reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
18 V.S.A. § 5431
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5431. Cemetery associations; corporations

§ 5431. Cemetery associations; corporations|Every cemetery established after June 1, 1933, which is not owned and operated by a town or by a religious or ecclesiastical society shall be established, owned, and operated by a corporation as hereinafter prescribed.
18 V.S.A. § 5432
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5432. Organization and operation

§ 5432. Organization and operation|Such corporation shall be organized, and the affairs of the corporation shall be governed and controlled under the provisions of 11 V.S.A. chapter 1, under those sections thereof which provide for the organization and management of corporations not for profit.
18 V.S.A. § 5433
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5433. Authority; powers

§ 5433. Authority; powers|Upon filing the articles of incorporation, the incorporators and other members, if any, from the date of such filing, shall be and constitute a body corporate with perpetual succession and with capacity to perform all acts within the State not repugnant to law or the provisions of this chapter.
18 V.S.A. § 5434
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5434. Penalty for doing business as a cemetery association without authority

§ 5434. Penalty for doing business as a cemetery association without authority|A person, firm, corporation, or association, or a trust, trustee, or trustees of any person, firm, corporation, or association, who, without authority of this chapter so to do, shall exercise or attempt to exercise any powers, privileges, or franchises which are specified or may be granted under this chapter to incorporated cemetery associations, or who shall by any device attempt to evade the provisions of this chapter applicable to cemetery associations in respect to the sale of burial lots or burial spaces and the disposition of the proceeds thereof, shall be fined not less than $1,000.00 nor more than $10,000.00, and may be enjoined from further doing of such acts at the suit of any taxpayer of the State. However, the provisions of this section shall not affect or impair the rights of a person, firm, corporation, or association or a trust, trustee, or trustees of such person, firm, corporation, or association under any existing contract or contracts between such parties and incorporated cemetery associations, nor shall the performance of the provisions of such contract or contracts subject parties thereto to the penalties imposed by this section.
18 V.S.A. § 5435
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5435. Sales of lots, crypts, and niches; how income applied; rules

§ 5435. Sales of lots, crypts, and niches; how income applied; rules|(a) The income of a cemetery association whether derived from the sale of lots, burial spaces, crypts, or niches, from donations, or otherwise, shall be exclusively applied to paying for the land or other cemetery property, laying out, preserving, protecting, and embellishing the cemetery and avenues leading thereto, the erection of buildings necessary for cemetery purposes, the establishing of a fund to care permanently for the cemetery, the repair and upkeep of mausoleums, vaults, columbariums, crypts, and niches therein, and to paying the necessary expenses of the cemetery association. A debt shall not be contracted in anticipation of future receipts, except for the original purchase of the land, community mausoleum, or columbarium, laying out, enclosing, and embellishing the grounds and avenues therein and to a sum not exceeding $50,000.00 in the whole, to be paid out of future income. No part of the proceeds from the sale of lots, burial spaces, crypts, or niches, or other income of such association, shall ever be divided among its members. All its income shall be used exclusively for the purposes of the association, as provided in this chapter, or invested in a fund the income of which shall be so used. Such association may adopt such reasonable rules and regulations as it deems expedient for disposing of and conveying burial lots, spaces, crypts, and niches.(b) At a regular meeting or at a special meeting duly called for that purpose, a cemetery corporation may adopt bylaws respecting improvements upon its lots and grounds as to the embellishment and beautifying of the same. It may also provide that the cost of such improvements be paid out of the regular funds of the corporation.
18 V.S.A. § 5436
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5436. Perpetual care fund

§ 5436. Perpetual care fund|A cemetery association established prior to June 1, 1933 may create a perpetual care fund out of surplus money on hand or which has been given to it by will, deed, or otherwise. A cemetery association established after such date shall create such a perpetual care fund by applying thereto from the initial proceeds received from the sale of lots or burial spaces a sum which shall be equivalent to and not less than 20 percent of the sale price of each lot or burial space so sold, and such association may at any time increase the same by the addition of surplus money or property received by it by will, deed, or otherwise.
18 V.S.A. § 5437
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5437. Investment

§ 5437. Investment|A cemetery association shall invest such trust funds and shall expend the income therefrom in accordance with the provisions of section 5309 of this title.
18 V.S.A. § 5438
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5438. Cemetery accounts; annual reports

