reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 113a - Uniform Anatomical Gift Act › Section 22 - Facilitation of Anatomical Gift From Decedent Whose Body Is Under Jurisdiction of Medical Examiner

Section 22. (a) The chief medical examiner shall release to the procurement organization such information as may be necessary to facilitate organ and tissue donation including, but not limited to, the name, contact information and available medical and social history of a decedent whose death has been reported pursuant to chapter 38. If the decedent's body or part is medically suitable for transplantation or therapy, the medical examiner shall release the autopsy reports to the procurement organization; provided, however, that in the case of a suspicious death where the district attorney is controlling the investigation pursuant to said chapter 38, the chief medical examiner or his designee shall not release an autopsy report unless informed by the district attorney that the autopsy report may be released. The procurement organization may make a subsequent disclosure of the postmortem examination results or other information received from the medical examiner only as necessary to facilitate transplantation or therapy.
(b) The medical examiner may conduct a medicolegal examination by reviewing all medical records, laboratory test results, xrays, other diagnostic results and other information that any person may possess about a donor or prospective donor whose death has been reported pursuant to chapter 38 which the medical examiner determines may be relevant to the investigation.
(c) A person that has any information requested by a medical examiner pursuant to subsection (b) shall provide that information as expeditiously as possible to allow the medical examiner to conduct the medicolegal investigation within a period compatible with the preservation of parts for transplantation, therapy, research or education.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 113a - Uniform Anatomical Gift Act › Section 23 - Compliance With Donor's Decision

Section 23. An individual's decision to make a donation of that individual's own organ or tissue after death shall be complied with and shall not require the consent or concurrence of any other individual after the donor's death. In the absence of a revocation or amendment, health care providers and procurement organizations shall act in accordance with the donor's decision and may take such appropriate actions as necessary to effect the anatomical gift.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 113a - Uniform Anatomical Gift Act › Section 25 - Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act

Section 25. Whenever authorized by federal law and as required by this chapter, this chapter shall modify, limit and supersede the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001 et seq., except 15 U.S.C. § 7001(a); provided, however, that nothing in this chapter shall authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices described in 15 U.S.C. § 7003(b).
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 1a - Organization of Cemetery Corporations

Section 1A. Five or more persons desirous of procuring, establishing and preparing a cemetery, or who are the majority in interest of the proprietors of an existing cemetery, may organize as a corporation, not for profit, in the manner provided in chapter 179; provided, however, that the corporation shall not sell or impair the right of a proprietor of an existing cemetery.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 1b - Cemetery Corporations; Liability of Directors, Officers or Trustees

Section 1B. A person who serves as director, officer or trustee of a nonprofit cemetery qualified as a tax exempt organization under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code and who is not compensated for those services shall not be liable for an act or omission resulting in damages or injury to another person if that person so serving was acting in good faith and within the scope of his official functions or duties, unless the damage was caused by an act or omission intentionally designed to harm, or by a gross negligent act or omission which results in harm to a person.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting or modifying the liability of a person subject to this section for a cause of action arising out of the person's operation of a motor vehicle.
Nothing in this section shall affect or modify the liability of a person subject to this section for financial misconduct or fraud in the use of the assets of the corporation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 2 - Powers and Duties of Cemetery Corporations

Section 2. (a) Such corporation: (1) shall be subject to chapter 155 and sections 1 to 13, inclusive, of chapter 179; (2) may take and hold only so much real and personal property as may be necessary for the objects of its organization; (3) may lay out such real property into lots; and (4) may grant and convey the exclusive right of burial in, and of erecting tombs or cenotaphs upon, any lot and of ornamenting the same, upon such terms and conditions and subject to such regulations as it shall prescribe.
(b) Upon the conveyance of a burial lot, such corporation: (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.
(c) Such corporation shall maintain records concerning the location and numbering of such lots, which records shall be open to the public. Section 34 of chapter 158 shall apply to such corporation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 2a - Cemetery Corporations; Disclosure; Penalty

Section 2A. A cemetery corporation organized under this chapter or created by special act or charter shall disclose to its clients whether an owner, director or trustee of the cemetery corporation owns 10 per cent or more of a business that sells products or services to the cemetery corporation of which he is owner, director or trustee. The information shall be available for review by the public during the business hours of the cemetery at the cemetery's place of business. Whoever violates this section shall be punished by a fine of $50 for each day of the violation.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 3 - Cemetery Corporations; Records of Conveyances of Burial Lots

Section 3. Every cemetery corporation created by special charter or organized under general laws shall regularly keep books in which it shall enter all conveyances of burial lots within said cemetery and all instruments of contract relating to conveyances of such lots. Such records, and similar records made by such corporation prior to June second, eighteen hundred and eighty-nine, shall have the same effect as if made in the registry of deeds for the county or district where such cemetery is situated, and no other record shall be necessary.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 3a - Cemetery Corporations; Ownership of Unclaimed Graves; Reuse of Occupied Graves

