Cemeteries

Purpose

Cemetery

• Not a “nuisance per se”• Grave vs. Plot vs. Lot vs. Section

(FS Merchandising Glossary)• 30-40 square feet• Multiple-depth• Depth requirements in NJ:– 26:6.36– Does not apply to “properly” constructed private

vaults

Establishment of Cemeteries

• Public: “power of eminent domain”

• Private: religious orders family plots

Regulation of Cemeteries

• “police power”

• interest of public welfare is paramount

Right to Bury

• not real estate• subject to cemetery rules and regulations and

statutes• religious societies may impose special

restrictions• racial discrimination is not permitted

(Civil Rights Act)

Sale and Encumbrance

• lot is inalienable• subject to the cemetery’s rules and

regulations• death of owner results in transfer of title to

heirs• may devise a cemetery lot by Will and

Testament if no burials

Markers, Monuments, and Vaults

• personal property

• owners are entitled to protection from desecration

• regulated by the cemetery

Visitation in Cemeteries

• owner has a right to visit

• family/friends have free access

• cemetery must maintain ingress and egress

• FD has a right due to contractual obligation to the family

Criminal Offenses

• Most states make it a crime to desecrate a grave.

NJ Cemetery Law

• Title 8A• Can be owned/operated by:– VA– Government– Religious Organizations– Cemetery Organization

• Cemeteries are tax-exempt• Cemetery Board is part of the Division of

Consumer Affairs

Exclusive Rights

• open and fill graves• furnish equipment necessary for interment• install flush memorials• install foundations for markers• set/seal vaults, crypts and niches• prevent unauthorized interment• regulate conduct of visitors

Cemeteries cannot:

• manufacture and sell monuments• manufacture and sell burial vaults• practice mortuary science

• Cemeteries must have a maintenance and preservation fund of $50,000.

Disinterment (Exhumation)

• “the removal of a human corpse previously buried in the earth”

• May be authorized for 2 reasons:– public interest– private interest

• Factors used by court to determine reasonable cause:

NJ Law for Disinterment

• 7 signatures required:• Applicant• surviving spouse and children• owner of interment space• cemetery representative• funeral director• registrar/health official issuing permit• cemetery/crematory representative where body

is being reinterred

Distribution of Permit

• 4 copies:WhiteCanary (yellow)PinkGoldenrod

NJ Statutes

• 26:6-37• 26:6-38• NJ Administrative Code:• 13:44J-8.1 (multiple-depth grave)• 13:44J-8.2 (additional interment)• 13:44J-8.3 (photograph a disinterment)• 13:44J-8.4 (temporary storage)