# Who owns the grave plot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404 "2015-03-19T18:08:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404/21 "2015-03-20T22:03:24Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I’ve been wondering about who owns the little plot of land most of us end up in after this life. Seems logical a deceased individual can’t own anything, including the grave he is in, but someone has to. > > Isn’t there a right to remain there for eternity? Basically, the ownership of the cemetery always remained with the cemetery owner, while it would be possible to sell freehold title the size of individual plots, that was never done… Worse, its not like strata/condo style title, the right to the plot is simply ended, no compensation due… that means the land owner can sell it for a development, and not have to split the proceeds among the people with right to the plots… the rights are not title or ownership, they are not subject to compensation if unavailable. For example, if the cemetery becomes full, and you miss out, your bad luck for not making use of your right earlier… At the other end, yes cemeteries are routinely built on. Also, many burials have occurred ad hoc, eg on farm or even suburban land; children buried in backyards for example. There’s no guarantee that someone is not buried in the ground below you, the gov can only say “no record of that!”. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404/22 "2015-03-20T22:24:44Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > In northern Virginia there are many little family grave plots all over the place from the days when people had plots out behind the house, or behind the tiny neighborhood church. A hundred years later, the house or church is gone, but you can still see gravestones. Some of them are on suburban corners of intersections now. I think they’re very curious. Same here. I love those little graveyards - they have so much more character than the vast fields full of flat markers and plastic flowers. My great-grandfather was buried in such a family plot, and when my father and his brother sold their mother’s farm in eastern North Carolina, Dad and my uncle went up to supervise the exhumation and re-interment of their grandfather, his wife, and an infant, the existence of whom was until then unknown. I believe the buyer had to pay for the exhumation. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404/23 "2015-03-24T16:37:02Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Same here. I love those little graveyards - they have so much more character than the vast fields full of flat markers and plastic flowers. Like these? [Wunsche Cemetery, Spring, TX](https://goo.gl/maps/EuSZo) [Hillendahl Cemetery, Houston, TX](https://goo.gl/maps/w7q3w) (corner of Long Point @ Pech Rd.) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404/24 "2015-03-24T17:24:26Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > Basically, the ownership of the cemetery always remained with the cemetery owner, while it would be possible to sell freehold title the size of individual plots, that was never done… > Worse, its not like strata/condo style title, the right to the plot is simply ended, no compensation due… that means the land owner can sell it for a development, and not have to split the proceeds among the people with right to the plots… the rights are not title or ownership, they are not subject to compensation if unavailable. > > For example, if the cemetery becomes full, and you miss out, your bad luck for not making use of your right earlier… > > At the other end, yes cemeteries are routinely built on. > Also, many burials have occurred ad hoc, eg on farm or even suburban land; > children buried in backyards for example. There’s no guarantee that someone is not buried in the ground below you, the gov can only say “no record of that!”. not sure what you mean… generally AFAIK, you buy the exclusive “rights” to a specific plot or plots (i.e. one for each spouse, or a family plan…) so it’s not going to be “full before you use it”. I haven’t head that there’s a monthly charge or anything, so I assume the cemetery corporation should have put together a trust fund during the sale of the plots to take care of managing the graveyard for the foreseeable future - which I assume are rules buried somewhere in the local licensing. If they sold freehold, IANAL, but then there’s the issue of public right of way access etc. Plus, any decent sized municipality tends to have rules on subdividing lots. of course very old cemeteries, private small ones or churchyards, probably don’t have this sophisticated level of management and things could get interesting; but states tend to have laws on disposing and relocation of human remains, so you can’t just plow Uncle Joe into a corner with the bulldozer and put up a Walmart. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404/25 "2015-03-24T18:00:26Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > of course very old cemeteries, private small ones or churchyards, probably don’t have this sophisticated level of management and things could get interesting; but states tend to have laws on disposing and relocation of human remains, so you can’t just plow Uncle Joe into a corner with the bulldozer and put up a Walmart. It’s not uncommon for states to leave cemeteries in place when making dams and creating lakes. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404/26 "2015-03-25T06:55:11Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > Might be able to spot it in Google Maps satellite view if you know enough detail to zoom into it. Also assuming there aren’t any trees blocking the view. > > I’m skeptical, though. Nobody in their right mind would want some stranger’s headstone in their back yard. The grave was likely relocated. Didn’t we all learn from watching Poltergeist? Actually, there’s a tiny family plot that existed on the land where the subdivision I grew up in was built. The developers just built a standard height wood fence around it with a gate and houses went up around it. It’s still like that 40 years later. Us kids snuck in there a time or two for a look. Just a handful of headstones and lots of weeds and stickers. I would imagine the immediate neighboring property values are slightly lower, but honestly if you just drive by, you wouldn’t even know it’s there. But bargain or not, I would be slightly creeped. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404/27 "2015-03-25T22:39:28Z")
Here in New England there are literally thousands of family cemeteries that have been abandoned over time. In early days when you croaked, you were buried in the family cemetery in the back yard. As the descendants moved west to better farmland and less snow, the plots were neglected. Stones were stolen to build rubble foundations for the next farmhouse. Nowadays those graves are usually discovered when a road or foundation is being put in. My little Town of 4,000 has 30 or so family cemeteries identified and fenced in. Maine Law says as long as they are properly marked and recorded in Registry of Deeds, they can never be built on. Law also requires that flags be placed on every grave of a veteran on Memorial Day. Our oldest veteran is from the American Revolution. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404/28 "2015-03-25T22:45:30Z")
[Interesting article about old family plots in Maine, including one now within 5 feet of Maine Turnpike (I-95).](http://www.pressherald.com/2011/10/27/its-a-plot_2011-10-27/) ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404/29 "2015-03-26T01:12:14Z")
> [@Fir\_na\_tine](#): > > . . . Maine Law . . . also requires that flags be placed on every grave of a veteran on Memorial Day. Our oldest veteran is from the American Revolution. Curious. Upon whom is this obligation imposed, and what is the sanction for breaking it? And it is actively enforced? ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404/30 "2015-03-26T19:43:12Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Curious. Upon whom is this obligation imposed, and what is the sanction for breaking it? And it is actively enforced? The Town, township or city in which the grave is located. Don’t know the sanction offhand but it’s generally observed by all and generates bad publicity for the Town if they skip it. Govt usually has help from DAV or American Legion or various community groups. Also interesting; Maine is one of the few states that still allows you to be buried in your backyard! There are a few rules; can’t be too close to the well, location must be recorded, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-owns-the-grave-plot/715404.md?page=1)