the deceased owner did not specifically devise (gift) the family plot in his or her will to someone and did not transfer the family plot to the cemetery in order to make the family plot inalienable, the deceased owner's heirs (often a surviving spouse and/or surviving children) inherit the plot.
Memorials. The person named on a Deed as owner of Exclusive Right of Burial in a grave also has the right to have a memorial erected on that grave. Responsibility for any memorial erected on a grave lies with the person named on the Deed pertaining to it.
If a family cannot agree on a loved one's funeral arrangements, the dispute may need to go to Court. The Court will also consider the reasonable requirements and wishes of close family members and the location with which the deceased had the closest connection.
A. Policy — the exclusion A burial space or agreement which represents the purchase of a burial space held for the burial of the individual, his or her spouse, or any other member of his or her immediate family is an excluded resource, regardless of value.
Baron says cemetery real estate is a really good investment. Demand is steady, and supply is always decreasing. After all, once people move into a cemetery they don't leave. So even in less expensive cities grave plots start at around $1,500.
memorial; monument. Graveyard - An area set aside for burial of the dead; a common burying ground of a church or community.
This is usually after several decades and depends on the cemetery. Think of it like a lease - the lease on the plot may run out in 20 years, in which case they may offer the opportunity to renew the lease.
Only the person named on the Deed of Grant to a cemetery plot is entitled to put a headstone on a grave, provided that the cemetery allows it. If you do not own the Deed of Grant and place a grave marker on the site, the Registered Grave Owner is legally entitled to remove it or have it removed.
Is the burial plot in a cemetery? If so the cemetery office or the local council should be able to tell you who owns the plot. Dependent on when the plot was first opened (ie first burial if more than one person in the grave) ownership may have reverted to the local council.
Individual civil lawsuits, A class action lawsuit, or. A fraud/bad faith claim. Through a civil lawsuit, you and your attorney charge these facilities with malpractice or negligence in the performance of their burial duties.
When a mortuary or funeral home breaches your trust, and fails to perform their duties properly, a legal cause of action may be the right choice. In some cases, it’s possible to sue multiple parties – the funeral home, the cemetery, and the individuals directly responsible for the errors.
They were responsible for treating the deceased in an honest and respectful manner, and they failed to do so. They breached their duty. The funeral home breached their legal obligation to avoid harming your loved one. Their breach directly resulted in harm.
If your loved one was neglected or abused by a funeral home, you may be eligible to recover compensation for: 1 Emotional distress 2 Loss of life’s enjoyment 3 Funeral expenses 4 Other damages
Other damages. Damages in these cases can vary greatly. For example, if you paid for a more expensive casket, and the funeral home buried your loved one in a cheaper casket, you might be owed the difference in price between the two, plus damages for emotional distress.
Funeral Home Negligence. After the death of a loved one, one of the best ways to honor their memory is to ensure they have a respectful burial or cremation. As a result, most people turn to funeral homes, in which they place an enormous amount of trust.
If your loved one was neglected, abused, or exploited by a funeral home, and you would like to hold the funeral home accountable, you might be wondering how to go about doing so. “Negligence” is the legal term for liability or responsibility in an accident.
The funeral home was responsible for the abuse or mishap, making them legally liable. There were losses suffered as a result. The funeral home’s actions injured the deceased (physically) and/or you and your family (emotionally or financially).
Thankfully, by filing a personal injury lawsuit, victims can hold funeral homes accountable for their negligence. If your loved one was neglected or abused by a funeral home, you may be able to recover significant financial compensation.
As owner, the living family member can deal with issues related to the care and maintenance of the family plot and other issues where the cemetery needs to involve an owner. That way the interred family members can hopefully rest in peace.
If the cemetery plot is purchased by two or more owners as joint tenants, each joint tenant has a vested right of internment. Subsequent owners take subject to vested rights of internment. Thus, even if a married owner sells the cemetery plot, the new owner takes subject to the spouse’s vested right of internment.
Exceptions exist if the owner’s spouse also joined in or consented to the sale, waived his or her internment right, was divested of the right in a divorce decree from the owner of the family plot, or if the spouse died and is buried elsewhere.
Prior to 2002, if the remains of the deceased owner or his or her family were buried in a family cemetery plot and additional internment spaces remained unoccupied then the entire family plot became inalienable after the owner died.
Although parents and children do not have vested right, unlike the owner and the owner’s surviving spouse, they may be interred based on their order of death and subject to availability of internment spaces. If no parent or child survives, the right of interment goes in the order of death first, to the spouse of any child ...
When multiple persons own a family plot – either joint purchasers or as the heirs of the original owner – they should collectively designate one person as their plot representative. Otherwise, the cemetery could inter a person at the request of any owner without consultation with the other owners .
Any surviving family member (s) who became the owner (s) of the family plot could neither transfer nor sell the inherited plot. The California Legislature considered this automatic restraint on alienation –absent of any expressed intent by the deceased owner – outdated law.
The Basic Laws Pertaining to Cemeteries. Americans have a hard time dealing with dying and death and often only deal with estate planning, elder care planning and selection of funeral arrangements when they have no choice, e.g. when death is imminent or already has occurred. The result can be both frustrating and expensive as people are required ...
Some additional reasons for exercising the police power regarding the regulation of cemetery locations are: the public welfare in general. whether the establishment of a cemetery might disarrange the location of streets and highways and adversely affect civic enterprise. the prosperity of the community.
When the use is terminated and the cemetery abandoned, there is a reverter to the original donors or their legal representatives, free of such use . This rule applies to both statutory and common-law dedications.
Cemeteries can be the place where the final ceremonies of death are observed. These ceremonies or rites differ according to cultural practice and religious belief. The establishment of a cemetery involves the process of formally designating a tract of land for use for the burial of the dead.
A state may regulate the location of cemeteries through the exercise of its police power by statute directly regulating the location of cemeteries. In California, see Laurel Hill Cemetery v. San Francisco, 216 U.S. 358 (U.S. 1910).
Definitions: A cemetery is a place where dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. It is a locale set aside, either by governmental authority or private enterprise. A public cemetery is open for use by the community at large while a private cemetery is used only by a small segment of a community or by a family.
Occasionally, scandalous information comes out as to failure to bury the right person in the right plot or, even worse, selling the same plot over and over, the bodies literally piled upon each other.