Jon, you need to discuss this with a knowledgeable Indiana attorney but I
strongly suspect that "buying a cemetery plot" under Indiana law is not an
actual purchase of real estate but rather it is a contract for the
acquisition of the RIGHT TO BE BURIED in that plot.
I believe the law treats the "purchase" of a burial plot more akin to a
bailment contract. (Bailment = "The temporary placement of control over, or
possession of Personal Property by one person, the bailor, into the hands of
another, the bailee, for a designated purpose upon which the parties have
agreed." See
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/bailment for
further explanation.)
Lois
----- Original Message -----
From: "jon andrews" <sianoil(a)hotmail.com>
To: "cemetery list" <inpcrp(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2011 10:25 AM
Subject: Re: [INPCRP] disposition of unused burial spaces
While this is the current law in Indiana, I have no doubt in my mind that
this law could and will be tested in court. It violates every aspect of the
right to own property. First off, the short period of fifty years is
absolutely ridiculous when you are talking about ownership of property and
that is what a cemetery deed conveys. You could, in essence, buy plots and
bury a family member (wife, child) at 20 - 30 years old, move, retire to
California and find at age 75 or more that you can't be buried next to them
at your death. Totally absurd! There is under the current law no remedy to
protect your rights in the property such as filing a statement of claim or
by paying taxes on your plot because none are generally assessed, so there
is no way for the cemetery association, trustee whatever to properly
identify who owns the plot or even if the person who bought it originally is
even still alive or where he lives. It's a situation that for the price of a
cemetery lot would not ! justify the cost of defending the decision in the
end. It will come back to haunt somebody. For way too long, ownership of
cemetery plots has been way overlooked by legislation and non-regulated in a
lot of respects. This law is an easy way for the stste to clean up a problem
in favor of lobby groups who want to sweep everything in the past under the
rug with one big swoop! It won't work for long, as it hasn't in other
instances. What then?