Notice: None of the commentary in this article is to be viewed or considered as legal advice.

Selling your cemetery lots can be a lot harder than you ever imagined. The success of the sale depends on the laws of your state and the rules of your cemetery and its association. Here is a story base on an actual incident. The names have been changed to protect the living and the reputation of the cemetery mentioned.

Many years ago the Smith family purchased a set of two lots at a cemetery in Ohio. Each of those lots contained three graves. One of those graves was used early in the process to bury an infant son and later, two additional graves were used by Mr. and Mrs. Smith when they died. The cemetery placed the head stone for Mr. and Mr. Smith center in the six lots and spread out the three burials so that both lots had been partially used.

Some twenty five years after Mr. Smith was buried, the son who was executor of the estate decided to "give" the remaining lots to one of his nephews, a grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. So, he sent this nephew the deed to the lots and told him to do whatever he wished with the lots. Both Mr. Smith the executor and the nephew assumed two things.

1. That the family members had been buried in the left lot and the entire right lot was still open.
2. That there would be no problem transferring the remaining lots to the nephew/grandson.

So, the grandson went to Ohio one day, deed in hand expecting to find out that transferring the remaining lots would not be a problem. At the cemetery, he was told that all he had to do was get a letter from the Uncle who was executor and the transfer would NOT be a major problem. This sounded reasonable to the grandson so he left assuming the problem was solved.

A quick letter to the uncle produced the needed paper but with timing and such things, it was several months before the grandson was able to go back to Ohio. In order to facilitate things as quickly as possible, the grandson called the cemetery as it was a 4 hour trip.

Here is where things went very wrong.

The manager of the cemetery that answered the phone, informed the grandson that he had been totally misinformed. He would have to get letters from both surviving children of Mr. and Mrs. Smith and then possibly the children of the non-surviving heirs.

As this was totally different than he had been originally told, the grandson asked for the name of the cemetery attorney and placed a call to him.

Several hours later the grandson spoke to the attorney......

Both heirs would have to sign off on the transfer.

The lots were not together and therefore if any of them were sold, the stone would have to be moved at a cost of about $1500.

The lots may be 1/2 inch short of the new Ohio law and therefore could not be sold as Adult lots unless they were measured before the sale.

When the lost were originally sold, vaults were not required. So they were dug to 88" Modern vaults may not fit, so the lots could only be sold as children's plots or cremation plots if they were too short.

On top of all this, if any of the children of the deceased heirs of Mr. and Mrs. Smith protested the sale, they could stop things cold.

So the lots remain in limbo. When the two remaining heirs of Mr. and Mrs. Smith die, over 40 people have to sign off before any one person can use the lots for burial.

Situations like this happen all over the United States. The lawyer for this cemetery told the grandson that they have dozens of grave sites where things are in limbo for one reason or another.

If you are going to purchase cemetery lots, make sure you know the rules of that cemetery and the laws of your state. In many states, you are only buying the right to be buried, not the actual land.

If you want the ownership of burial plots to be transferred to someone specifically, make sure that this is in their deed or in your will. Otherwise, they remain the property of all surviving heirs in many states. Check with your attorney about the conveyance of the lots, just like any other piece of your property. Otherwise, your investment may be lost in a shuffle between rules and laws that your heirs have very little control over.