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Liability for Funeral Expenses

Liability for Funeral Expenses. Sources for Payment. Liability of the Estate: Primary Obligor Reasonableness of the Funeral Bill Collection Against the Estate. Liability for Funeral Expenses (cont’d). Dependent Contractual Liability Liability of Executor/Administrator

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Liability for Funeral Expenses

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  1. Liability for Funeral Expenses

  2. Sources for Payment • Liability of the Estate: • Primary Obligor • Reasonableness of the Funeral Bill • Collection Against the Estate

  3. Liability for Funeral Expenses (cont’d) • Dependent • Contractual Liability • Liability of Executor/Administrator • Liability of the State (NJSA 40A-49.1)

  4. Cemeteries Purpose

  5. Cemetery • Not a “nuisance per se”. • Grave vs. Plot/Lot • 30 – 40 square feet • multiple depth • Depth requirements in NJ: • 26:6.36 • Does not apply to “properly” constructed private vaults.

  6. Establishment of Cemeteries • Public: “power of eminent domain” • Private: religious orders family plots

  7. Regulation of Cemeteries • “police power” • Interest of public welfare is paramount.

  8. Right to Bury • Not real estate. • Subject to cemetery rules and regulations and statutes. • Religious societies may impose special restrictions. • Racial discrimination is not permitted. (Civil Rights Act)

  9. Sale and Encumbrance • Lot is inalienable. • Subject to the cemetery’s rules and regulations. • Death of owner results in transfer of title to heirs. • May devise a cemetery lot by Will and Testament, if no burials.

  10. Markers, Monuments and Vaults • Personal property. • Owners are entitled to protection from desecration. • Regulated by the cemetery.

  11. Visitation in Cemeteries • Owner has a right to visit. • Family/friends have free access. • Cemetery must maintain ingress and egress. • FD has a right due to contractual obligation to the family.

  12. Criminal Offenses • Most states make it a crime to desecrate a grave.

  13. NJ Cemetery Law • Title 8A • Can be owned/operated by: • VA • Government • Religious Organizations • Cemetery Corporations • Cemeteries are tax-exempt. • Cemetery Board is part of the Division of Consumer Affairs

  14. Exclusive Rights • Open and fill graves. • Furnish equip. necessary for interment. • Install flush memorials. • Install foundations for markers. • Set/seal vaults, crypts and niches. • Prevent unauthorized interment. • Regulate conduct of visitors.

  15. Cemeteries cannot: • Manufacture and sell monuments. • Manufacture and sell burial vaults. • Practice mortuary science. • Cemeteries must have a maintenance and preservation fund of $50,000.

  16. Disinterment (Exhumation) • “the removal of a human corpse previously buried in the earth.” • May be authorized for 2 reasons: • Public Interest • Private Interest • Factors used by court to determine reasonable cause:

  17. NJ Law for Disinterment • 7 signatures required: • Applicant • Surviving spouse and children. • Owner of interment space. • Cemetery representative. • Funeral director. • Registrar/health official issuing permit. • Cemetery/crematory representative where body is being reinterred.

  18. Distribution of Permit • 4 copies: • 1) white • 2) canary (yellow) • 3) pink • 4) goldenrod (gold)

  19. NJ Statutes • 26:6-37 • 26:6-38 • NJ Administrative Code: • 13:44J-8.1 (multiple-depth grave) • 13:44J-8.2 (additional interment) • 13:44J-8.3 (photo. a disinterment) • 13:44J-8.4 (temp. storage)

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