Questions about burials

Prior to a memorial being erected on a grave space, the written authority of the owner of the grave must be given on a permit/application form, authorising the proposed erection of the memorial. Memorials need to conform to cemetery regulations with regard to size and fixings, and the memorial also needs to be checked for stability under health and safety regulations.

The cemetery staff need to check that the memorial conforms to regulations and will be erected in a safe manner. To a certain extent, this helps protect your interests although you will remain responsible for the maintenance of the memorial in the future.

You may ask your memorial mason for a workmanship guarantee or in fact details of insurance. Some authorities will issue a separate right to erect and maintain a memorial. The purchase of this right will be made on submission of the application to erect a memorial. Other authorities may combine the memorial rights with the burial rights.