# What is a private cemetary's business model? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562 "2005-08-11T06:44:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/21 "2005-08-11T16:52:26Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > What they do with the remains of the old tenant I don’t know, and frankly I don’t want to know, but I suspect that the few bones that are left are brought to some mass grave. There is another common solution. The 25 years are a rule of thumb for the time needed until there is hardly anything left of a body (That’s why the period is shorter for young children on some cemetaries) Non-rotting coffins or any measures that slow the decomposition of the body are usually prohibited. When the time is up, they will excavate the grave, collect what is left, dig a little deeper and place the remains in the ground below the new coffin. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/22 "2005-08-11T17:00:10Z")
> [@Hail Ants](#): > > How do they even meet operating costs let alone turn a profit thru one-time-only sales of plots which are then expected to be maintained, well, forever? What happens when they enivitably run out of space for new graves? Sales and maintence are separate entities. Much like the reporters on a newspaper are separate from the guys who print it. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/23 "2005-08-11T17:04:26Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What happens after the 25 years? Are the remains exhumed and reinterred in a massed plot or something? If they are forgetton by their relatives, they become a Walmart, but most times they are maintained by a trust paid for when you bought a plot. If funds run out, usually the local muni or state by default gets it. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/24 "2005-08-11T19:05:25Z")
In New Orleans, the general tenure, at least for the more popular cemeteries, is [a year and a day](http://groups.msn.com/LafayetteCemeteryNewOrleansLA/origins.msnw). I wasn’t sure if this was an urban legend or not, but it’s true according to the site. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/25 "2005-08-11T20:05:39Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > Wait a second here. What is the population density of Germany? Is the population density of Germany much greater than every US state? I find it hard to believe land is that scarce in Germany. According to the 2004 CIA World Fact Book: Germany has 82,424,000 people squeezed into 349,223 sq km of land. The United States has 293,000,000 people in its 9,161,923 sq km. Running the numbers, we find approximately 1.04 acres/person in Germany compared to 7.73 acres/person in the United States. A considerable difference. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/26 "2005-08-11T20:38:25Z")
I am 100% positive that Cecil did a column on this years ago, but the search – it does nothing. IIRC correctly, the Master said that a certain portion of each sale is deposited into a trust fund which helps pay for ongoing expenses. Also, there were some revenue boosting things opertators could do. One of them was growing and cutting sod for nurseries. Can’t remember anything else off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/27 "2005-08-11T20:58:52Z")
Used flowers. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/28 "2005-08-11T23:43:56Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > There is a very popular cemetary in my area. People are dying to get in there. I hear they are making a killing. 😉 OK, **vetbridge** , go over and sit behind that tombstone, and not another word out of you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/29 "2005-08-12T02:56:34Z")
[Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedlec_Ossuary) 's one answer to what’s done with the bones displaced by reuse of burial grounds. It’s a fascinating place, in a ghoulish sort of way. I recommend a visit if you’re in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/30 "2005-08-12T03:13:12Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > Running the numbers, we find approximately 1.04 acres/person in Germany compared to 7.73 acres/person in the United States. However, states such as New Jersey have considerably higher population density than Germany, 0.6 acres/person in the case of that state. A considerable difference. ---
**Author:** ![Bogeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3e96dc/32.png) [@Bogeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bogeyman)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/31 "2005-08-12T10:20:51Z")
I am a former German grave digger - former grave digger, that is, I’m still German. I used to help my brother dig graves in our village, many years ago. When reading the following, bear in mind that we’re talking about a small graveyard with only a few hundred inhabitants, that’s owned and managed by the church parish, as opposed to municipal cemeteries, where the majority of the German existentially disadvantaged reside, so this information may not be universally applicable. Yes, you do lease plots an graves, rather than buying them outright. The standard term was 40 years, if I recall correctly, and could be extended pretty much indefinitely. I know there are pre-WW I graves in our cemetery. After the lease expires, the grave is levelled and can be used again. In our cemetery, it was usually allowed to be unused for a few more years. The following might be regarded as TMI by those of a sensitive disposition: As regards the previous tenant of a re-used grave: Whether any physical traces remain of them depends on a number of factors, including: quality of the coffin (metal-lined coffins not being allowed), the character of the soil, and the humidity of the particular patch the grave is in. Being buried under a tree on top of a hill is an excellent preservative. (Don’t ask. Really.) Major remains in the ground after 40 years are the exception, not the rule. If any are encountered, they are reburied, together with the new tenant, as reverentially as possible. Off the top of my head, here’s a list of remains encountered in decreasing order of occurrence: skull, hip bone, femur, vertebra, and rib. Ossuaries are, as far as I know, no longer used in Germany, but take this with an ounce of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/32 "2005-08-12T10:39:22Z")
> [@Bogeyman](#): > > I am a former German grave digger - former grave digger, that is, I’m still German. You gotta be impressed by the Dope! ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/33 "2005-08-12T13:51:38Z")
> [@Shakespeare](#): > > First Clown (_That jolly gravedigger you’ve heard of. - **rjk** _) > > ``` > I' faith, if he be not rotten before he die--as we > have many pocky corses now-a-days, that will scarce > hold the laying in--he will last you some eight year > or nine year: a tanner will last you nine year. > > ``` Act 5, scene 1. Just after, he says Yorick was there 23 years. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562/34 "2005-08-12T14:01:27Z")
Interesting this topic should arise. My sister and I were aware that our late parents had at some point purchased a cemetery plot. In their latter years each had come to the conclusion that cremation was a better option; however, we did not know if they had sold the plots or not. I just today finished tracking down the facts. Among other things, I learned that when you sell a cemetery plot in New Jersey, you have to pay a **15%** state fee for maintenance and preservation. Holy mackerel. Anybody want to buy a 4-grave cemetery plot? Guaranteed unused. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-private-cemetarys-business-model/316562.md?page=1)