reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
MA Gen L ch 114 § 9 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 9 - By-Laws and Regulations of Cemetery and Crematory Corporations; Conduct of Business; Violations

   The General Laws of MassachusettsGo To:Next SectionPrevious SectionChapter Table of ContentsMGL Search Page General Court Home Mass.gov  PART I. ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT  TITLE XVI. PUBLIC HEALTH  CHAPTER 114. CEMETERIES AND BURIALS  Chapter 114: Section 9. By-laws and regulations of cemetery and crematory corporations; conduct of business; violations Section 9. Cemetery and crematory corporations may, subject to the approval of said department, make by-laws and regulations consistent with law for the reception and cremation of bodies of the dead and for the disposition of the ashes thereof, and shall conduct their business in accordance with such regulations as said department shall establish and furnish in writing to the clerk of the corporation. Violation of any such regulation of said department shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty nor more than five hundred dollars. Such corporations shall not erect, occupy or use any building for cremation until the location and plans thereof with all details of construction have been submitted to and approved by said department or by a person designated by it, subject to the provisions of section forty-three D.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 10 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 10 - Town Burial Places

Section 10. Each town shall provide one or more suitable places for the interment of persons dying within its limits.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 10a (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 10a - Municipality Ownership of Unclaimed Graves; Reuse of Occupied Graves

Section 10A. No municipality shall take over the ownership of an unoccupied grave unless a minimum of seventy-five years has elapsed after issuance of a license for the grave by the municipality or its predecessor in interest; and the municipality cannot locate the license holder or the holder's successor in interest after making a diligent search. If ownership of the license is ascertained after such a taking occurs, then the municipality shall pay the fair value of the license at the time of its taking to the owner.  No municipality shall reuse an occupied grave except: upon the request and with the consent of a relative or descendant of the decedent occupying the grave, providing that no other descendant objects; to provide for the burial of a relative or descendant of the decedent occupying the grave; and if the remains of the decedent occupying the grave will remain in the grave. The municipality shall determine, by by-law or ordinance, the method to be used in reusing such occupied graves and may reasonably limit the circumstances under which such reuse can occur.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 11 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 11 - Public Cemeteries; Taking of Land for Burial Purposes; Application to County Commissioners

Section 11. If there is necessity for a new cemetery in a town, or for the enlargement of an existing cemetery in and belonging to a town, and the owner or any person interested in the land needed for either purpose refuses to sell the same, or demands therefor a price which the selectmen consider unreasonable, or is unable to convey it, the selectmen may, with the approval of the town, make application therefor by written petition to the county commissioners of the county where the land lies.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 12 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 12 - Public Cemeteries; Taking of Land for Burial Places; Hearing Notice

Section 12. The commissioners shall appoint a time and place for a hearing, and shall cause notice thereof and a copy of the petition to be served personally upon the owner, if known, or left at his place of abode, fourteen days at least before the time appointed for the hearing. If the land is held in trust or by a corporation, or if the ownership is uncertain, the commissioners shall also give notice by public advertisement or otherwise.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 13 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 13 - Public Cemeteries; Adjudication by Commissioners; Taking

Section 13. The commissioners shall hear the parties at the time and place appointed or at an adjournment thereof, shall adjudicate upon the necessity of such taking, upon the quantity and boundaries of any land adjudged necessary to be taken, and may take in fee under chapter seventy-nine on behalf of the town such land as is adjudged necessary.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 14 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 14 - Public Cemeteries; Compensation of Commissioners Acting Under Petition to Take Land for Burial Place

Section 14. Each commissioner shall be paid by the town three dollars a day for each day spent in acting under the petition, and five cents a mile for travel to and from the place of hearing.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 15 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 15 - Appropriation for Enclosing and Improving Public Cemetery; Sale or Conveyance of Burial Rights; Disposition of Proceeds

