burial plot

rexel

in my family plot my mother and father are buried. my sister wants to be buried here too with her husband. i have no objections, but some off the rest of family may object. what is the best course of action here. who has the rites over the family grave.

mountainofdebt

I 'think' it boils down to the church authority if church ground or the LA if a council cemetary.

One thing to bear in mind is how many people can be burried in a plot?

I know there was a case recently where a widow had received permission to have the space next to where her husband had been buried 'reserved' for her but due to a mix up a young lad who had been murdered was buried in the spot. The two families then had to go to court to see what would happen as the widow would have been unable to have been buried in the same plot as her late husband due to the level of the water table. It was quite a sad story really as one of the families was going to be upset at whatever outcome was decided.

peachyprice

Burial plots are treated the same as property when a person dies. When your mother/father died the rights should have been passed to the next person to be buried there as part of their estate. If you check with the cemetary office they will be able to tell you who's name the rights are in now and how many burials are allowed in the plot.

If the rights have been passed to your sister she would then have to put in her will that after her death the rights pass to her husband. As it would form part of her will there's not alot other family members could do.

If the rights are not in your sister's name she would have to get permission from whoever's name they are in to have them put into hers. Again the office at the cemetery will assist with this, they're usually pretty helpful.

If there isn't enough room for another burial it is possible to have the plot turned into one where you can have ashed interned, and would them be able to get alot more family members in when passed down.

HTH

*Louise*

Who has the deeds certificate for the plot?

When we bought one we got a certificate stating ownership of the plot (it's in my husband's name) and it cal be in the will as part of his estate if he or I decide not to use it (he has since decided cremation would be better)


Your sister might also want to check how many people can be buried there. Here, it's only three per plot.

*Louise*

mountainofdebt wrote: »

I know there was a case recently where a widow had received permission to have the space next to where her husband had been buried 'reserved' for her but due to a mix up a young lad who had been murdered was buried in the spot. The two families then had to go to court to see what would happen as the widow would have been unable to have been buried in the same plot as her late husband due to the level of the water table. It was quite a sad story really as one of the families was going to be upset at whatever outcome was decided.

What was the outcome????

dollydoodah

Out of interest, how much does it cost to buy a burial plot?

mountainofdebt

*Louise* wrote: »

What was the outcome????

Apparently the court ordered the exhumation of the murder victim so that the widow could be eventually buried next to her late husband.

Quite sad as it was obviously not a win-win situation

iolanthe07

Out of interest, how much does it cost to buy a burial plot?



It varies a lot. I know of one cemetery where a plot costs £3000, but this is privately owned and run and much sought after! Most local authorities charge a few hundred pounds rather than thousands, though where the address of the decased was outside tha area covered by the authority the cost is usually doubled. In churchyards it is around £250, plus the cost of digging the grave.

TeetersOnHeels

My paternal grandparents are buried in the same plot, as is my paternal aunt, and her son, my cousin - all of whom died before I was born - the last one around 1965.
When my dad died in 2008, as there were so many other people in there already, he was cremated and his ashes placed in the grave. My mum also intends to do the same (have her ashes put in the grave with my dads). this has not impressed my only living relative on that side of the family..another cousin, she is of the opinion that as my mum is not a blood relative she has no say about the grave.
But, as has been previously pointed out the paperwork was passed to my dad when his parents died, and then onto my mum in his will.
And as she is the one tending the grave while my cousin does nothing- and has no intention of using the grave herself, I really think she's making a mountain out of a molehill.

Anjiedee

Normally, when ever who owns the deeds to the grave dies, the legal owner should be the next of kin of the deceased registered owner.
But bear in mind that a grave only normally holds 2 or 3 people at the most. Athough if a grave is full you can normally have 3 lots of ashes interred in that grave as well.
This information is only for local authority burials, private churchyards are very different.

sueeve

In a church graveyard you can apply for a faculty, (paying) and reserve a second plot next to the first, if there is a suitable space. Graves are usually dug double depth but not more. A couple of small caskets of ashes can be tucked in but not usually more. It is up to the vicar who has the rigt to be buried there if people do not live in the parish. Again that depends on circumstances. Some church graveyards are getting very full, and things can be a bit sensitive. If the plot is a church plot have a talk with the vicar. If council gravyard I don't know much about them.