PART 3. PRIVATE CEMETERIES [8250. - 8829.]

Part 3 enacted by Stats. 1939, Ch. 60.

§§ 8250–8829 · 153 sections

CHAPTER 1. General Provisions §§ 8250–8253 · 5 sections
- § 8250 Except as provided in subdivision (c) of this section, the provisions of this part do not apply to any of the following: (a) Any religious corporation, church,…
- § 8250.5 As used in Section 8250 of this code, a public cemetery is a cemetery owned and operated by a city, county, city and county, or public cemetery district.
- § 8251 The provisions of this part do not affect the corporate existence of any cemetery organized under any law then existing prior to August 14, 1931, and as to…
- § 8252 It is unlawful for any corporation, copartnership, firm, trust, association, or individual to engage in or transact any of the businesses of a cemetery within…
- § 8253 The powers, privileges, duties and restrictions conferred and imposed upon any corporation, firm, copartnership, association, trust or individual, existing and…
CHAPTER 2. Operation and Management §§ 8275–8396 · 41 sections
1. ARTICLE 1. General Provisions §§ 8275–8279 · 5 sections
  - § 8275 Any private corporation authorized by its articles so to do, may establish, maintain, manage, improve, or operate a cemetery, and conduct any or all of the…
  - § 8276 Charges made by a cemetery authority for foundations, for setting of or permitting the setting of, or for endowment care of, grave markers or monuments, shall…
  - § 8277 Every contract of a cemetery authority, including contracts executed in behalf thereof by a cemetery broker or salesperson, which provides for the sale by the…
  - § 8278 In addition to any right of rescission which the purchaser may have under law, a purchaser entering into a contract with a cemetery broker, salesman, or…
  - § 8279 A cemetery authority shall comply with the Mausoleum and Columbarium Law (Part 5 (commencing with Section 9501)).
2. ARTICLE 2. Rules and Regulations §§ 8300–8309 · 3 sections
  - § 8300 (a) A cemetery authority may make, adopt, amend, add to, revise, or modify, and enforce rules and regulations for the use, care, control, management,…
  - § 8301.5 (a) Nothing in Section 8301 shall be construed to permit a cemetery authority to discriminate against any person based upon race or gender regarding the use of…
  - § 8309 The rules and regulations shall be plainly printed or typewritten and maintained subject to inspection in the office of the cemetery authority or in such place…
3. ARTICLE 3. Police Power § 8325 · 1 section
  - § 8325 Persons designated by a cemetery authority have the powers of arrest as provided in Section 830.7 of the Penal Code for the purpose of maintaining order,…
4. ARTICLE 4. Records §§ 8330–8331 · 2 sections
  - § 8330 A record shall be kept of every interment showing the date the human remains were received, the date of interment, the name and age of the person interred,…
  - § 8331 A record shall be kept of the ownership of all plots in the cemetery which have been conveyed by the cemetery authority and of all transfers of plots in the…
5. ARTICLE 5. Operation of Crematories §§ 8341–8347 · 11 sections
  - § 8341 All cremated remains not disposed of in accordance with this chapter, within one year, shall be interred.
