NY Rel Corps L § 8-A (2021)
2021 New York Laws RCO - Religious Corporations Article 2 - General Provisions 8-A - Reacquisition of a Lot, Plot or Part Thereof by a Cemetery.

§  8-a.  Reacquisition of a lot, plot or part thereof by a cemetery. A religious cemetery corporation may, upon application and approval  by  a supreme  court,  reacquire,  resubdivide, and resell a lot, plot or part thereof under the following circumstances:  (a)(i) If the records of the corporation  demonstrate  that  the  lot, plot or part thereof was purchased more than seventy-five years prior to the  application  of  the  corporation; and (ii) if no burials have been made in the lot, plot or part thereof or all  the  bodies  therein  have been  lawfully  removed; and (iii) if neither the owner or owners of the lot, plot or part thereof nor any person  having  a  credible  claim  to ownership who has visited, made payments in respect of or engaged in any other  proprietary  activities  with  respect  to  the lot, plot or part thereof can be identified after a reasonable  search  conducted  by  the religious  cemetery  corporation, it shall be conclusively presumed that the owner or owners of the lot, plot  or  part  thereof  have  abandoned their  burial  rights.  A reasonable search consists of a search of: (1) all cemetery records to determine the name of the owner or owners of the lot,  plot  or  part  thereof,  their  last  known  addresses  and   all information  available  to the cemetery relating to any person buried in the lot, plot or part thereof and the names and last known addresses  of any  persons  making  inquiry  about  or  visiting the lot, plot or part thereof; (2) a search for the death certificates and the probated  wills of the owner or owners of the lot, plot or part thereof; (3) the posting of  notice  by the cemetery at the entrance to the cemetery, at the site of the lot, plot or part thereof to be reacquired and  in  the  cemetery office,  if  any,  of  its  intention  to  declare the lot, plot or part thereof abandoned; (4) the mailing of such notice  certified  mail  with return receipt requested to the owner or owners of the lot, plot or part thereof and each person identified during the reasonable search at their last  known  addresses; (5) publication of such notice once in each week for three successive weeks, in  two  newspapers  of  regular  commercial circulation  by  subscription and/or newsstand sale, to be designated by the county clerk of the county where the cemetery is  located  which  in his  or  her  judgment, given the ethnic, religious, geographic or other related demographic characteristics of the owner or owners of  the  lot, plot  or  part thereof and each person identified through the reasonable search and the  predominant  readership  of  such  newspapers  are  best calculated  to  inform  the  owner  or  owners  of the lot, plot or part thereof and each person identified through the reasonable search of  any application  pursuant  to  the  provisions  of this section; and (6) the preparation of an affidavit describing the steps taken by the  religious cemetery  corporation  to  ascertain  the identity of and to contact the current owner or owners of the lot, plot or part thereof or  next-of-kin thereof  or any other persons identified in the course of the reasonable search who might have relevant  information  and  the  results  of  such steps.  After  the  filing with the supreme court of proof of compliance with  the  above  requirements  in   form   and   substance   reasonably satisfactory  to  such  supreme  court  and upon approval by the supreme court, the lot, plot or part thereof may be resold by  the  cemetery  to any  party  in  compliance  with  the  cemetery  rules  and  regulations provided, however, that any monument subsequently placed  on  such  lot, plot  or  part  thereof  shall  conform to the general appearance of any existing monuments in said section of lots, plots or parts  thereof,  if any.  (b)  If  (i)  the  circumstances  described in subdivision (a) of this section exist except that one or more burials have been made in  a  lot, and  the  last burial was made more than seventy-five years prior to the application, (ii) the lot, plot or part thereof  can  be  subdivided  to  create  new graves, (iii) the bodies have not been lawfully removed, and (iv) the cemetery submits an application  to  the  supreme  court  which complies  with  the  requirements  set  forth in subdivision (a) of this section,  it  shall  be  conclusively  presumed  that  the lot owner has abandoned the right to make further burials in the lot, the lot  may  be subdivided, and the resubdivided lot, plot or parts thereof which do not contain  the  remains  of  the  deceased  persons  may  be resold by the religious cemetery corporation as provided in this section.  Nothing  in this  section  shall  permit a religious cemetery corporation to declare abandoned a lot, plot or part thereof, where  such  lot,  plot  or  part thereof  was  purchased for multiple depth burials and where one or more burials has occurred or authorized a religious cemetery  corporation  to remove  a  monument  or  other embellishment to facilitate the resale of such lot, plot or part thereof.  (c) If the owner or owners of a lot,  plot  or  part  thereof  can  be identified,  the religious cemetery corporation, with the consent of the owner or owners of the lot, plot or part thereof, the lot, plot or  part thereof  may  be  resubdivided,  and  the resubdivided lot, plot or part thereof which does not contain the remains of deceased  persons  may  be resold  by  the religious cemetery corporation, provided, however, if no burial has been made in the lot, plot or part hereof, in the twenty-five year period preceding such application, the owner of a lot, plot or part thereof has notified  his  or  her  parents,  spouse,  issue,  brothers, sisters,  grandparents, and grandchildren, if any, of the application to the supreme court, and provided further, however, if a burial  has  been made  in  this  lot,  plot  or part thereof during such twenty-five year period, the spouse and issue of such deceased person are also  notified, and  provided further, in either case the owner of the lot, plot or part thereof satisfies the supreme court that none of  the  persons  notified have  agreed within forty-five days of notification to purchase the lot, plot  or  part  thereof  at  the  price  which  the  religious  cemetery corporation  shall  certify  under  penalty of law shall be the price at which  the  lot,  plot  or  part  thereof  shall  be  sold   for   after reacquisition.  Any persons notified pursuant to this subdivision by the identified owner or owners of the lot, plot or part thereof  must  agree to  erect  a  monument  of  reasonable  uniformity  to  the  immediately surrounding monuments as provided in subdivision  (f)  of  this  section before  the persons notified may enter into an agreement to purchase the lot, plot or part thereof.  (d) Upon the sale of a lot, plot  or  part  thereof  reacquired  by  a religious  cemetery corporation under the provisions of subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of this section, the net proceeds shall be placed in a trust designated to provide future maintenance of the cemetery.  (e) If the owner of the lot, plot  or  part  thereof  is  subsequently identified,  the  religious  cemetery  corporation shall: (i) return all unsold lots, plots  or  parts  thereof  if  any,  to  the  owner  if  so requested;  and  (ii)  with  respect to any lots, plots or parts thereof that have been sold pursuant to this section, at the option of the owner of the lot, plot or part thereof, either (1) provide the  owner,  at  no cost  to  the  owner, with a lot, plot or part thereof comparable to any lot, plot or part thereof  that  was  sold  by  the  religious  cemetery corporation  or (2) provide the owner with the proceeds from the sale of the lot, plot  or  part  thereof  reacquired  under  this  section  with interest thereon from the date of the sale at six percent per annum.  (f)  Monuments to be erected on a lot, plot or part thereof, following the resale of a lot, plot or part thereof, shall conform  to  the  rules and   regulations  or  other  requirements  of  the  religious  cemetery  corporation and shall conform to the size, style, and type of  monuments in the section of the cemetery where such resale occurs.  (g)  No corporation shall utilize the reacquisition provisions of this section  in   violation   of   such   corporation's   sectarian   burial requirements.