50 Years Later: What Happens To A Grave Nobody Claimed

Transcript

You could own this empty grave. The cemetery hasn't heard from your family in 50 years. Most families think a grave is theirs forever. Some states let the cemetery sell it again. Can you still get it back?

In Arizona, the clock runs on one thing, the home address the cemetery has for the name on the deed. When that address stays out of date for 50 years in a row, state law presumes the plot is abandoned. That only applies to a plot that's still unused and only when certified mail can't reach the owner. In a moment, I'll show you what that law owes your family if the plot's already been sold. Families usually get on this clock without knowing it.

Let me tell you about Ruth. Her father bought a plot in a Tucson cemetery when Ruth was a girl and then the family moved to Phoenix. Nobody ever sent the cemetery a new address. He died without a will and he'd never told anyone about the plot. He was buried in Phoenix, so the Tucson grave stayed empty.

Who owns a grave like that now? State law picks the heirs when there's no will. In Arizona, when there's no spouse, what the person owned goes to the children. Ruth's mother died years before and Ruth is an only child. That made Ruth the owner of a grave she'd never seen.

The trouble sits in the cemetery's records. They still showed her father's name and an address from the 1970s. As far as the cemetery knew, nobody had spoken for that plot in close to 50 years. Ruth found the deed in his desk a few months after the funeral and her clock was nearly out. Subscribe and I'll keep showing you the cemetery rules your family has a right to know.

The first step is to find the deed and read the name on it. Families keep these in desks, safes, and old shoe boxes. Write down the section, row, and plot number too, since you'll need them soon. Ruth's deed still had her father's name on it. That told her the cemetery had no living owner it could reach.

The second step is to learn the warning signs, because Arizona makes a cemetery give notice before it resells anything. The rule covers cemeteries the state licenses, so ask the cemetery office if yours is one. It starts with a letter to the owner's last known address. Next, the cemetery files a certified notice with the state. That notice has to name the last owner or the heirs it knows about if the owner has died.

Then it runs a notice in a county newspaper once a week, twice in a row. After the last one prints, the cemetery has to wait 120 days. If nobody sends the current owner's address in that time, the cemetery gets the right to resell the plot. The third step is the one that stops the clock. Arizona law says the owner has to keep the cemetery informed in writing of a current home address.

With her clock near the hour, Ruth didn't wait. She wrote a short letter with her name, her address, her father's name, and the plot number. She sent it by certified mail, so she'd have proof it arrived. That letter gave the cemetery what the law asks for, a current address for the owner. The same law also leaves a plot alone when any kind of marker sits on it.

The fourth step is to move the plot into your name. When there's no will, the cemetery will usually ask for the death certificate and proof that you're the heir. Most cemeteries also have their own transfer form. Once the cemetery has everything, a transfer takes 3 to 10 business days. Ruth's plot now shows a living owner with a working address.

You now know the clock, the notice, and the letter that stops it. Would you have caught a notice in a paper from a county you left years ago? Plenty of families would miss it. So, here's the worst case and the answer to the question from the start. The notice ran, nobody answered, and the cemetery sold the plot to someone else.

Can your family still get a grave back? Arizona law says it can. Heirs who show proof of ownership can come back at any time. They can get an equal plot in that same cemetery at no extra charge. If they'd rather not have a plot, they can get back the amount first paid for it.

The law even makes the cemetery set aside space for this, equal to 10% of the reclaimed plots it sells. That exact spot may already hold someone else. So, which choice is worth more? In one section of the city cemetery in Mesa, Arizona, a single grave with a flat marker is listed at $2,625. A plot bought 50 years ago likely cost far less than that.

The cash choice pays back that old price. The plot choice gives your family a grave at today's value. Ruth's plot never reached that point, so her choice was different. Her father rests in Phoenix, and she has no plan to use a grave in Tucson. Uh before she set a price, she wanted to see what plots like hers were really selling for.

Every Tuesday we send one short email with the numbers we saw that week, what sold, and what didn't. You can join it at eturnalrest.com. Ruth listed the plot, and a listing takes one business day. A first inquiry lands in 7 to 10 days. The first thing to remember is the clock.

In Arizona, an unused plot can be presumed abandoned after 50 years with no current address for the owner. The second thing is the warning. The cemetery has to send a letter, file with the state, run a newspaper notice twice, and then wait 120 days. The third thing is your way out. One letter with your current address sent by certified mail stops it.

If the plot's already sold, heirs can still claim an equal plot at no extra charge. Before I go, here is this week's featured listing. It is two grave spaces at Crestlawn Memorial Gardens in Marriottsville, Maryland. It is listed at $10,500 and showing is available today. The seller can walk you through the exact location.

You'll find it on eturnalrest.com. Search Crestlawn Memorial Gardens. This is general information. For your own family situation, talk to an estate attorney in your state. If you're holding a deed to a plot you've never seen, you'll want to know what plots like it sell for.

That's what the Tuesday email is for. Every Tuesday, we send one short email with the numbers we saw that week, what sold, and what didn't. You can join it at eturnalrest.com. If this helps, subscribe so you'll hear the next cemetery rule before it costs your family anything. Does your family have a plot somewhere with an old address still on file?

Next, watch how to sell an inherited cemetery plot step-by-step.