  - § 8342 No crematory shall make or enforce any rules requiring that human remains be placed in a casket before cremation or that human remains be cremated in a casket,…
  - § 8343 A crematory shall maintain on its premises, or other business location within the State of California, an accurate record of all cremations performed,…
  - § 8344 A crematory shall maintain an identification system allowing identification of each decedent beginning from the time the crematory accepts delivery of human…
  - § 8344.5 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) or (c), a crematory regulated by the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau shall knowingly cremate only human remains in…
  - § 8344.6 (a) A crematory that incinerates an American flag or flags pursuant to Section 8344.5 shall maintain on its premises an accurate record of all American flags…
  - § 8345 If a cremated remains container is of insufficient capacity to accommodate all cremated remains of a given deceased, the crematory shall provide a larger…
  - § 8345.5 A crematory shall not accept human remains for cremation unless the remains meet all of the following requirements: (a) The remains shall be in a cremation…
  - § 8346 Within two hours after a crematory licensed by the State of California takes custody of a body that has not been embalmed, it shall refrigerate the body at a…
  - § 8346.5 Every crematory operator, or duly authorized representative shall provide to any person who inquires in person, a written, or printed list of prices for…
  - § 8347 (a) The crematory licensee, or his or her authorized representative shall provide instruction to all crematory personnel involved in the cremation process.…
6. ARTICLE 6. Contract Limitations §§ 8350–8351 · 2 sections
  - § 8350 Unless otherwise limited by the law under which created, cemetery authorities shall in the conduct of their business have the same powers granted by law to…
  - § 8351 All mortgages, deeds of trust, and other liens of any nature, hereafter contracted, placed or incurred upon property which has been and was at the time of the…
7. ARTICLE 7. Restrictions on Officers §§ 8360–8362 · 3 sections
  - § 8360 No director or officer of any cemetery authority shall directly or indirectly, for himself or as the partner or agent of others, borrow any funds of the…
  - § 8361 The office of any director or officer who acts or permits action contrary to this article immediately thereupon becomes vacant.
  - § 8362 Every director or officer authorizing or consenting to a loan, and the person who receives a loan, in violation of this article are severally guilty of a…
8. ARTICLE 8. Hydrolysis Facilities §§ 8370–8382 · 7 sections
  - § 8370 All hydrolyzed human remains not disposed of in accordance with this chapter, within one year, shall be interred.
  - § 8372 A hydrolysis facility shall not make or enforce any rules requiring that human remains be placed in a casket before hydrolysis or that human remains be…
  - § 8374 (a) A hydrolysis facility shall maintain on its premises, or other business location within the state, an accurate record of all hydrolyses performed,…
  - § 8376 (a) A hydrolysis facility shall maintain an identification system allowing identification of each decedent beginning from the time the hydrolysis facility…
  - § 8378 Within two hours after a licensed hydrolysis facility takes custody of a body that has not been embalmed, it shall refrigerate the body at a temperature not…
  - § 8380 (a) The hydrolysis facility licensee, or its authorized representatives, shall provide instruction to all hydrolysis facility personnel involved in the…
  - § 8382 This article shall become operative on July 1, 2020.
9. ARTICLE 9. Reduction Facilities §§ 8390–8396 · 7 sections
  - § 8390 All reduced human remains not disposed of in accordance with this chapter shall be disposed of pursuant to Section 7714.4 of the Business and Professions Code. see note
  - § 8391 A reduction facility shall not make or enforce rules requiring that human remains be placed in a casket before reduction, nor shall a reduction facility refuse… see note
  - § 8392 (a) A reduction facility shall maintain on its premises, or other business location within the state, an accurate record of all reductions performed, including… see note
  - § 8393 (a) A reduction facility shall maintain an identification system allowing identification of each decedent beginning from the time the reduction facility… see note
  - § 8394 Within two hours after a reduction facility takes custody of a body that has not been embalmed, it shall refrigerate the body at a temperature not greater than… see note
  - § 8395 (a) The reduction facility licensee, or its authorized representatives, shall provide instruction to all facility personnel involved in the reduction process.… see note
  - § 8396 This article shall become operative on January 1, 2027.