§ 5438. Cemetery accounts; annual reports|(a) A cemetery association shall keep and maintain adequate and correct accounts of its business transactions, which at all reasonable times shall be open to the inspection of every member of such corporation. It shall keep separate and apart from its other funds all monies and property received by it for the perpetual care of the cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium which is owned by it or for the lots therein, and it shall keep accurate accounts of such perpetual care funds separate and apart from its accounts of other funds.(b) The treasurer of such corporation shall make, sign, and file at the annual meeting a report countersigned by the president, concerning the affairs of the corporation and the perpetual care funds, which report shall contain, among other things, a statement as to the amount of the treasurer's bond and a true statement of the total amount of the fund or funds received and set apart for the perpetual care of the lots, cemetery, community mausoleum, and columbarium. Such report shall contain a list of the securities in which such fund or funds are invested, the income received therefrom, all disbursements from such income, and the balance of money or property held and on hand in such fund or funds, and copies thereof shall forthwith be filed with the town clerk of the town and with the Probate Division of the Superior Court for the district wherein the cemetery, community mausoleum, or columbarium is situated. (Amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238a, eff. Feb. 1, 2011.)
18 V.S.A. § 5439
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5439. Dissolution of cemetery associations

§ 5439. Dissolution of cemetery associations|A cemetery association, which is not owned and operated by a church or by a religious or ecclesiastical society, may be dissolved under the provisions of 11B V.S.A. chapter 14. Upon dissolution, all lands owned or held by it for cemetery purposes and all perpetual care funds, trust funds, and all other property held or owned by it, less dissolution expenses, may be transferred to the town in which the lands are located, and thereafter these lands may become public burial grounds, and the town shall hold the perpetual care funds and trust funds in trust for the care, improvement, and embellishment of the lots therein, according to the terms upon which they were held by the association. (Amended 1975, No. 74.)
18 V.S.A. § 5440
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5440. Merger of cemetery associations

§ 5440. Merger of cemetery associations|(a) An incorporated cemetery association or society, whether chartered by special act of the General Assembly or organized under articles of association, may merge with another incorporated association or society in the same town, thereby forming a new corporation under such name as may be designated in the articles of association hereinafter referred to.(b) Such merger shall be made by vote of a majority of the trustees or directors of each corporation. When so made, certified copies of the proceedings shall be forwarded to the Secretary of State.(c) The trustees of each such corporation may authorize the secretary thereof to sign the name of such corporation to the articles of association of the new corporation, and authorize one or more other persons to sign such articles of association. Such articles shall be filed with the Secretary of State. The articles shall set forth the name of the new corporation and they shall conform generally to the provisions of 11B V.S.A. chapter 1. When such articles are filed and recorded by the Secretary of State, all right, title, and interest in all property owned by each, and in trust funds held by each, shall vest in such new corporation, and the corporate functions of each of the corporations so merged shall cease after such new corporation has completed its organization.
18 V.S.A. § 5481
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5481. Acquisition of land and property- Purchase or gift

§ 5481. Acquisition of land and property- Purchase or gift|The right to acquire land and property for cemetery purposes, either by purchase or gift, by towns, churches, religious or ecclesiastical societies, and cemetery associations is hereby affirmed under the conditions and restrictions set forth in this chapter.
18 V.S.A. § 5482
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5482. Eminent domain

§ 5482. Eminent domain|The right to acquire land and property for cemetery purposes by condemnation proceedings by towns and cemetery associations is hereby granted under the conditions and restrictions set forth in this chapter.
18 V.S.A. § 5483
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5483. Acquisition of land by town

§ 5483. Acquisition of land by town|When it is necessary to enlarge a public burial ground or to establish a new one, three or more freeholders of the town may apply in writing to the selectboard, setting forth such necessity with a description of the land necessary for the purpose. The selectboard shall thereupon proceed as in case of an application by three or more freeholders to lay out a highway.
18 V.S.A. § 5484
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5484. Acquisition of gravel by town or association