Section 3A. No cemetery corporation created by special charter or organized under the provisions of section one shall take over ownership of an unoccupied grave unless a minimum of seventy-five years has elapsed after issuance of a license for the grave by the cemetery corporation or its predecessor in interest; and the cemetery corporation 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 cemetery corporation shall pay the fair value of the license at the time of its taking to the owner.
No cemetery corporation created by special charter or organized under the provisions of section one 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 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 where the cemetery is located 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 4 - Cemetery Corporations; Certified Copies of Recorded Deeds and Instruments; Evidence

Section 4. The secretary or clerk of such corporation may give certified copies of all deeds and instruments so recorded, which may be used in evidence in the same manner as copies certified by the register of deeds.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 5a - Cemetery Corporations; Burials; Designated Funeral Director

Section 5A. No such cemetery corporation shall deny the right to perform burials and the functions incidental thereto to the funeral director designated by the representative of the deceased, provided the deceased is otherwise entitled to interment in said cemetery.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 5b - Cemetery Corporations; Notification of Certain Options for Burial Services; Penalty

Section 5B. Each such cemetery corporation shall notify, or cause the funeral director designated by the representatives of the deceased to notify, the family of the deceased or the person making funeral arrangements for the deceased of the choice of three options for burial services; services at the gravesite without observation of the lowering of the casket into said gravesite, services at the gravesite with observation of the lowering of the casket into said gravesite, or where available, services within a chapel at the cemetery.
A cemetery corporation which violates any provision of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 5c - Cemetery Corporations; Fiduciary Duty Owed to Contributors to Trust Fund

Section 5C. The corporation and its officers shall owe a fiduciary duty to a contributor to the trust fund, his heirs and legal representatives to hold and expend the funds strictly consistent with the purposes of section 5. A contributor to the trust fund, his heirs and legal representatives who were required to invest in the trust fund as a condition of purchasing a right of burial shall have all rights and protections of chapter 110A.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 6 - Cemetery Corporations; Cremation

Section 6. Such corporation may cremate bodies of the dead, and may provide necessary buildings and appliances therefor and for the disposition of the ashes of the dead on any land within its cemetery which the department of environmental protection determines is suitable therefor, subject to the provisions of section forty-three D, and such buildings and appliances shall be a part of the cemetery and be dedicated to the burial of the dead, and shall be held by said corporations subject to the duties, and with the privileges and immunities, which they now have by law.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 7 - Formation and Organization of Crematory Corporations

Section 7. Five or more persons may form a corporation, not for profit, for the purpose of providing the necessary appliances for the disposal by cremation of the bodies of the dead. Such a corporation shall be formed in the manner prescribed in and subject to section nine of chapter one hundred and fifty-five and sections six and eight to twelve, inclusive, of chapter one hundred and fifty-six, except as follows:
The capital stock, if any, shall not exceed fifty thousand dollars.
The agreement of association of such a corporation having no capital stock may omit the statement of the amount of the capital stock and the par value and number of its shares. The par value of its shares, if any, may be ten or fifty dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 8 - Crematory Corporations; Acquisition and Holding of Land in Fee

Section 8. Such corporation may acquire and hold in fee, to an amount not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, land necessary and appropriate for its purposes and situated in such place as the department of public health determines to be suitable, subject to the provisions of section forty-three D.
2023 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

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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 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.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 34 - Use of Land for Burial; New Cemeteries or Extensions; Approval of Board of Health; Description of Land

Section 34. Except in the case of the erection or use of a tomb on private land for the exclusive use of the family of the owner, no land, other than that already so used or appropriated, shall be used for burial, unless by permission of the town or of the mayor and aldermen of the city in which the same lies; but no such permission shall be given until the location of the lands intended for such use has been approved in writing by the board of health of the town where the lands are situated after notice to all persons interested and a hearing; and the board of health, upon approval of the use of any lands either for new cemeteries or for the extension of existing cemeteries, shall include in the records of the said board a description of such lands sufficient for their identification. For every interment in violation of this section in a town in which the notice prescribed in section thirty-seven has been given, the owner of the land so used shall forfeit not less than twenty nor more than one hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 35 - Lands to Be Used for Burial; Approval

Section 35. No land other than that so used and appropriated on April tenth, nineteen hundred and eight, shall be used for the purpose of burial if it be so situated that surface water or ground drainage therefrom may enter any stream, pond, reservoir, well, filter gallery or other water used as a source of public water supply, or any tributary of a source so used, or any aqueduct or other works used in connection therewith, until a plan and description of the lands proposed for such use have been submitted to, and approved in writing by the department of environmental protection.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 36 - Use of Cemeteries; Appeal From Order of Board of Health; Hearing

