Burial Plot

[Spikey1]

if someone owns & burial plot dies, who then owns the plot? & can it be signed over to someone else without the new owners permission?

[whistonian]

Really don't understand your question,I have paid for my funeral in advance and also bought a plot,i I have done this so that if I before my wife this will not be a financial burden on her.Eventually of course we shall be together.The plot always remains our family property.

[vakayu]

I don't understand either surely if this person has died the plot will have been used?

[hc4361]

whistonian, are you sure about that? Most plots have a lease of a fixed number of years after which it is re-used. Some graves have a 25 year right of exclusive burial.

[Spikey1]

are either of you Whishtonian or vakayu solicitors? if not then you won't understand my question & maybe you should look further into the ownership issue !!

[vakayu]

I find your reply rather abrupt Spikey,but I can only tell you from a Scottish point of view,which I understand is different in England(not knowing where you are of course)a burial plot here is for use of person or family of owner in perpetuity.

[hc4361]

Spikey, if you're in the UK you don't own the burial plot. You buy an exclusive right of burial for a fixed number of years, usually between 25 and 75 years. This can sometimes be renewed by a relative.

If I were to buy a plot for me for, say, 50 years even if there is nobody to tend my grave I will lie there undisturbed for 50 years. (Unless there is a compulsory purchase of the land for a new railway, as an example)

At the end of the 50 years the rights of burial can be sold again and my remains would be moved, or my remains may stay in situ and another body buried on top.
Good site here:
http://www.exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4680

[Peter Pedant]

well actually I know the answer to that one.

Old Peter Pedant b 1786 d 1869 was buried in a plot he bought
five places, and the plot passed with the residual beneficiary
( the heir in the will who gets 'the rest' unless of course it is specifically devised to someone else )

and the beneficiary in this case wasnt a Pedant but was a Smith.
Hmmmm

[Peter Pedant]

oops sorry it looks as tho the law has changed since he bought in erm 1850.

[corylus]

My parents bought a burial plot in their local cemetery several years ago, and are now both buried in that grave and as their only heir that plot of land (and maintenance) belongs to me and I have a document to prove this.

[hc4361]

Where are you, corylus? The plot of land usually stays in the ownership of the church or local authority and what is purchased is the exclusive right of burial.

[Spikey1]

Vakayu my apoligies it wasn't meant in an abrupt way

[vakayu]

That's ok Spikey,I probably misunderstood your reply,you certainly have stirred up a few abers anyway and may get the answer you hope for.Good luck.

[tamborine]

Next of kin claim it; show Will to cemetary secretary.

[Mamyalynne]

Just looked at my deeds - I purchased (the rights to) a double plot when my Husband died in 2008 - it states a 99 year lease for right for myself or my heirs to be buried there.

[ummmm]

Same as ours Mamy.

[mazie]

(can't believe it's 6 years Mamya xxxx)

Sorry for the hijack Spikey

[scorpiojo]

Just looked at mine (cremation plot) and I have the option to renew after 30 years.

[Mamyalynne]

I know Mazie in August - Ummmm ((hug)).

[boxtops]

We've bought a plot in Scotland, I don't remember it saying anything about a fixed term, I believe it in perpetuity but only the two of us will fit into it.

[factor-fiction]

I'm still not sure I understand this- instead of "if someone owns & burial plot dies"did you mean to ask "If someone owns a burial plot and dies". If so, who was the plot for - presumably not for the deceased?