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Plot Ownership

BirrDude

Hey guys,

I was wondering does anyone know the legal stance on plot ownership in Irish cemeteries?

My friend's husband died last year, and she paid for the plot. As far as she understood it, she was going to be the only other person buried in the plot (no children in the family). Her husband's father became seriously ill recently, though, and my friend became worried that should he die, he could be buried alongside his son, even though the plot is hers. She doesn't want him to be buried there, as they never really got on, etc, and when she went to inquire at the local council offices, the people there didn't seem to have any information on the subject, stating that should should the father die, he could possibly be buried there.

There didn't seem to be any policy or procedure in place.... Does anyone have any information on the matter? I've tried to look it up but can't seem to find any reasonable answers.

Apologies for the morbid topic

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seamus

Depends on each cemetery. They're permitted to bury up to four people per plot, but I imagine that's contingent on the ownership arrangements.

If she owns the plot I can't see how his father could be buried there - control of the plot is entirely up to her. But check with the cemetery itself.

BirrDude

Thanks Seamus, that's what I thought. I shall pass on your advice. Cheers!

NUTLEY BOY

I don't know the answer to your question but it is a problem that we nearly faced a few years ago.

Here is how we reasoned it.

My mother bought a plot in a cemetery (you could back then without a body to inter).
My mother paid for the grave. The receipt and the "title document" issued by the cemetery were in her name only.
My father died and was interred in that grave.
My mother died subsequently and was buried in the same grave.

Under her will all of us children received specific bequests but the grave was not one of them. Additionally, the residue of her estate was shared equally between us. We reasoned that the grave was part of the residue and effectively owned by us all on a joint and equal basis. Therefore, we would decide jointly who gets in there next as, like the 46A, there is still plenty of room on top.

Therefore, I don't think that the father-in- law's executors have any rights to seek his interment in that grave as of right. He seems to have no legal right of any kind in relation to the title or ownership of the plot. I suspect that he has as much right to be buried in that grave as a complete stranger does.

The only exotic exception to the above might be if there was a specific bequest to allow a particular person to be buried in that grave. However, that authority would have to come from the wife's will - as she is the owner - and it would probably only become "live" after she died.

I only mention this point because we were researching family histories recently and discovered that there are several generations of related antecedents and relatives buried together, in Glasnevin cemetery, in the same grave. If they were alive it would probably be a great party.

That said it might be no harm to check with the cemetery as to exactly what rules or regulations that they might have - just to be sure that there is no conflict with approach that we took.

seamus

NUTLEY BOY wrote: »

The only exotic exception to the above might be if there was a specific bequest to allow a particular person to be buried in that grave. However, that authority would have to come from the wife's will - as she is the owner - and it would probably only become "live" after she died.

My understanding is that posthumous requests are not at all legally binding. The primary example is a person's body - no matter how many documents you sign authorising organ donation or donation to science, when you die, ownership of your corpse passes to your family who have absolute authority over whether or not to donate.

I imagine the same applies to a burial plot. That is, the deceased's will be dictate who takes possession of the plot, but cannot dictate what the new owner does with it.

Edit:
Or the urban legend of the rural farmer who dies with half a million in a secret bank account and declares in his will that he wants it buried with him. His wife, now the legal owner of the money, but also not wishing to defy her husband's wishes, just writes him a cheque for it.