§ 1512. Rights of lot owners.

(a) Lots; indivisible and inalienable. All lots, plots or parts
thereof, the use of which has been conveyed as a separate lot, shall be
indivisible, except with the consent of the lot owner or lot owners and
the corporation, or as in this section provided. After a burial therein,
the same shall be inalienable, except as otherwise provided.

(b) Interest of deceased lot owner. Upon the death of an owner or
co-owner of any lot, plot or part thereof, unless the same shall be held
in joint tenancy, or tenancy by the entirety, the interest of the
deceased lot owner shall pass to the devises of such lot owner, but, if
such interest be not effectually devised, then to his or her descendants
then surviving, and if there be none, then to the surviving spouse, and
if there be none, then to those entitled to take the real and personal
property of the deceased lot owner pursuant to article four of the
estates, powers and trust law provided, however, that no interest in any
lot, plot or part thereof shall pass by any residuary or other general
clause in a will and such interest shall pass by will only if the lot,
plot or part thereof sought to be devised is specifically referred to in
such will. The surviving spouse of a deceased lot owner during his or
her life and the owners from time to time of the deceased lot owner's
lot, plot or part thereof, shall have in common the possession, care and
control of such lot, plot or part thereof.

(c) Purchase for burial of decedent. Whenever a lot, plot or part
thereof shall be purchased by the executor, administrator or
representative of a decedent from estate funds for the burial of the
decedent, the surviving spouse of the decedent shall have the right of
interment therein, and the deed shall run to the names of the
distributees, other than the surviving spouse, of the decedent, or to
"The distributees, other than the surviving spouse, of .........,
deceased", if there be such surviving spouse, otherwise to "The
distributees of............., deceased." If the deed shall run to "The
distributees, other than the surviving spouse of ........., deceased,"
or to "The distributees of ........., deceased," the executor,
administrator or representative shall, at the time of delivery of the
deed to such lot, plot or part thereof, file with the corporation an
affidavit setting forth the names and places of residence of all the
decedent's distributees, and the corporation shall be entitled to rely
upon the truth of the statements contained in such affidavit.

(d) Right of interment. A deceased person shall have the right of
interment in any lot, plot or part thereof of which he or she was the
owner or co-owner at the time of his or her death, or in any tomb
erected thereon. The surviving spouse shall have the right of interment
for his or her body in a lot or tomb in which the deceased spouse was an
owner or co-owner at the time of his or her death, except where all the
available burial spaces in a lot or tomb have been designated for the
interment of persons other than the surviving spouse, pursuant to
subdivision (f) of this section, and a right to have his or her body
remain permanently interred or entombed therein, except, that such body
may be removed therefrom as provided in subdivision (e) of section
fifteen hundred ten of this article. Such right may be enforced and
protected by his or her personal representatives. The remains of a
spouse, parent or child of a person who is an owner or co-owner thereof
may be interred in such lot or tomb without the consent of any person
claiming any interest therein, subject, however, to the following rules
and exceptions: (A) The place of interment in such lot shall be subject
to the reasonable determination by a majority of the co-owners or in the
absence of such determination by the cemetery corporation or its officer
or agent having immediate charge of interments. (B) Any husband or wife
living separate from the other and owning a lot in which the other, but
for this section, would have no right of burial, at least thirty days
before the death of the other, may file with the cemetery corporation a
written objection to the interment of the other, and thereupon there
shall be no right of interment under this subdivision. (C) A parent or
child owning a lot in which the other would have no right of burial but
for this section, at least thirty days before the death of the other,
may file with the cemetery corporation a written objection to the
interment of the other, and thereupon there shall be no right of
interment under this subdivision. In such case, if the parent or child
so excluded from burial in such lot shall die without having any place
of interment, then the person filing such objection shall at once
provide for the other a suitable place of burial in a convenient
cemetery. The cost of such place of interment shall be chargeable to the
decedent's estate, if any. (D) This section shall not permit a burial in
any ground or place contrary to or in violation of any precept, rule,
regulation or usage of any church or religious society, association or
corporation restricting burial therein. This subdivision shall not limit
any existing right of burial under other provisions of law, nor shall it
limit or curtail the right of alienation, under the rules of the
cemetery corporation wherein such lot is situated, by the owner of a lot
before the death of the person for whose remains the right of burial is
provided herein, and there shall be no right of burial in any lot sold
by its owner, before the death of the person for whose remains the right
of burial is provided herein.

(e) More than one person entitled to possession and control. (1) At
any time when more than one person is entitled to the possession, care
and control of such lot, any of the persons so entitled thereto may file
with the corporation an affidavit setting forth the names and places of
residence of all the persons entitled to the possession, care and
control of such lot, and the corporation shall be entitled to rely upon
the truth of the statements contained in such affidavit. The corporation
shall be entitled to collect a reasonable fee for filing and recording
such affidavit and other documents filed in its office. (2) At any time
when more than one person is entitled to the possession, care or control
of such lot, plot or part thereof, the persons so entitled thereto shall
file with the corporation a designation of a person who shall represent
the lot, plot or part thereof, and so long as they shall fail to
designate, the corporation may make such designation. A distributee may
release his or her interest in a lot, plot or part thereof, to the other
distributees, and a joint owner may release or devise to the other joint
owners, his or her right in the lot, plot or part thereof, on conditions
specified in the release or will, the original or certified copy of
which shall be filed in the office of the corporation. The surviving
spouse not excluded from the right of burial under the provisions of
subdivision (d) of this section, at any time may release his or her
right in such lot, plot or part thereof, but no conveyance or devise by
any other person shall deprive him or her of such right.

