Moore, 081519 ALAGO, AGO 2019-39

• Case Date: August 15, 2019
• Court: Alabama

Honorable Sheila G. Moore AGO 2019-39 No. 2019-039 Alabama Attorney General Opinion State of Alabama Office of the Attorney General August 15, 2019          Honorable Sheila G. Moore          Winston County Probate Judge          Post Office Box 27          Double Springs, Alabama 35553          Probate Judges - Estates Wills -Cemeteries - Real Property          Assuming all of the requirements are met, the heirs of the owner of a burial plot would be entitled to file a petition for summary disposition of the owner's small estate under sections 43-2-690, et seq., of the Recompiled Constitution of Alabama.          Dear Judge Moore:          This opinion of the Attorney General is issued in response to your request.          QUESTION          Would the heirs of the owner of a burial plot be entitled to file a summary disposition of the owner's small estate under sections 43-2-690, et seq., of the Recompiled Constitution of Alabama?          FACTS AND ANALYSIS          You ask if the estate in which the decedent owned a burial plot is eligible for summary disposition under sections 43-2-690, et seq., of the Code of Alabama. Ala. Code §§ 43-2-690 to 43-2-696 (1991 & Supp. 2018). Your request states that a decedent may retain a plot by either purchasing it prior to his or her death and receiving a plot "deed" or by having markers placed in a community cemetery and having it recorded by the cemetery committee as the decedent's plot.          Under section 43-2-692(a), the surviving spouse or distributees of an estate comprised solely of personal property may file a petition for the summary disposition of the estate. An "estate" eligible for summary disposition is defined under section 43-2-691(3) as "[a]ll the personal property of a decedent who owns no real property at the time of his or her death for which title does not pass by operation of law." Ala. Code § 43-2-691(3) (Supp. 2018) (emphasis added). Therefore, if a burial plot is considered "real property" under this definition, then the estate of a decedent owning a...