CHAPTER 3. Acquisition, Dedication and Sale §§ 8500–8585 · 25 sections
1. ARTICLE 1. Acquisition of Property §§ 8500–8501 · 2 sections
  - § 8500 Cemetery authorities may take by purchase, donation or devise, property consisting of lands, mausoleums, crematories, and columbariums, or other property…
  - § 8501 Any cemetery authority which is described in Section 23701c of the Revenue and Taxation Code or is a corporation sole may acquire by eminent domain any…
2. ARTICLE 2. Declaration of Intention §§ 8525–8526 · 2 sections
  - § 8525 A cemetery authority may execute a declaration acknowledged so as to entitle it to be recorded, describing the property and declaring its intention to use all…
  - § 8526 The declaration may be filed for record in the office of the recorder of the county in which the property is situated, and from the date of filing the…
3. ARTICLE 3. Dedication §§ 8550–8561 · 13 sections
  - § 8550 Every cemetery authority, from time to time as its property may be required for interment purposes, shall: (a) In case of land, survey and subdivide it into…
  - § 8551 The cemetery authority shall file the map or plat in the office of the recorder of the county in which all or a portion of the property is situated. The…
  - § 8552 The declaration shall be in such form as the cemetery authority may prescribe, and shall be subscribed by the president or vice president, and the secretary,…
  - § 8553 Upon the filing of the map or plat and the filing of the declaration for record, the dedication is complete for all purposes and thereafter the property shall…
  - § 8554 When reservation is made in the declaration of dedication, any part or subdivision of the property so mapped and platted may, by order of the directors, be…
  - § 8555 The filed map or plat and the recorded declaration are constructive notice to all persons of the dedication of the property to cemetery purposes.
  - § 8556 The county recorder of the county in which a map or plat is filed shall index the map or plat in the general index giving reference to date of filing and…
  - § 8557 The county recorder of the county in which a declaration of dedication is filed shall record it in the official records of his office and index it in the…
  - § 8558 After property is dedicated to cemetery purposes pursuant to this chapter, neither the dedication, nor the title of a plot owner, shall be affected by the…
  - § 8559 Dedication to cemetery purposes pursuant to this chapter is not invalid as violating any laws against perpetuities or the suspension of the power of alienation…
  - § 8560 After dedication pursuant to this chapter, and as long as the property remains dedicated to cemetery purposes, no railroad, street, road, alley, pipe line,…
  - § 8560.5 No streets, alleys, or roads shall be opened or laid out within the boundary lines of any cemetery located in whole or in part within the lines of any city or…
  - § 8561 All property dedicated pursuant to this chapter, including roads, alleys, and walks, is exempt from public improvement assessments and is exempt from…
4. ARTICLE 4. Sale of Plots §§ 8570–8574 · 5 sections
  - § 8570 After filing the map or plat and recording the declaration of dedication, a cemetery authority may sell and convey plots subject to such rules and regulations…
  - § 8571 (a) All plots, the use of which has been conveyed by deed or certificate of ownership as a separate plot, are indivisible except with the consent of the…
  - § 8572 All conveyances made by a cemetery authority shall be signed by the president or the vice president, and the secretary, or by other officers authorized by the…
  - § 8573 Any cemetery authority or its agents who sell, offer for sale, contract to sell, or negotiate the sale of mausoleum crypts before the receipt of a certificate…
  - § 8574 For a violation of any provision of Section 8573, the bureau may temporarily suspend or permanently revoke the license of any cemetery licensee and may order…
5. ARTICLE 5. Removal of Dedication §§ 8580–8581 · 2 sections
  - § 8580 Property dedicated to cemetery purposes shall be held and used exclusively for cemetery purposes, unless and until the dedication is removed from all or any…
  - § 8581 The notice of hearing provided in section 8580 shall be given by publication once a week for at least three consecutive weeks in a daily newspaper of general…
6. ARTICLE 6. Transfer of Cemetery Ownership § 8585 · 1 section
  - § 8585 (a) Whenever ownership of any cemetery authority is proposed to be transferred, the cemetery authority shall notify the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau in the…
CHAPTER 4. Property Rights §§ 8600–8680 · 19 sections
1. ARTICLE 1. General Provisions §§ 8600–8605 · 6 sections
  - § 8600 All plots conveyed to individuals are presumed to be the sole and separate property of the owner named in the instrument of conveyance.
