When a loved one dies, you may come across many issues that you never expected related to the funeral and burial. It is not something you likely have a lot of knowledge about, which makes it easy for misunderstandings to occur.
When it comes to burial, you may learn that cemeteries have a lot of rules and regulations. This may lead you to wonder if they are reasonable requests or the cemetery stepping outside the law. In many cases, issues come up when a cemetery tries to take advantage of your lack of knowledge to make you pay extra.
Extra fees
The cemetery may try to add on extra fees or tell you it must charge you a fee for certain services, such as installing a vault you bought from an outside source. The Ohio State Bar Association explains it is against the law for a cemetery to charge fees because you did not purchase a vault it was selling. You have the right to buy one from wherever you want.
No matter the situation, whether it is vault fees or some other fee, the cemetery can only charge you for services it provides, which means it cannot impose extra fees for anything.
Guidelines or rules
Cemeteries can impose rules about things such as grave markers and grave décor. They have the right to insist on certain size markers, for example, to create the aesthetic they want for their cemeteries. However, this does not mean forcing you to buy directly from them. Cemeteries must allow outside markers and things of that sort.
Another common area where issues may occur is in regard to the vault. Ohio law does not mandate the use of vaults, but a cemetery can make a rule that you must have one to bury a loved one on its property. The vault helps with aesthetics as it prevents the sinking of soil that can create a depression over the plot.
In dealing with a cemetery, you want to be sure you know your rights. It can help you to avoid issues in the long run.