Who Pays the Back Rent at the Cemetery?

This week I received an e-mail from Marilyn Toole, asking a short and simple question. I don't know the answer, however, and thought I'd ask newsletter readers if they have any thoughts on this.

Marilyn writes:

I want to tell you what happened to my great-grandmother's ashes. I found them "on a shelf in the attic in a shoebox" at Oak Woods Cemetery in the middle of Chicago. She was buried in 1910. Her husband at the time (he later remarried) paid the "rent" for a while but then stopped, according to their records.

I wanted to remove the ashes and put them in the family plot in Kendall County, Illinois. I was told that I could have them when I paid the "back rent" of $940.

My husband asked me 2 questions: How do I know that they are her ashes? And how do I know the rent was never paid?

And I ask YOU...is this a SCAM or what?

Thanks,
Marilyn Toole

Do you have any thoughts or even experience with similar situations? If so, please post your comment below.

Thank you.

Comments

[Jane Schapka]

About ten years ago, I surmised that my grandfather and great-gramdmother's graves would be in a small city in Wisconsin, so I went there to research it. I found the graves. The sexton gave me much information and copies of his records. But then he told me that several hundred dollars of back rent was due, going back to 1933, before my own birth. He further explained that as the only descendant, I would be billed for the account, but that I could wipe out the bill by deeding back to the cemetery the four empty plots that remained from the initial purchase. Or, I could pay the back rent and become the owner by inheritance of the four remaining plots. Since I could not imagine anyone shipping my body to a state I don't live in for burial, I deeded back the empty graves. I never thought that this was a scam. I suppose I could have paid the bill and then put the graves up for sale, but I didn't want to. Deeding them back did not hurt me, and if I contributed to that cemetery, good.

[Mark Barker]

Most likely, the rental fee is not a "scam", but my question is: if, as stated, the ashes had been buried, what were they doing in the attic?

Possibly, this cemetery uses a columbarium, which is similar to a mausoleum, for the resting place for cremains. If there is a rental fee, the cremains of this lady's great-grandmother may have been removed for non-payment of the rent.
However, most cemeteries that have columbaria
sell permanent niche rights; a rental would be an out-of-the-ordinary situation, perhaps to provide temporary shelter until the family had made a decision about final disposition.

Also, many crematories, funeral homes, and cemeteries charge a storage fee for cremains, if no arrangements have been made for permanent disposition.This storage period is intended to be temporary and short-term; however, it's not uncommon for such "temporary" storage to stretch out for decades.

As for identification, there MAY be some sort of label or some identifying device. After all those years, one has to take "on faith" the caretaker's word that the identification is correct.

If you want to take the cremains as you planned, pay the back rent. Otherwise, leave them "at rest" in the attic. However, at some point, they could well wind up dressing some planting bed in the cemetery or being tossed on the dump pile around back.

[Denise Pagel Moskovitz]

In the Illinois case, I believe we have a "Perpetual Care Fund" that is required by state law for all burial plots. If by error or mismanagement the funds aren't deposited into the Fund, the owner of the plot is eventually put in the position of paying more while they're alive or having it added on to their burial costs when they die.

In our case, the cemetery was sold and the previous owners mismanaged (or took off) with the money that should have been in the Fund. The new owners had no intention of paying it themselves. We, in essence, we paid that Fund twice. The $400 wasn't worth the time and effort to fight it in small claims court (which my lawyer said was our only recourse).

It's not exactly a scam because the law backs up the cemetery. But it *is* rotten Customer Service.

[Candy Jens]

When I wrote a Princeton church for records on several of my distant relatives buried there, I was sent quite a lot of information, a map of the cemetery, and a statement of the past due charges for care of the plot (1930s to the present)! It was not a "bill" made out to me, so I just sent a reasonable contribution to the church and a letter of thanks for the data.

From their point of view, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[Ed Bienz]

In NY all my family have bought plots with Perpetual Care. The plots were sold that way. Costs have outpaced the amounts the cemeteries set aside for prepetural care in the late 1800s, early 1900's and they try to squeeze more out of living family members. When this didn't work they tried to re-use (sell)the graves after a few decades past. This practise was litigated and found to be illegal. I noticed all the tomb stones in the old section of the cemetery where my ancestors were buried were removed. The Office said they buried them on the plots because they were being vandalized and deteriorting. But for a fee of $250 they would raise and set the stones. I have a feeling that they were trying to see who complains or comes forward before they try to reuse the old section of the cemetery. I believe this was an illegal action but lack the funds to pursue the issue.

[Virginia Banerjee]

I recently located a stone in a cemetery in southwestern Ohio...an ancillary line that has died out. I located the cemetery caretaker to determine if the old records contained any additional information. He commented that the rent hadn't been paid since 1896 (when last direct heir died). I pointed out that there hadn't been anyone left to pay. He commented..."we mow the grass anyway!"