  - § 8601 The spouse of an owner of any plot containing more than one interment space has a vested right of interment of his remains in the plot and any person…
  - § 8602 No conveyance or other action of the owner without the written consent or joinder of the spouse of the owner divests the spouse of a vested right of interment,…
  - § 8603 If no interment is made in an interment plot which has been transferred by deed or certificate of ownership to an individual owner, or if all remains…
  - § 8604 Cemetery property passing to an individual by reason of the death of the owner is exempt from all inheritance taxes.
  - § 8605 An affidavit by a person having knowledge of the facts setting forth the fact of the death of the owner and the name of the person or persons entitled to the…
2. ARTICLE 2. Joint Tenants §§ 8625–8629 · 5 sections
  - § 8625 In a conveyance to two or more persons as joint tenants each joint tenant has a vested right of interment in the plot conveyed.
  - § 8626 Upon the death of a joint tenant, the title to the plot held in joint tenancy immediately vests in the survivors, subject to the vested right of interment of…
  - § 8627 Cemetery property held in joint tenancy is exempt from the provisions of the Probate Code relating to proceedings for establishing the fact of death of a…
  - § 8628 An affidavit by any person having knowledge of the facts setting forth the fact of the death of one joint tenant and establishing the identity of the surviving…
  - § 8629 When there are several owners of a plot, or of rights of interment in it, they may designate one or more persons to represent the plot and file written notice…
3. ARTICLE 3. Family Interment Plots §§ 8650–8653 · 5 sections
  - § 8650 (a) Whenever an interment of the remains of a member or of a relative of a member of the family of the record owner or of the remains of the record owner is…
  - § 8650.5 An affidavit executed by a person who is the owner of the plot by virtue of the laws of intestate succession or by his or her attorney-in-fact, setting forth…
  - § 8651 In a family plot one grave, niche or crypt may be used for the owner’s interment; one for the owner’s surviving spouse, if any, who by law has a vested right…
  - § 8652 If no parent or child survives, the right of interment goes in the order of death first, to the spouse of any child of the record owner and second, in the…
  - § 8653 Any surviving spouse, parent, child or heir who has a right of interment in a family plot may waive such right in favor of any other relative, or spouse of a…
4. ARTICLE 4. Vested Right of Interment §§ 8675–8676 · 2 sections
  - § 8675 A vested right of interment may be waived and is terminated upon the interment elsewhere of the remains of the person in whom vested.
  - § 8676 No vested right of interment gives to any person the right to have his remains interred in any interment space in which the remains of any deceased person…
5. ARTICLE 5. Voluntary Establishment of Inalienability § 8680 · 1 section
  - § 8680 A cemetery authority may take and hold any plot conveyed or devised to it by the plot owner so that it will be inalienable, and interments shall be restricted…
CHAPTER 5. Endowment and Special Care §§ 8700–8785 · 58 sections
1. ARTICLE 1. Care of Old Cemeteries §§ 8700–8715 · 15 sections
  - § 8700 In addition to those cemeteries to which this part does not apply, this article does not apply to abandoned cemeteries nor to cemeteries in which interments…
  - § 8701 Whenever a majority of the plots in all or any part of a cemetery established prior to August 14, 1931, has been sold without the owner having made provision…
  - § 8702 Application for the alteration or vacation or replatting of all or any portion of an alley, street, avenue, walk, driveway, or park, for plots in the cemetery…
  - § 8703 The application may be by the cemetery authority owning or operating the cemetery or if there is no cemetery authority operating the cemetery, by twenty or…
  - § 8704 The petition shall be verified and shall specify the facts of such ownership and shall state the reasons for the proposed change and what provisions have…
  - § 8705 There shall be presented with the petition a plat of the cemetery and the proposed replat which shall clearly indicate the proposed changes.
  - § 8706 The petition shall be filed with the clerk of the superior court, and the clerk shall fix the time for hearing not less then thirty nor more than sixty days…
  - § 8707 Notice of the hearing shall be given by publishing a copy of the notice in a newspaper of general circulation near the cemetery in the county in which the…
  - § 8708 Copies of the notice shall be posted in three conspicuous places within the cemetery.
