The first burial transforms a parcel of land.
Once dedicated as a cemetery, the land becomes frozen in time, unable to be developed. The property owners cannot desecrate or change the land in a way that disturbs interred remains. Instead, the property owners are sort of like trustees holding the property for the benefit of those people buried or entitled to be buried in the property. Therefore, the property owners must allow family members to access the site.
That may sound like the end of a cemetery’s story right there. But there’s more involved if your clients are buying or selling property with at least one grave on it.
Read this article from the December issue of Texas REALTOR® magazine.
Thank-you Texas REALTORS. This very subject came up at the office this morning. I remembered getting the magazine and the e mail and was able to share with my agent, she in turn, shared with the client. Your knowledge makes us Superstars!
Thank-you Texas REALTORS. This very subject came up at the office this morning. I remembered getting the magazine and the e mail and was able to share with my agent, she in turn, shared with the client. Your knowledge makes us Superstars!
It seems like the same thing as buying a property with historical value. I’m curious now. What other kinds of property can have lifetime restriction of this nature.
What drives me crazy about this type of article is the lack of true details. How is a cemetery declared? What if it isn’t declared? What is a parcel of land? Residential? Farm land? Maybe even commercial? The entire parcel? What is the property is 10 acres? Does one grave mean that the entire 10 acres can’t be developed? What does developed mean? Subdivided? Built upon at all? There a few details but not a lot to guide anyone. Required to fence off the cemetery and protect it so then can you “develop” it? So to me common sense says… Read more »
Good points. Guess we have to speak to an attorney about the points you have raised…
A family cemetery can be dedicated land by a family without one grave being on it and it receives a tax exemption. But, my question is, whether or not that unused dedicated land can be “reverted back”, so to speak, to regular agricultural land since it has never been actually used as a cemetery? What type of tax consequences would be experienced if it is, for example, just an acre of land out in a pasture where agricultural exemption has been applied to the remaining surrounding acres? What action would be required to get the unused cemetery back to being… Read more »
Good points. Guess one has to seek the advice of an attorney on cases such as these.
I enjoyed the article this blurb pointed to: the article offered enough information to learn a cemetery is only the grave sites and that they are not permanent; and no so long that I couldn’t get through it quickly. Including the reference to state law in the article allows me to research and learn more when I am ready. Thank you–
I want to buy a plot of land that has a family (not my family) cemetery on it. I understand that I’ll be required to grant access to the 1/4 acre cemetery enclosed by fencing. If I clear a new access road at the edge of the property that visitors can use at will, how do I prevent future burials on the site? Does the fencing (already in place) legally indicate the area that was dedicated? Can the descendants expand beyond that fencing onto more and more of the property? How do I protect myself, my privacy, my land, and… Read more »
I am in Texas. I am not an attorney. I am on the board of a family cemetery located in the middle of someone else’s cattle ranch. This cemetery has an association and a governing board which was established by my mother 40 years ago. I can only speak of our experience. The landowner granted us a “right-of-way” from the edge of the property to the cemetery. We have that deed registered with the state. Our cemetery has been registered with the County Clerk (look for records there in your case) and with the Texas Historical Commission. We added a… Read more »
Do ashes of a loved one qualify?
In the mid 1800’s land was given/assigned to three men as a cemetary. There has been no rhyme or reason to how the people that are now handling this cemetary was selected. I would like to understand how these people get chosen as members as it is not done by democratic majority vote of the affected people of the families buried there.. Help… the cemetary has several hundred thousand dollars of money in an account and the funds increase every year..