§ 5484. Acquisition of gravel by town or association|(a) When public necessity requires that a burial ground be raised or portions thereof filled up with gravel or earth, and the town or association owning or managing the same cannot agree with the owner of such gravel or earth for its purchase, three or more owners of lots in such burial ground may apply in writing to the selectboard, setting forth such necessity. The selectboard shall thereupon proceed as in case of an application to them by three or more freeholders to lay out a highway. If in their opinion such necessity exists, they shall authorize, in writing, such town or association to take and remove such gravel or earth, use the same for the purposes aforesaid, and appraise the damage to the owner thereof.(b) Before such town or association takes or removes gravel or earth, as provided in subsection (a) of this section, it shall pay or tender to the owner the amount of damages as appraised by the selectboard.
18 V.S.A. § 5485
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5485. Appeal to Superior Court

§ 5485. Appeal to Superior Court|When, in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, a person owning or having an interest in lands taken for a burial ground, or gravel or earth for the same, is dissatisfied with such taking or with the damages awarded to him or her by the selectboard in such proceedings, he or she may petition the Superior Court of the county in which such lands lie in the same manner as in case of an appeal as to the laying out of a highway by the selectboard, and thereupon the same proceedings shall be had on such petition. (Amended 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974.)
18 V.S.A. § 5487
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5487. Acquisition of land by cemetery associations generally

§ 5487. Acquisition of land by cemetery associations generally|A cemetery association may acquire by gift, purchase at its fair cash market value, or devise, such lands as may be necessary for its cemetery purposes. If the consent of the selectboard and local board of health is first had and obtained in writing, such association may devote the same to such cemetery purposes. When it is necessary to acquire lands by condemnation proceedings, such proceedings shall be taken therefor as provided in sections 5488-5494 of this title.
18 V.S.A. § 5488
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5488. Enlargement of cemeteries by associations- Petition to Superior Court to acquire land

§ 5488. Enlargement of cemeteries by associations- Petition to Superior Court to acquire land|When an incorporated cemetery association wishes to enlarge the limits of its burial ground, and votes to purchase additional land for burial purposes and the owner of such land refuses to convey the same to such cemetery association for a reasonable compensation, the trustees or president of such association, by a petition in writing, may apply to the Superior Court in the county in which such burial ground is located for the appointment of commissioners. (Amended 1973, No. 193 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 9, 1974.)
18 V.S.A. § 5489
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5489. Service of petition; appointment of commissioners

§ 5489. Service of petition; appointment of commissioners|The petition with a citation shall be served on the owner of such land like a summons. On such application, the court may appoint three disinterested persons residing in some other town as commissioners.
18 V.S.A. § 5490
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5490. Notice; hearing

§ 5490. Notice; hearing|The commissioners shall appoint a time and place for examination of the premises and appraisal of the damages. They shall give six days' notice thereof to the president or to one or more of the trustees of such association, and to the owner or occupant of such land either personally or by written notice left at the residence of such owner or occupant, and shall examine the premises and inquire into the public necessity and convenience of such enlargement.
18 V.S.A. § 5491
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5491. Survey; damages

§ 5491. Survey; damages|When the commissioners decide that public necessity and convenience require the enlargement of such burial grounds, and the amount needed, they shall cause the same to be surveyed, and shall ascertain what damages will be sustained by the owner of such land.
18 V.S.A. § 5492
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5492. Report, filing

§ 5492. Report, filing|When the commissioners have completed their inquiries, they shall make report, stating their doings and decision, with their survey and appraisal of damages. Such report shall be returned to and filed in the office of the clerk of the court within 30 days after the completion of such inquiry.
18 V.S.A. § 5493
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5493. Judgment on report; costs

§ 5493. Judgment on report; costs|The court may accept or reject the report, render judgment thereon, tax costs as it deems just, and issue execution for damages and costs.
18 V.S.A. § 5494
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5494. Title to lands taken

§ 5494. Title to lands taken|Such cemetery association shall not take possession of such lands until the damages and costs are paid. When so paid, a valid title to the lands so taken shall vest in such association, and the same may be used for burial purposes.
18 V.S.A. § 5531
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5531. Disposal of lot by will; descent; burial rights of husband and wife