  - § 8709 The notice shall: (a) Be addressed to all persons owning or interested in plots in the cemetery but need not name them. (b) Set forth in a general way the…
  - § 8710 At the time fixed for the hearing, the court shall hear and consider any evidence introduced in favor of and all objections to the changes and may allow the…
  - § 8711 The cemetery authority or other person directed by the court shall accept the newly created plots and shall sell and convey them only for interment purposes.
  - § 8713 The vacation of an alley, avenue, roadway, walk, driveway, street, or park adjacent to a privately owned plot does not vest any interest in the owner of the…
  - § 8714 In allowing any damages to any plot owner for such vacation, the court shall take into consideration the benefit to be received from endowment care.
  - § 8715 The provisions of this article are hereby declared to be a necessary exercise of the police power of the State in order to preserve and keep existing…
2. ARTICLE 2. Care of Active Cemeteries §§ 8725–8748 · 30 sections
  - § 8725 A cemetery authority that maintains a cemetery may place its cemetery under endowment care and establish, maintain, and operate an endowment care fund.…
  - § 8726 (a) The principal of all funds for endowment care shall be invested and the income only may be used for the care, maintenance, and embellishment of the…
  - § 8726.1 (a) If a cemetery authority establishes an endowment care fund, the fund shall be subject to a net income distribution method that requires all of the…
  - § 8726.2 (a) On or after January 1, 2021, a cemetery authority, its board of trustees, or its corporate trustee may apply to the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau to convert…
  - § 8726.3 (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the principal of the trust fund of a cemetery and all income from it shall be exempt from seizure, under any writ, mandate,…
  - § 8728 The cemetery authority may from time to time adopt plans for the general care, maintenance, and embellishment of its cemetery, and charge and collect from all…
  - § 8729 Upon payment of the purchase price and the amount fixed as a proportionate contribution for endowment care, there may be included in the deed of conveyance or…
  - § 8730 Upon the application of an owner of any plot, and upon the payment by him of the amount fixed as a reasonable and proportionate contribution for endowment care…
  - § 8731 (a) The cemetery authority may appoint a board of trustees of not less than three in number as trustees of its endowment care fund. The members of the board of…
  - § 8732 Not more than one member of the board of trustees of an endowment care fund may have a proprietary interest in the cemetery authority.
  - § 8732.1 Each individual trustee of an endowment care fund shall be a resident of this State, and a corporate trustee shall be qualified to do business in this State.
  - § 8733 No sum in excess of 5 percent of the net income derived from an endowment care fund, or special care fund, or both, in any year shall be paid as compensation…
  - § 8733.5 In lieu of the appointment of a board of trustees of its endowment care fund, any cemetery authority may appoint as sole trustee of its endowment care fund any…
  - § 8734 (a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), the board of trustees or corporate trustee of an endowment care fund or one or more special care…
  - § 8735 A cemetery authority which has established an endowment care fund may take, receive, and hold as a part of or incident to the fund any property, real, personal…
  - § 8736 The endowment care fund and all payments or contributions to it are hereby expressly permitted as and for charitable and eleemosynary purposes. Endowment care…
  - § 8737 No payment, gift, grant, bequest, or other contribution for general endowment care is invalid by reason of any indefiniteness or uncertainty of the persons…
  - § 8738 (a) For purposes of this section, “net price” means the retail price less any discounts the cemetery provides to consumers for the purchase of an interment…
  - § 8738.1 In addition to the requirements of Section 8738 any endowment care cemetery hereafter established shall also have deposited in its endowment care fund the…
  - § 8738.2 The endowment care fund under the provisions of this code shall be kept separate and apart from all other cemetery funds. Separate records and books shall be…
  - § 8739 A nonendowment care cemetery is one that does not have deposited in an endowment care fund the minimum amounts required by law.