[Yvonne Newsome]

I've found the comments most interesting on the subject of back rent. I have never heard of such! One post stated that the cemetery would bill the descendant for the back rent.
I may be wrong but, I don't think the law has been passed yet that holds a descendant liable for debts of the ancestors. It may be that one day we will be made liable for our parents debts, but it hasn't happened yet.
My suggestion is to leave your body to science. Our local medical college in Augusta, Georgia will perform a memorial service for free and bury your cremains (after the use of the body 5-7 yrs) and bury them on the medical school property.

[Sue Visser]

I'm shocked that there is any "rent due"! A deed means ownership, not rental. My husband is a Board member for our cemetery and he too doesn't understand what these cemeteries are doing?

We have owned our personal plots since 1977 and the purchase price included perpetual care. We had a funny experience decades ago when the Cemetery Board secretary called us, very upset. Somehow someone was mistakenly buried in one of our plots. The secretary was less than amused at my laughter and comment that we weren't planning on using them any time soon. It seems there were 2 options - move the body or exchange our plots for new ones. I told him to do whatever was easiest but apparently there isn't an easy way to solve this. Since our deeds were registered provincially, there was a lot of work and paper work involved.

That wee plot of land called a grave has as many legalities as a large tract of land. At least that's how it is here in Ontario, Canada.

[Ted Rice]

I never heard of "renting" a burial plot. I purchased one when my mother died and have an actual deed (of sorts) to it. I also have in my possession a deed my mother had for her parents plot in the cemetery in Gloversville, NY. Both include "perpetual care", but basically this just means the grass gets mowed. Repairing damage to the stones or replacement is the responsibility of the plot owner.

I don't think, however, that these "deeds" are filed with the state, so if they disappear over generations there would be no record of ownership. Then anyone can claim anything. Before I paid back rent I would want to see a written contract of rent signed by the original renter. Without that the cemetery can't really claim back rent is due, either.

It would seem like renting a plot would be rather silly, as almost everywhere families eventually die out or move on and there is no one left to pay rent - and it certainly can't be collected off the deceased!

[Alex Woodle]

After finding my g grandfather's grave in a badly kept cemetery in Queens, NY, I raised $600 to pay for perpetual care.

[Raejan O]

IN HARTLEY, IOWA My great grandfather and 2 great uncles (Adams) remains had been moved by one caretaker between 1910 and 1960. They were not on the master list to recognize their grave plot. I was with another caretaker going through the cards in the shed at the cemetery that led us back to the vault at the city hall. I then had documentation where they did move the remains, resold the plots, and buried the tomb stones in the new graves. They then sold in the 1960's the new plot to some other of our relatives. By happen stance one of the relatives died and her husband gave the title to my 2nd cousin who was interested in getting this worked out. After a long talk with city officials and the then retired caretaker we finally could put grave markers on all 3 graves. NOTE: IF YOU EVER WANT TO PUT MARKERS ON SEVERAL OLD GRAVES ASK FOR A GROUP DISCOUNT - we got one so that future generations can find our family roots. At the same cemetery the caretaker wanted to take out the cement edging and level the ground for mowing
which I had no authority to do on the (Palen) side. The next visit up in the year it was all done. What happen to being grandfathering in - (the original owner's wishes to the original cemetery rules of that day.

[Mark Barker]

Renting grave space is common in Europe, but rare in North America. A common misconception, however, at least in the United States, is that a cemetery plot "deed" conveys ownership of the grave space. In most cases, what is actually conveyed is interment right, the right to bury in that space. The plot itself remains the property of the cemetery.

What some are calling "rent" is probably an annual assessment for cemetery maintenance, which was once common practice years ago, especially in small church and community cemeteries. Of course, over the years, families died out or moved away and so most of those cemeteries today are charging a burial fee for current burials, with the money going into a maintenance fund.

When a relative of a family long buried shows up, naturally the cemetery overseer is tempted to ask for the old fees to be "brought up to date".

[Marg Amidei]

I found my Grandmother & Grandfather's graves along with my Aunt and Great Grandmother and Grandfather on my father's side. They were the decendants of John Schackmann who arrived in IL in the 1750's. They are buried in a very old cemetary in IL. I am wondering if there is any kind of program in place to help me mark these unmarked graves? There is a total of 6 people buried. Two of my Great Aunts, My grandparents, Great Grandparents and Aunt. They were all buried before I was alive. Do you know if such a program exists? I just would like to see them marked before I die. I cannot foot this kind of bill and it has bothered me for year. My father has also been gone nearly 30 years and never had the money to address it while he was living.

[Joe Campbell]

I have been researching my genealogy and found quite a few ancestors with no headstones. I found one of my maternal grandfather's brothers, Walter, who was buried in 1917 at the age of 16. His grave was resold and an 82 year old man was buried over him there in 1956. Neither my Walter or his "neighbor", Joseph, have haedstones, so I inquired about placing one on the grave with both men's names and info on it. The lady at the cemetery says she thinks I would have to get permission from Joseph's descendants because the grave technically belongs to that family. I contend That both men are buried there and the memorial is for both men. I guess I'll see what happens.

I know of no program to add markers to graves with the exception of military members.