2 Documents Decide Who Gets Buried In Your Family's Plot

Transcript

Is on your family's cemetery certificate. Most families think that one paper decides who gets buried in the plot. The cemetery checks two other papers. So on the day of a funeral, will the paper in your hand be enough? The first paper is the cemetery's own ownership record.

The second is a signed transfer form filed in the cemetery office. In a few minutes, I'll show you whether your old certificate is enough using one Texas family. Together, those two papers tell the cemetery who owns the plot today. The certificate in your shoebox shows who bought the plot often a long time ago. Here's why the old paper so often fall short.

Before any burial, the cemetery checks its record and asks the person who holds the rights to sign off. When the person named on your certificate has died, the cemetery needs proof of who holds those rights now. Let me tell you about Ellen. Ellen's father bought four graves in a Texas cemetery decades ago. His name was the only one on the certificate.

Her parents are both buried there now, so two graves are still empty. Ellen wanted to give one of them to her son, so she called the cemetery. She expected a quick yes. The clerk told her the record still listed her father as the owner. Nobody had filed a transfer form since he died.

In the cemetery's book, the plot still belonged to a man who'd been gone for years. The transfer form goes by other names, like a transfer deed or quitclaim. Whatever it's called, it moves the burial rights to a new person, and the cemetery updates its record once it's filed. So the shoebox certificate starts the story, and those two papers finish it. Subscribe, and I'll keep showing you which family papers matter before anyone asks you to sign one.

Here's how to check your own family's paper in four steps. The first step is to ask the cemetery for a copy of its ownership record. Ask for it in writing by email or by mail. Ask who's listed as the owner, which graves are used, and which are still open. Plenty of small cemeteries still keep these records in old paper books, so the answer can take a while.

Once you have the record, you'll know exactly what the cemetery believes. The second step is to lay that record next to your certificate. Check the section, the lot number, the number of graves, and the owner's name. Her father's paper said four graves, and the record agreed. It also showed two graves in use, one for each of her parents.

If anything doesn't match, ask the office to explain it before you sign anything. Sometimes a relative sold or gave away a grave years ago, and the rest of the family never heard. A mismatch you find now is far easier to fix than one you find on the day of a funeral. The third step is to find out who holds the rights today. Start with the owner's will because some wills name the plot.

Ellen's father had a will, and it never mentioned the cemetery. When a will is silent, state law decides where the rights go. Usually, that's the surviving spouse, the children, or both. Texas has a clear rule for Ellen's exact case, and I'll show you how it works in a minute. The fourth step is to fill out the cemetery's transfer form and sign it the way the office asks.

Many cemeteries want each signature notarized. They'll often ask for the owner's death certificate, too. Bring the original certificate, or at least its lot number, and a driver's license. Once it's filed, ask for a new certificate with the new owner's name on it, and keep it in the shoe box with the old one. And if your family decides nobody will use that empty space, you can list it on eturnalrest.com in under 5 minutes.

It's $49 for the year and we never take a commission when it sells. You now know the two papers and the four steps. Whose name would the cemetery read to you if you called today? Here's the Texas rule I promised. Ellen's family plot is in Texas and Texas law even uses the name on her paper.

It says a plot is presumed to belong to the person named on the certificate of ownership. For Ellen, that's her father. When the owner is buried in the plot, Texas law gives two ways to sign over an empty grave. The first is the owner's will or a signed statement he filed with the cemetery naming that grave. The second is a transfer signed by the surviving spouse, if there is one, and the heirs.

Ellen's mother had died, so the heirs were Ellen and her brother. That meant both of them had to sign. Texas law also says a transfer of burial rights must be filed and recorded in the cemetery's office. Here's what it costs in one Texas city. Gainesville, Texas posted city cemetery rules online.

The owner signs a transfer deed in front of a notary and brings the original deed or its number. If the owner has died, the person signing has to show proof that they're an heir. The recording fee is $54 for each change of ownership. Other cemeteries set their own fees. Once the cemetery has every paper it needs, a transfer usually takes 3 to 10 business days.

That brings us back to the paper in your hand. So, is that old certificate enough on the day of a funeral? It proves your family bought the rights and it's the first thing the office will ask to see. The cemetery's record and a signed transfer decide who gets buried there. Ellen and her brother signed and her son's name is now in the cemetery's book.

The first thing to remember is that the cemetery's own record shows who holds the burial rights today. The second is that those rights move when the right people sign a transfer form and the cemetery files it. The third is that a will or your state's law decides who those right people are. So, check both before anyone signs. Before I go, here is this week's featured listing.

It is two grave spaces at Glenhaven Memorial Gardens in New Carlisle, Ohio. It is listed at $6,000 and showing is available today. The seller can walk you through the exact location. You will find it on eturnalrest.com. Search Glenhaven Memorial Gardens.

This is general information. For your own family situation, talk to an estate attorney in your state. And if your family holds a space nobody will use, list it on eturnalrest.com. It takes under 5 minutes. It's $49 for the year and we never take a commission when it sells.

If these plain answers help, subscribe and I'll keep walking you through the papers that come after a death. When you check, does the name in the cemetery's record match the name on your certificate? Next, watch the video on selling an inherited cemetery plot your family will never use.