(f) Designation of persons who may be interred. At any time all the
owners of a lot, and any surviving spouse having a right of interment
therein, may execute, acknowledge and file with the corporation an
instrument, and the sole owner of a lot may, in a testamentary
instrument admitted to probate, make a provision, which may (A)
designate the person or persons or class of persons who may thereafter
be interred in said lot or in a tomb in such lot and the places of their
interment; (B) direct that upon the interment of certain named persons,
the lot or tomb in such lot shall be closed to further interments; (C)
direct that the title of the lot shall upon the death of any one or more
of the owners, descend in perpetuity to his, her or their distributees,
unaffected by any devise. In any case in which an irrevocable
designation of a person, persons or class of persons who may be interred
in any lot or tomb has been made pursuant to this subdivision and in
which the designated person or persons, or all of the known class of
designated persons, have died and have not been buried in the places
designated in said lot or tomb, or have by a written instrument duly
signed and acknowledged and filed with the corporation, renounced the
right of interment pursuant to such designation, then, and in any such
event, the then owner or owners of said lot or tomb and any surviving
spouse having the right of interment therein, may designate another
person or persons or class of persons who may thereafter be interred in
said lot or in a tomb in said lot, and the places of their interment,
unless the original designation clearly indicated not only that it was
irrevocable, but also that no further designations were to be made. Any
designation provided for by this subdivision except a designation by
testamentary instrument, shall be deemed revocable unless such
instrument provides otherwise. In the event an owner or co-owner of a
lot is under the age of eighteen years, any designation provided for by
this subdivision, except a designation by testamentary instrument, may
be executed and acknowledged by the parent or general or testamentary
guardian for and on behalf of such owner or co-owner, provided, however,
that no such designation may be made unless a place of interment shall
remain available in said lot or in a tomb in such lot for the interment
of each owner or co-owner of the lot under the age of eighteen years,
and any designation so made may be revoked by the owner or co-owner upon
reaching the age of eighteen years except with respect to burials
effected before that time. A designation made by a parent or guardian on
behalf of an infant owner or co-owner who is over the age of fourteen
years must contain the written consent of such infant owner or co-owner.

(g) Lot owner voting. Each owner of full age of a lot in the cemetery
of the corporation, as shown in the records of the cemetery at the time
of the purchase of the lot from the corporation, or if there be two or
more owners, then one of them designated in writing by a majority of
them, may cast, in person or by proxy, one vote at meetings of the
corporation in respect to each such lot so owned. At such meetings, each
owner of a certificate of stock heretofore lawfully issued shall be
entitled to one vote for each share of stock owned by him and each owner
of a certificate of indebtedness shall be entitled to one vote for each
one hundred dollars of such indebtedness remaining unpaid. No lot owner
shall be entitled to vote unless all assessments against the lot of such
owner shall have been paid. A quorum for the transaction of business,
unless the certificate of incorporation or by-laws otherwise provide,
shall be five members entitled to vote at the meeting. In the event a
lot owner has executed a proxy which has been in effect for five or more
years, the cemetery corporation shall not honor such proxy unless it is
presented with proof that the lot owner has been sent a written notice
at the address listed in the records of the corporation at least thirty
days prior to the meeting at which the proxy is to be exercised advising
the lot owner that the proxy is still effective. The notice shall
identify the date, time and place of such meeting, and the name of the
person holding the proxy and shall state that it may, unless the proxy
provides otherwise, be terminated at any time. Such notice need not be
mailed more frequently than every fifth year.

(h) Plots owned by religious corporations, unincorporated
associations, or other entities that provide burial benefits for its
members. With respect to any lot, plot or part thereof owned by a
membership or religious corporation or unincorporated association or
other entity that provides burial benefits for its members, and requires
the cemetery to obtain a burial authorization from the membership,
religious corporation, unincorporated association, or other entity, the
following rules shall apply:

(1) If a cemetery receives a request to bury an individual who was a
member of a membership, religious corporation, unincorporated
association, or other entity that owns the lot, plot or part thereof in
which the burial would be made, and despite reasonable efforts on the
part of the family of the deceased, the funeral home, and/or the
cemetery, no representative of the membership, religious corporation,
unincorporated association, or other entity that owns the lot, plot or
part thereof in which the burial would be made can be located to
authorize the burial, the cemetery may, at its discretion, proceed with
the interment provided that documentary evidence indicating a specific
grave reservation in the lot, plot or part thereof, for the deceased
individual is provided to the cemetery and further that the cemetery has
recorded such reservation on its books and in its records;

(2) If the decedent is within the first degree of consanguinity to an
individual already interred in the lot, plot or part thereof, or the
spouse of the decedent is already interred in the lot, plot or part
thereof, the cemetery may, at its discretion, proceed with the
interment, provided some form of documentary evidence is provided to the
cemetery as to the decedent's right of burial in the lot, plot or part
thereof;

(3) The right of memorialization shall, under the circumstances
described in this paragraph, pass to the person with the right of
possession of the body at the time of burial; and

(4) Neither the cemetery nor the funeral director shall be liable for
any claims, in law or equity, relating to the failure to obtain
authorization from the membership, religious corporation, unincorporated
association, or other entity for the use of the plot, lot, or portion
thereof provided that the requirements of this paragraph have been met.