MCL 456.537 Right to Possess Space Within Cemetery; Presumption of Abandonment; Certification; Notice; Record; Remedies; Transfer; Sale; Contract; Publication On Internet Website; Exception; Intent of Section; Definitions

• Library: Michigan Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through Public Act 321 of the 2023 Legislative Session
• Year: 2023
• Citation: MCL 456.537

(1) A person possessing a right to a space within a cemetery is presumed to have abandoned the right if all of the following apply:

(a) During the past 60 years, the person possessing the right to the space or the person's authorized representative has not provided the cemetery owner or operator with an updated address for purposes of contacting the person.

(b) During the past 60 years, the person possessing the right to the space or the person's authorized representative has not contacted the cemetery owner or operator and affirmed possession of the right in any of the following ways:

(i) Requesting an interment or notifying the cemetery owner or operator of an interment under the right to the space.

(ii) Requesting the installation of a memorial or notifying the cemetery owner or operator of the installation of a memorial under the right to the space.

(iii) Indicating or requesting a transfer of the right to the space to another person.

(iv) Making a payment to the cemetery owner or operator relating to the right to the space.

(v) Affirming in writing the possession of the right to the space.

(c) A memorial has not been installed at the cemetery under the right to the space.

(d) Remains have not been interred at the cemetery under the right to the space.

(2) If, after a right to a space is presumed to be abandoned under subsection (1), all of the following requirements are met, the cemetery owner or operator may under subsection (4) certify the right as abandoned:

(a) The cemetery owner or operator posts on the space for 120 consecutive days a written notice of intent to certify the right to the space as abandoned.

(b) If the cemetery owner or operator has a mailing address for the person possessing the right to the space or the person's authorized representative, the cemetery owner or operator sends to that address a written notice of intent to certify the right to the space as abandoned. The notice shall be sent by certified mail with a return receipt requested.

(c) If any of the following conditions apply, the cemetery owner or operator publishes once a week for 2 consecutive weeks a notice of intent to certify the right to the space as abandoned in a newspaper circulated in the county in which the cemetery is located:

(i) The cemetery owner or operator does not have a mailing address for the person possessing the right to the space or the person's authorized representative.

(ii) Whether or not a written notice mailed under subdivision (b) is returned as undeliverable, the person possessing the right to the space or the person's authorized representative has not contacted the cemetery owner or operator and affirmed the person's possession of the right within 60 days after the notice was mailed.