  - § 8739.1 Any cemetery established, on or after September 7, 1955, or excluded from the exemption provided in subdivision (c) of Section 8250 by virtue of paragraph (2)…
  - § 8740 A cemetery which otherwise complies with Section 8738 may be designated an endowment care cemetery even though it contains a small section which may be sold…
  - § 8741 Each endowment care cemetery shall post in a conspicuous place at or near the entrance of the cemetery and at its administration building and readily…
  - § 8743 Each nonendowment care cemetery or the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau shall post in a conspicuous place in the office or offices where sales are conducted and in…
  - § 8744 There shall be printed at the head of all contracts, agreements, statements, receipts, literature and other publications of nonendowment care cemeteries the…
  - § 8745 All the information appearing on the signs and report filed in the cemetery office shall be revised annually and verified by the president and secretary, or…
  - § 8746 Any person, partnership, corporation, association, or his, her, or its agents or representatives, who shall violate any of the provisions of this article,…
  - § 8747.5 Each cemetery shall at all times maintain and keep within the State of California all books, accounts, records, cash and evidences of investments of its…
  - § 8748 Where an endowment care mausoleum or mausoleum-columbarium is operated within an endowment care cemetery and the cemetery corporations or cemetery authorities…
3. ARTICLE 3. Investment of Endowment Funds §§ 8750–8751.1 · 3 sections
  - § 8750 Endowment care funds shall not be used for any purpose other than to provide through income only for the reserves authorized by law and for the endowment care…
  - § 8751 The funds shall be invested and reinvested, and kept invested in: (a) Bonds of the United States or this state, or of any county, city and county, or city in…
  - § 8751.1 In addition to the requirements of Section 8751, the funds may be invested and reinvested and kept invested in investments of the type and in the manner as…
4. ARTICLE 4. Special Care §§ 8775–8779.5 · 7 sections
  - § 8775 A cemetery authority which has established an endowment care fund may also take and hold any property bequeathed, granted, or given to it in trust to apply the…
  - § 8776 The sums paid in or contributed to the fund authorized by this article are hereby expressly permitted as and for a charitable and eleemosynary purpose. Such…
  - § 8777 All money or property received by a cemetery authority for deposit in a special care fund shall be placed in the custody of the trustee or trustees thereof…
  - § 8778 The following shall be eligible investments for all special care trusts: (a) Bonds of the United States or this state, or of any county, city, or city and…
  - § 8778.5 Each special care trust fund established pursuant to this article shall be administered in compliance with the following requirements: (a) (1) The board of…
  - § 8779 Nothing in this article shall require liquidation or transmutation of any lawful investment existing on December 31, 1976, but any reinvestment shall be…
  - § 8779.5 Each special care fund established pursuant to this article shall be held in trust and managed by either the board of trustees of the cemetery authority’s…
5. ARTICLE 5. Misrepresentation as to Endowment §§ 8780–8781 · 2 sections
  - § 8780 No person, partnership, corporation, association, or his, her, or its agents or representatives, shall sell, offer for sale, or advertise any plot under…
  - § 8781 It shall be unlawful for a cemetery authority, its officers, employees or agents, or a cemetery broker or salesman to represent that an endowment care fund or…
6. ARTICLE 6. Penalties § 8785 · 1 section
  - § 8785 Any person, partnership, or corporation administering, managing, or having responsibility for endowment care or special care funds who violates the provisions…
CHAPTER 7. Abandonment §§ 8825–8829 · 5 sections
- § 8825 A city or county having a nonendowment care cemetery within its boundaries which threatens or endangers the health, safety, comfort or welfare of the public…
- § 8826 The resolution for abandonment adopted under the provisions of this chapter shall specify and declare that at any time after the expiration of 60 days after…
- § 8827 After the publication mentioned in Section 8826 of this code and after the expiration of the 60 days specified in the notice, the city or county shall remove…
- § 8828 After the work which the governing body, in its discretion, finds necessary and practicable has been completed, the governing body shall immediately…
- § 8829 Thereafter the city or county shall maintain said pioneer memorial park so that it will not endanger the health, safety, comfort, or welfare of the public.