§ 5531. Disposal of lot by will; descent; burial rights of husband and wife|(a) The owner of a cemetery lot may dispose of same by will to any one of his or her relatives who may survive him or her, or to any agency owning and conducting the cemetery in which the lot is situated, in trust, for the use and benefit of any person or persons designated in such will. When no express disposition or other mention is made in a will of a cemetery lot owned by the testator at his or her decease, and wherein he or she or any member of his or her family is buried, the ownership of the lot shall not pass from his or her lawful heirs by any residuary or other general clause of the will, but shall descend to his or her heirs, as if he or she had died intestate.(b) A wife shall be entitled to a right of interment for her own body in any burial lot or tomb of sufficient size and space to permit such interment, of which her husband was seized at any time during coverture, which shall be exempt from the operation of the laws regulating conveyance, descent and devise, but may be released by her in the same manner as dower. A husband shall have the same rights in the burial lot or tomb of his wife as a wife has in that of her husband. A husband or wife living separate from the other, and owning a burial lot or tomb in which the other but for this section would have no right of burial or interment, at least 30 days before the death of the other, may file with the agency conducting the cemetery in which such burial lot or tomb is located a written objection to the interment of the other and thereupon there shall be no right of interment of such husband or wife under this section.(c) The Probate Division of the Superior Court shall have jurisdiction to determine all questions arising under the provisions of this section.(d) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed as a limitation of the right of any agency owning and conducting a cemetery, either by rule and regulation, or by deed or contract, to define or limit the persons or classes of persons having the right of burial upon any lot in the cemetery of such agency, or to prohibit or restrict the resale of any such lot or burial space. (Amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 149, eff. Feb. 1, 2011.)
18 V.S.A. § 5532
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5532. Escheat of cemetery lots- Definition

§ 5532. Escheat of cemetery lots- Definition|For the purposes of sections 5532-5537 of this title, the term "agency" shall mean town cemeteries, religious or ecclesiastical society cemeteries, and any person, firm, corporation, or unincorporated association engaged in the business of a cemetery.
18 V.S.A. § 5533
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5533. Escheat when owner's whereabouts unknown

§ 5533. Escheat when owner's whereabouts unknown|When the whereabouts of a person or his or her heirs, having legal title or color of title to a wholly unoccupied burial lot in any cemetery has been unknown for 20 years, such lot shall escheat to the agency upon petition brought by the agency and hearing and judgment had thereon as provided in sections 5534-5537 of this title.
18 V.S.A. § 5534
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5534. Petition; hearing

§ 5534. Petition; hearing|The cemetery commissioners or other proper officers may file a petition in behalf of the agency with the Probate Division of the Superior Court of the district where said agency is located for an inquisition in the premises. The Probate Division of the Superior Court shall thereupon appoint a time and place of hearing and deciding on such petition, and cause a notice thereof to be published in some newspaper circulating in the vicinity where the cemetery is located. (Amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238a, eff. Feb. 1, 2011.)
18 V.S.A. § 5535
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5535. Notice; publication

§ 5535. Notice; publication|Such notice shall recite the substance of the facts set forth in the petition, and the time and place at which persons claiming the burial lot may appear and be heard before the court, and shall be published at least three weeks successively, the last of which publications shall be not less than six months before the time appointed by the court for making the inquisition.
18 V.S.A. § 5536
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5536. Order

§ 5536. Order|If sufficient cause is not shown to the contrary, at the time appointed for that purpose, the court shall order and decree that such lot shall escheat to the agency.
18 V.S.A. § 5537
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5537. Heirs

§ 5537. Heirs|If an heir or other person entitled to such lot appears within 17 years from the date of such decree and files a claim with the Probate Division of the Superior Court which made such decree, and establishes his or her claim to such lot, he or she shall have possession of the same, or if sold, the agency shall be accountable for the avails of such sale, without interest, to the persons entitled thereto, after deducting charges and costs incurred by the agency in connection therewith. A claim not made within 17 years shall be barred. (Amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238a, eff. Feb. 1, 2011.)
18 V.S.A. § 5571
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5571. Location

§ 5571. Location|A community mausoleum, as hereinbefore defined, other than structures containing crypts erected or controlled by churches and religious societies and used only as a repository for the remains of the clergy or dignitaries of such churches or religious societies and every columbarium or other structure intended to hold or contain the bodies or remains of the dead, the spaces, crypts, or niches of which are available to the public, shall be located only within the confines of an established cemetery, containing not less than five acres, and which shall have been in existence and operation for a period of at least five years immediately preceding the time of the erection thereof.
18 V.S.A. § 5572
2021 Vermont Statutes|Title 18 - Health|Chapter 121 - Cemeteries|§ 5572. Plats

§ 5572. Plats|Before commencing the building, construction, or erection of any such building, the agency constructing the same shall make and file a plat of such structure in accordance with the provisions of sections 5310 and 5311 of this title.