Section 15. Towns may appropriate money for enclosing any cemetery lawfully provided by them or for constructing paths and avenues and embellishing the grounds therein, and may establish all necessary rules relative thereto consistent with law. They may lay out such cemetery into lots, and shall set apart a suitable portion as a public burial place for the use of the inhabitants, free of charge. They may sell and convey to any person, resident or non-resident, the exclusive right of burial and of erecting tombs and cenotaphs upon any lot and of ornamenting the same, upon such terms and conditions and subject to such regulations as they shall prescribe. Upon the conveyance of a burial lot, a town: (1) shall assign a number to such lot; (2) shall cause a marker to be installed thereon which indicates such number; (3) shall give a written notification to the purchaser of such lot, or his agent, which notification specifies the location and number of such lot; and (4) may charge the purchaser of such lot a reasonable fee for the cost of such marker and its installation. Towns shall maintain records concerning the location and numbering of such lots, which records shall be open to the public. The proceeds of such sales shall be paid into the town treasuries, be kept separate from other funds, and be appropriated to reimburse the towns for the cost of the land, its care, improvement and embellishment, or the enlargement of the cemetery.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 16 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 16 - Appropriation for and Care of Public Cemeteries

Section 16. Any town may annually appropriate and raise by taxation such sums as may be necessary to care for and keep in good order and to protect by proper fences any or all burial grounds within the town in which ten or more bodies are interred and which are not properly cared for by the owners, and the care and protection of such burial grounds shall be in charge of the cemetery commissioners, if the town has such officers, otherwise in charge of the selectmen.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 17 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 17 - Preservation of Ancient Burial Places

Section 17. A town shall not alienate or appropriate to any other use than that of a burial ground, any tract of land which has been for more than one hundred years used as a burial place; and no portion of such burial ground shall be taken for public use without special authority from the general court. ''Burial place'', as referred to in this section, shall include unmarked burial grounds known or suspected to contain the remains of one or more American Indian.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 18 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 18 - Care of Neglected Burial Places Within Limits of Town

Section 18. Any town having within its limits an abandoned or neglected burying ground may take charge of the same and keep it in good order, and may appropriate money therefor, but no property rights shall be violated and no body shall be disinterred. No fence, tomb, monument or other structure shall be removed or destroyed, but the same may be repaired or restored.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 19 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 19 - Deposits for Care and Improvement of Burial Places or Lots; Records; Investment of Deposits

Section 19. A city or town may receive, hold and apply any funds, money or securities deposited with the treasurer thereof for the preservation, care, improvement or embellishment of any public or private burial place situated therein, or of burial lots situated in such burial places. Such funds, money or securities shall be entered upon the books of the treasurer, and held in accordance with ordinances or by-laws relative thereto. A city or town may pass ordinances or by-laws consistent with law, necessary for the purposes of this section. Each treasurer shall invest such deposits under his control to insure a maximum income from such deposits. Upon the receipt of a deposit for the preservation, care, improvement or embellishment of individual lots in public burial places, said treasurer shall so inform the city or town clerk, who shall record the facts relating to such deposit in the margin of his records of said lots.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 20 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 20 - Public Cemeteries; Depositing Funds With State Treasurer; Copy of Instrument; Notice to Town or City Clerk

Section 20. Money declared by written instrument to be intended for perpetual care, maintenance, improvement or embellishment of any cemetery, or of any lots or plots therein, to an amount not less than two hundred dollars, may be deposited with the state treasurer, who shall receive and receipt for it in the name of the commonwealth. The depositors at the time of making such deposit shall file with him and with the state secretary a copy of such instrument. If the cemetery belongs to a corporation, the deposit shall be accompanied by a written agreement, signed by the president thereof, to the effect that it will accept the income derived from the fund so deposited, and will apply it to the purposes set forth in the instrument. Upon the receipt of a deposit for the perpetual care of individual lots or plots in public burial places or cemeteries, the state treasurer shall so inform the clerk of the city or town in which they are located, and said clerk shall record the facts relating to said deposit in the margin of his records of said lots or plots.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 21 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 21 - Public Cemeteries; Investment of Funds; Interest

