§ 10-35. Burial rights of lot and grave owners.

(a)

Certificate of ownership. Upon receipt of payment in full for any lot, the city shall execute and deliver to the purchaser (or purchasers) a certificate of ownership (deed), granting to such purchaser or purchasers and his, her or their heirs and assigns, the exclusive right of interment in said lot, subject to the rules and regulations contained in this chapter and in any amendments hereto which may hereafter be made by the city council.

(b)

Right of interment under owner's declaration of reservation. At the time of the purchase of a lot or grave, or at any time thereafter during the lifetime of the purchaser or transferee, and in accordance with these rules and regulations, the owner or owners of any such lot or grave may present his, her or their deed and may file in the office of the management a declaration of reservation, therein specifically designating the persons entitled to be buried in any or all of the graves in the lot. No other person may be buried in any grave designated by the owner or owners in the declaration of reservation except by an amended declaration of reservation executed by the owner or owners and filed in the office of the management. The owner or owners of any lot may in the declaration of reservation limit the persons entitled to be buried in said lot to those persons designated in the declaration of reservation. In the event that the owner or owners shall fail to designate burial rights as to each grave in said lot, or shall fail to limit burials in said grave to those designated in the declaration of reservation, then, as to the graves not designated, the right of burial shall be as provided in subsection (c) of this section. Upon application by any person for interment of a body in a given grave, the burden of proof as to the identity of the person to be interred rests upon the applicant; and no liability shall be incurred by the management or the city as the result of a false statement in the application; but the management shall make reasonable effort to see that only persons entitled to be buried in a given grave are so interred.

(c)

Interment in absence declaration. In the absence of a declaration of reservation by the registered owner of a lot, the right of interment shall be in the following order:

(1)

One grave shall be reserved for the owner and one for the owner's surviving spouse, if any.

(2)

The remaining graves in said lot shall be held in trust by the city for burial of the following persons in the order of their death, and a request for burial, to wit:

a.

Children of owner or owners and their respective spouses.

b.

Lineal descendants of owner or owners and their respective spouses.

c.

Parents of the owner or owners.

(d)

Vested rights of lot owners. The burial rights in all lots and graves conveyed shall be presumed to be the sole and separate property of the person or persons named as grantees in the certificate of ownership, in accordance with these rules and regulations; provided, however, that the husband or wife shall have a vested right of interment of his or her body in any burial grave conveyed to the other, which shall continue as long as he or she shall remain the husband or wife of the grave owner, or shall be his or her wife or husband at the time of such grave owner's demise. No conveyance or transfer shall divest the husband or wife of any owner of his or her vested right of interment without the joinder therein executed by the spouse and filed in the office of the management.

(e)

Alienability of cemetery grave. All lots, the use of which has been conveyed in a deed, are indivisible. Whenever an interment of the remains of a member, or of a relative of a member, of the family of the recorded owner, or of the recorded owner, is made in a lot, the lot thereby becomes inalienable and shall be held as the family lot of the owner, except as otherwise provided by owner's declaration of reservation.

(f)

Residency as related to Mebane Memorial Gardens. Graves are sold based on the permanent residency of the purchaser(s) and the permanent residency of the person(s) designated in the declaration of reservation as having rights of interment. Any grave or graves not designated under the declaration of reservation shall be considered purchased for the interment of a non-resident, and the prices will be reflected as such in accordance with the current cemetery fee schedule at the time of purchase. Graves purchased by and/or designated to residents, but later designated for use by a non-resident shall be subject to a transfer from resident to non-resident fee and a document transfer fee as reflected on the cemetery fee schedule current at the time of the transfer. Graves purchased at non-resident rates shall not qualify for any refund should a decision be made to inter the remains of a resident at a later date. Graves shall be sold to individual persons only and not to businesses. Registered funeral services may purchase graves at-need or pre-need as an agent of the person or persons intended for interment therein, but the cemetery purchase contract shall be made out in the name of that person or persons, and the cost of said graves shall reflect that or those person's residency status.

(Ord. of 5-3-2010; Ord. No. OA-16-02, 9-19-2016 )