§ 1513 — Sale of burial rights

New York § 1513

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law NPC: Not-for-Profit Corporation
• Art. 15: Public Cemetery Corporations

Text

§ 1513. Sale of burial rights.\n (a) Conveyance of lots. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this\nparagraph the right to use any lot, plot or part thereof may be sold or\nconveyed only by the cemetery corporation. (2) It shall be unlawful for\nany person, firm or corporation to purchase or for a cemetery\ncorporation to sell a lot, plot or part thereof for the purpose of\nresale. This provision, however, shall not prohibit the sale to its\nmembers of lots, plots or parts thereof, or the right to use any lot,\nplot or part thereof, by a membership or religious corporation or\nunincorporated association or society which provides burial benefits for\nits members. (3) It shall be unlawful for a cemetery corporation to pay\nor offer to pay, or for any person, firm or corporation to receive,\ndirectly or indirectly, a commission, bonus, rebate or other things of\nvalue for, or in connection with, the sale of any lot, plot or part\nthereof, or the sale of space in a public mausoleum, or the furnishing\nby or through the cemetery corporation of any service, merchandise,\nwares, goods or articles. The provisions of this paragraph shall not\napply to a person regularly employed and supervised by the cemetery\ncorporation. (4) Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this\nparagraph, and subject to the provisions of section fifteen hundred\nsixteen of this article, a cemetery corporation may enter into a\ncontract with a third-party vendor to create and maintain a website for\nthe purposes of the sale of any lot, plot or part thereof, or the sale\nof space in a public mausoleum, or the furnishing by or through the\ncemetery corporation of any service, merchandise, wares, goods or\narticles. The third-party vendor may charge a fee for a transaction made\nthrough this website, provided that a fee for all such transactions is\nspecified in the contract and is not dependent on or related to the\nvalue of the lot, goods or services to be sold by the cemetery\ncorporation. (5) A violation of this paragraph shall constitute a\nmisdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than five\nhundred dollars or not more than six months imprisonment or both. Each\nviolation shall constitute a separate offense.\n (b) Prices for burial rights and instruments of conveyance. (1) The\ndirectors must fix and determine the prices of the burial lots, plots or\nparts thereof, and keep a plainly printed copy of the schedules of such\nprices conspicuously posted in each of the offices of the corporation,\nopen at all reasonable times to inspection, and shall file a schedule of\nsuch prices in the office of the cemetery board. (2) Unless its\ncertificate of incorporation or by-laws otherwise provide, and subject\nto its rules and regulations, the corporation shall sell and convey to\nany person the use of the lots, plots or parts thereof designated on the\nmap filed in the office of the corporation, on payment of the prices so\nfixed and determined, but need not sell and convey more than one lot,\nplot or part thereof to any one person. Conveyances of lots, plots and\nparts thereof shall be signed by the president or vice-president and\ntreasurer or assistant treasurer of the corporation. A written contract\nfor the sale or use of a lot, plot or part thereof shall have attached\nthereto and made a part thereof a copy of the rules and regulations of\nthe cemetery corporation or such parts of such rules and regulations as\nrelate to the size and placement of monuments, restrictions on plot\nusage, warranties, obligations of the cemetery corporation and financial\nobligations and duties of the lot owner. If a lot, plot or part thereof\nis sold without a written contract, the corporation shall, before any\npart of the purchase price is paid by the purchaser, deliver to the\npurchaser a copy of the rules and regulations or such parts thereof as\nwould be required to be attached to a written contract. Nothing in this\nsubdivision shall prevent the subsequent amendment of such rules and\nregulations to increase the charges for services rendered by the\ncorporation or in other particulars by or with the consent of the\ncemetery board under section fifteen hundred nine of this article. (3) A\ncemetery corporation that shall sell a lot, plot or part thereof, in\nexcess of the price shown on the schedule filed in the office of the\ncemetery board, and any person acting for or on behalf of the cemetery\ncorporation in connection with such sale, shall each forfeit to the\npeople of the state of New York a sum equivalent to three times the\nexcess amount so paid. Such penalty may be recovered in a civil action\nby the cemetery board. (4) The instrument of conveyance of any burial\nlot, plot or part thereof shall include the actual amount paid therefor\nand a description showing the dimensions of the property conveyed, and\nthe plot number, section and block number as they appear on the cemetery\nmap.\n (c) Resale by lot owner. Before any burial shall have been made in any\nsuch lot, plot or part thereof, or, if all the bodies therein have been\nlawfully removed, the lot owner may sell or convey such lot, plot or\npart thereof upon notice to the cemetery. Such sale shall only occur in\nthose instances where the owner of such lot, plot or part thereof shall\nhave offered it to the cemetery corporation within one year prior to the\nsale, in writing by registered or certified mail, at the price paid\ntherefor by said lot owner, together with simple interest at the rate of\nfour per centum per annum, and the cemetery corporation shall have\nfailed to accept such offer within thirty days after the making thereof.\nSubsequent to the receipt of notice of sale of such lot, plot or part\nthereof, the secretary of the cemetery corporation shall file and record\nin its books all instruments of transfer. An owner may convey or devise\nto the corporation his right and title in and to any such lot, plot or\npart thereof.\n (d) Lots held in inalienable form. (1) No portion of the cemetery of a\ncemetery corporation which any person other than the corporation is\nentitled to use for burial purposes, or in which bodies have been buried\nand not removed, shall be sold, mortgaged or leased by the corporation.\nA cemetery corporation may convey any lot so that upon such conveyance,\nor after an interment therein, such lot shall be forever inalienable,\nand upon the death of the lot owner shall pass to such person or persons\nas may be designated in the conveyance or if no such designation be\nmade, shall descend as provided in section fifteen hundred twelve of\nthis article. Any one or more of the owners of such a lot may release or\ndevise to any other owner of the lot his interest therein on such\nconditions as shall be specified in the release or will. (2) Any person\nwho is the sole owner of the burial rights in a cemetery lot, plot or\nany part thereof, in which a burial has been made, may give his entire\ninterest, or, if not prohibited by the rules and regulations of the\ncemetery corporation, any portion thereof to any person within the third\ndegree of consanguinity to the owner, or, in the event that no such\nperson exists, within the fourth degree of consanguinity to such owner.\nSuch conveyance shall be made subject to the right of interment of the\nspouse of any deceased owner, which right said spouse may release at any\ntime, but no conveyance or devise by any other person shall deprive the\nsurviving spouse of such right. Burial rights shall not be conveyed\npursuant to the provisions of this subparagraph more frequently than\nonce in any ten-year period. (3) A cemetery corporation may take and\nhold any lot conveyed or devised to it by the lot owner so that\nthereafter it will be inalienable, and the interments therein shall be\nrestricted to such person or class of persons as may be designated in\nthe conveyance or devise. (4) The title of a lot owner shall not be\naffected by the dissolution of the corporation, by non-user of its\ncorporate rights and franchises by any act of forfeiture on its part, by\nany alienation of its property or by incumbrance thereon made or\nsuffered by it.\n