Section 21. The state treasurer shall invest such money in the name of the commonwealth, in bonds or other obligations of the commonwealth or in securities in which he is authorized to invest money in behalf of the commonwealth; and, on the first days of February and August in each year, he shall pay over the accrued interest thereof to the treasurer of any association owning a cemetery for the care, maintenance or improvement of which, or of any lot therein, the money has been deposited with him. If such cemetery is not owned by any association, such interest shall be paid to the town where the cemetery is located. At the time of paying such interest, the state treasurer shall inform the person to whom it is paid of the purpose to which it is to be applied, as stated in the copy of the instrument which is filed with him, and the person to whom it is paid shall apply it to such purpose.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 22 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 22 - Town Board of Cemetery Commissioners; Election of Members

Section 22. A town which accepts this and the four following sections or has accepted corresponding provisions of earlier laws may, at any town meeting, elect by ballot a board of cemetery commissioners consisting of three persons. If such board is first chosen at a meeting other than an annual town meeting, one member shall be elected for one year from the day following that fixed for the last preceding annual town meeting, one member for two years and one member for three years from said day; and annually thereafter one member shall, at the annual town meeting, be elected by ballot for a term of three years. Such boards shall choose a chairman, and a clerk who may be a member of the board.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 23 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 23 - Board of Cemetery Commissioners; Powers and Duties

Section 23. Said board shall have the sole care, superintendence and management of all public burial grounds in its town, may lay out any existing public burial grounds in its town or any land purchased and set apart by said town for such cemeteries, in lots or other suitable subdivisions, with proper paths and avenues, may plant, embellish, ornament and fence the same and erect therein such suitable edifices and conveniences and make such improvements as it considers convenient; and, subject to the approval of the town, may make such regulations, consistent with law, as it deems expedient.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 24 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 24 - Board of Cemetery Commissioners; Conveyance of Burial Lots; Record; Fee

Section 24. Said board may, by deed made and executed in such manner and form as it may prescribe, convey to any person the sole and exclusive right of burial in any lot in such cemeteries and of erecting tombs, cenotaphs and other monuments or structures thereon upon such terms and conditions as its regulations prescribe. Such deeds and all subsequent deeds of such lots made by owners thereof shall be recorded in the office of the city or town clerk in books kept for that purpose upon the payment of the fee provided by clause (78) of section thirty-four of chapter two hundred and sixty-two, and said records shall be open to the public at all reasonable times.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 25 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 25 - Board of Cemetery Commissioners; Gifts or Bequests for Cemeteries; Investment of Funds; Disposition of Proceeds of Sales of Lots or Burial Rights

Section 25. A town in which cemetery commissioners are chosen may receive gifts or bequests for maintaining cemeteries or cemetery lots, which shall be paid into the town treasury and, with the accounts thereof, shall be kept separate from the other money and accounts of said town. The town treasurer shall invest all such funds in accordance with the stipulations, if any, accompanying them; otherwise he shall invest them as ordered by said commissioners and pay the income therefrom upon their order or with their approval. The proceeds of sales of lots or rights of burial in such cemeteries shall be paid into the town treasury and be appropriated to reimburse the town for the cost of the land, its care, improvement and embellishment, or the enlargement of the cemetery.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 26 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 26 - Board of Cemetery Commissioners; Limit of Debts or Liabilities; Annual Report

Section 26. Said board shall not incur debts or liabilities for purposes other than aforesaid nor to an amount exceeding the amount of the funds subject to their order, and it shall annually make a written report to said town of its official acts, of the condition of such cemeteries, and render an account of its receipts and expenditures for the same and of the funds subject to its order.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 27 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 27 - Appointment of Board of Cemetery Commissioners; Powers and Duties

Section 27. If a town so votes under section twenty-one of chapter forty-one the selectmen shall appoint a board of cemetery commissioners to consist of three members, to be appointed for the term of three years. The commissioners shall, under the supervision and control of the selectmen, maintain the public cemeteries in the town, and shall with the approval of the selectmen, appoint such employees as are necessary to maintain such cemeteries.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 28 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 28 - Conveyance of Cemetery Lots or Interest in Lots in Trust for Preservation as Memorial; Rights of Heirs of Owner; Control Over Lot or Interest in Lot

