The result of these probate laws, is that if a person dies intestate, the spouse gets a one half interest in the burial rights and the children also get a one half interest in the burial rights. Kentucky attempted to correct this issue by creating a marital law that gives one half to the spouse, and the remainder of the decedent’s estate to the children or next of kin. Commonly in this industry, a friend or other family member will buy a grave or permit its use by another, whereupon the next of kin then assume say for the grave after burial.īy Kentucky law the next of kin is first to the children of the deceased, and not to the spouse. Under Kentucky law, once someone is buried in the grave, it is the deceased next of kin, and not the owner of record, that controls what happens or not with the grave. Further, upon the passing of the next of kin, the owner of the burial rights pass the same way, in stripes, to their next of kin.
(Most Wills are silent as to burial rights, as the drafter of the Wills rarely think to address the matter). If the decedent has a Will, the Will by devise may designate some other owner of the burial right inheritance. Upon the death of the initial owner of the burial right, if no Will (intestate), the burial right passes in common to be jointly owned by the decedent’s first tier next of kin. The owner of the burial right, initially, is who is declared as the owner upon purchase, and recorded as such in the cemetery’s records.
This is a good question: the subject of many lawsuits and considerable confusion, even amongst the legal community.
0 kommentar(er)
