My first question would be, who owns the cemetery? The funeral home in
Greene County would need to determine who owns the cemetery to obtain
written permission to sell lots in the cemetery:
IC 23-14-36-2
Requirements for transfer or assignment of burial rights
Sec. 2. Burial rights sold or granted under section 1 of this chapter shall
not be transferred or assigned without the written consent of the owner of
the cemetery.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.10.
My second question would be, does a plat of the cemetery exist? The
second thing funeral home in Greene County would need to do is find the
original plat of the cemetery, or have a new plat made:
IC 23-14-35
Chapter 35. Requirements Applying to Cemetery Plats
IC 23-14-35-1
Lost or destroyed plats
Sec. 1. If:
(1) the original plat of a cemetery; or
(2) the plat of an addition to a cemetery;
has been lost or destroyed, the cemetery owner required to record the plat
shall have a new plat made by a competent engineer to correspond in every
way to the original plat.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.9.
That is almost impossible in an old cemetery. It is difficult enough to
determine where to re-set fallen stones, almost impossible to determine
where stones that have been moved or piled up went. Exact measurements are
impossible to determine in an old cemetery:
IC 23-14-35-2
Replacement plats
Sec. 2. A replacement plat made under section 1 of this chapter must designate:
(1) the exact location, length, and width of all vehicle drives, paths,
walks, sections and lots; and
(2) the number of each lot in the cemetery.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.9.
My third question would be, how do they determine who the previous owner of
the lots was? They would need to determine who originally owned the lots
in order to re-sell them, and only an original plat or recorded deeds will
tell them that information:
IC 23-14-33-26
"Lot owner", "lot holder", "plot owner", "plot
holder", "burial right
owner", "burial right holder", "burial space owner", or
"burial space holder"
Sec. 26. "Lot owner", "lot holder", "plot owner", "plot
holder", "burial
right owner", "burial right holder", "burial space owner", or
"burial space
holder" means a person:
(1) under whose name a burial space is listed; or
(2) who is identified as the owner or holder of a burial space;
in the records of the office of the cemetery owner.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.7.
And if it can be determined that it is a family burial plot, they need an
affidavit to use any unoccupied portions:
IC 23-14-41-6
Affidavit permitting use of family burial plot
Sec. 6. An affidavit that sets forth:
(1) the fact of the death of the record owner of the burial rights in a
family burial plot; and
(2) the name of the individual or individuals who are entitled to use the
family burial plot in accordance with this chapter;
is complete authority to the cemetery to permit the use of the unoccupied
portions of the family burial plot by the individual or individuals who are
shown by the affidavit to be entitled to use the family burial plot.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.15.
And, don't forget, they need permission of the cemetery owner to do that:
IC 23-14-36-2
Requirements for transfer or assignment of burial rights
Sec. 2. Burial rights sold or granted under section 1 of this chapter shall
not be transferred or assigned without the written consent of the owner of
the cemetery.
As added by P.L.52-1997, SEC.10.
So the short answer is, they need to determine who the original lot owner
was and if anyone is buried there before they can do anything. They need
to determine if it was a family plot to determine the disposition of any
empty graves in that plot. If there is no plat that shows who the
original lot owners were, and the "owner of the Cemetery" does not grant
permission, it is not lawful to bury anyone in an old pioneer cemetery.
At 10:20 AM 11/22/2004 -0500, you wrote:
We were wondering the same thing.