Section 28. The owner of any right, title or interest in or to a lot, tomb or monument in any cemetery owned or controlled by any company or association or by any town, may convey or devise the same to such company, association or municipality in trust for the purpose of its preservation as a memorial or as a burial place for the bodies of the owner and his descendants or relatives, or of such other persons as may be specified in the instrument creating the trust, or upon such other trust as may be created by the instrument and accepted by the grantee or devisee; but no such instrument shall be construed to take away the right of the heirs of the owner of a lot or tomb to be buried therein, unless the instrument contains an express provision to that effect. Any such grantee or devisee may accept any such grant, gift or devise, and if it accepts the same shall forever carry out and observe the terms of the instrument by which the grant, gift or devise was made. After the making of a conveyance or the taking effect of a devise and its acceptance by the cemetery authorities, the grantor of the lot, tomb or monument or of any interest therein, or the heirs and assigns of the grantor or devisor thereof, shall have no control over it except such as may be reserved in the instrument.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 29 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 29 - Indivisible Character of Cemetery Lots; Vesting; Limitations and Conditions; Right of Interment; Designation of Representation of Lot; Record

Section 29. Lots in cemeteries incorporated under section one, tombs in public cemeteries in cities and lots and tombs in public cemeteries in towns, shall be held indivisible, and upon the decease of a proprietor of such lot the title thereto shall vest in the heirs at law or devisees of the deceased subject to the following limitations and conditions: If the deceased leaves a spouse and children, they shall have the possession, care and control of said lot or tomb in common during the life of such surviving spouse. If the deceased leaves a spouse and no children, said spouse shall have possession, care and control of such lots or tombs during life. If the deceased leaves children and no spouse, they shall have in common the possession, care and control of such lots or tombs during their joint lives, and the survivor of them during his life. The persons in possession, care and control of such lots or tombs may erect a monument and make other permanent improvements thereon. The surviving spouse shall have a right of permanent interment for his own body in such lot or tomb, but it may be removed therefrom to some other family lot or tomb with the consent of the heirs. If two or more persons are entitled to the possession, care and control of such lot or tomb, they shall designate in writing to the clerk of the corporation, or if it is a tomb or lot in a public cemetery, to the board of cemetery commissioners, if any, or to the town clerk, which of their number shall represent the lot; and in default of such designation, the board of trustees or directors of the corporation, the board of cemetery commissioners, if any, or the board of health if such lots or tombs are in public cemeteries in towns, shall enter of record which of said persons shall represent the lot during such default. The surviving spouse may release his right in such lot, but no conveyance or devise by any other person shall deprive him of such right.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 30 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 30 - Hearing as to Representation of Cemetery Lot or Tomb

Section 30. Before entering of record the name of any person to represent such lot or tomb, the board of cemetery commissioners, if any, or the board of health of a town shall hear the parties entitled to the control thereof at such time and place as it shall have previously appointed by a notice published in a newspaper, if any, of the town; otherwise, by posting a copy in a public place therein.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 31 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 31 - Descent of Family Cemetery Lot to Heirs

Section 31. If in a will no express disposition or other mention is made of a cemetery lot owned by the testator at his decease, and wherein he or any member of his family is buried, the ownership of the lot shall not pass from his lawful heirs by any residuary or other general clause of the will, but shall descend to his heirs, as if he had died intestate.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 32 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 32 - Right of Person to Interment; Release

Section 32. A person shall be entitled to a right of interment for his own body in any burial lot or tomb of which his spouse was seized at any time during marriage, which shall be exempt from the operation of the laws relating to conveyance, descent and devise, but may be released by him.
MA Gen L ch 114 § 33 (2021)
2021 Massachusetts General Laws|Part I - Administration of the Government|Title XVI - Public Health|Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials|Section 33 - Right of Husband to Interment

Section 33. A husband shall have the same rights in the tomb or burial lot of his wife as a wife has in that of her husband.