Wrong Grave

[bamibam1]

What is the name of your state? New York

On December 31st my sister was laid in the State of New Jersey. She was supposed to be buried with my father who died twenty two years ago; instead she was buried with a complete stranger in the wrong plot. The cemetery made a mistake and opened the wrong grave and buried my sister in it. We notice their mistake a week after burial when we returned to the grave site and noticed my father’s grave was untouched. Now, the people at the cemetery say that they cannot bury my sister with my father until they notify the family of the stranger my sister is bury with for their permission to open the grave, so far they have been unsuccessful in doing this.

Any advice and or course of action we should take to solve our problem will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

What is the name of your state? New York

On December 31st my sister was laid in the State of New Jersey. She was supposed to be buried with my father who died twenty two years ago; instead she was buried with a complete stranger in the wrong plot. The cemetery made a mistake and opened the wrong grave and buried my sister in it. We notice their mistake a week after burial when we returned to the grave site and noticed my father’s grave was untouched. Now, the people at the cemetery say that they cannot bury my sister with my father until they notify the family of the stranger my sister is bury with for their permission to open the grave, so far they have been unsuccessful in doing this.

Any advice and or course of action we should take to solve our problem will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

My response:

Nice opening sentence - -

"On December 31st my sister was laid in the State of New Jersey."

But, since your post has to do with death and graves, I'll make no further comment on the sentence.

Insofar as the problem is concerned, you need to understand that the burial plots do not belong to the cemetary. Like the land in someone's backyard, the plot of land of the "stranger" is owned by that family. To desecrate; e.g., dig up your sister, would be "trespassing to land", which is criminally actionable - - besides the Civil damages involved because the land is, in fact, a burial plot.

So, the cemetary must ask the family for permission to "enter" onto their land, by describing and explaining what has happened. Hopefully, the family will be understanding. If the cemetary is unsuccessful in obtaining family permission, then they must obtain a court order.

Then, you're probably saying, "Well, they trespassed onto the plot when they buried my sister, so why can't they go back and dig her up?"

The problem is that when they made the mistake, they didn't realize that it was a mistake and it was an "unintentional" trespass to land. Now, they are aware of their mistake, and to go back now and dig up your sister would be an "intentional" act of trespass.

If you feel that the cemetary is taking too long to accomplish this task, or is merely "shining you on," then you, as your sister's family, have your own remedies you can exercise in court against the cemetary.

Without going into the cause of action and the damages involved, I would suggest that you seek the counsel of a local attorney for further particulars and a plan of strategy to resolve this matter as amicably and expediently as possible.

Good luck - - oh, and watch that phraseology in your initial sentences - - yours is a doozy.

IAAL

 

[bamibam1]

Wow, I meant “laid to rest...” My husband had quite a laugh with that one; also a much needed one for me. I’ll wait a couple more days before seeking counsel.

Thank You