Section 36. Any person, including those persons in control of any public land, or the officers of any municipality, aggrieved by the action of a board of health in approving the purchase, taking or use of any lands for cemetery purposes may, within sixty days, appeal from the order of said board to the department of environmental protection, and said department may, after a hearing, rescind such order or may modify and amend the same by approving a part of the lands so proposed for such use.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 37 - Use of Cemeteries; Regulations by Local Boards of Health; Notice

Section 37. Boards of health may make regulations concerning burial grounds and interments within their towns; may impose penalties not exceeding one hundred dollars for a breach thereof; may prohibit the use by undertakers, for the purpose of speculation, of tombs as places of deposit for bodies committed to them for burial; and may close any tomb, burial ground, cemetery or other place of burial within the town for such time as they consider necessary for the protection of the public health. Notice of such regulations shall be given by publishing them in a newspaper, if any, of the town; otherwise, by posting a copy in a public place therein. Such publication shall be notice to all persons.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 38 - Closing of Tombs, Burial Ground or Cemetery; Hearing; Notice

Section 38. Before a tomb, burial ground or cemetery is closed by order of the board of health for more than one month, all persons interested shall have an opportunity to be heard, and personal notice of the time and place of hearing shall be given to at least one owner of the tomb, and to three at least, if there are so many, of the owners of such burial ground or cemetery, and notice shall be published for at least two successive weeks preceding such hearing in two newspapers published in the county.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 39 - Owner of Tomb; Appeal From Order of Board of Health

Section 39. The owner of a tomb aggrieved by an order of the board of health closing a tomb, burial ground or cemetery may, within six months after the date thereof, appeal therefrom to the superior court, first giving written notice to the board fourteen days before the entry of such appeal; but the order of the board shall remain in force until the appeal has been determined.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 40 - Use of Cemeteries; Jury Trial; Rescission of Order; Costs and Double Costs

Section 40. Appeals shall be tried before a jury, and if the jury find that the tomb, burial ground or cemetery so closed was not a nuisance or injurious to the public health at the time of the order and that the closing thereof was not necessary for the protection of the public health, the court shall rescind such order so far as it affects such tomb, burial ground or cemetery, and the appellant may recover the costs of the appeal from the town where the tomb, burial ground or cemetery was situated. If the order is sustained, the board of health shall recover double costs, to the use of the town.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 41 - Laying Out or Constructing Public Ways In, Upon or Through Burial Places; Authority

Section 41. A public way shall not be laid out or constructed in, upon or through an enclosure used or appropriated for a burial place except by special authority from the general court or with the previous consent of the inhabitants of the town where such enclosure is situated; or, if such enclosure belongs to private proprietors, with their previous consent.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 42 - Passage Through Cemeteries

Section 42. Whoever uses as a means of passage from one point to another, not being thereupon at the time for any other purpose, the premises of a cemetery or burial place, in any other parts thereof than the defined ways, paths and walks, shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 42a - Visitation Hours of Cemeteries

Section 42A. No cemetery exempted from taxation under the provisions of section five of chapter fifty-nine shall be closed for visitations between the hours of eight o'clock antemeridian and sunset, except during the months of June, July, August and September when such cemeteries shall remain open until the hour of seven o'clock postmeridian; provided, however, that the provisions of this section shall not apply on Saturdays if the cemetery is owned or used exclusively by a religious denomination which observes the Sabbath on Saturday. It shall be deemed to be a violation of this section if entrance to or exit from any such cemetery by motor vehicle is prevented during said hours, if said cemetery has accessible roads for motor vehicles; provided, however, that access by motor vehicle may be prevented on the second Sunday in May, the last Monday in May, and on Easter Sunday. Whoever wilfully violates this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 42b - Commercial Use of Cemeteries; Consent; Penalties

Section 42B. No person shall use the premises of a cemetery or burial place for the purpose of taking photographs or making a motion picture for commercial purposes without the previous consent of the board of commissioners, trustees or directors of such cemetery or burial place or their designees. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 43a - Ownership, Maintenance and Operation of Cemeteries; Private Profit

Section 43A. No cemetery established on or after July first, nineteen hundred and thirty-six, shall be owned, maintained or operated except by a municipality or other political subdivision of the commonwealth, a church, a religious or charitable society, or by a cemetery association incorporated as provided in section one, nor shall such a cemetery be maintained or operated for the purpose of private profit or gain, directly or indirectly, to any director, officer or member of the cemetery association or other agency owning, maintaining and operating the same. A cemetery lawfully established prior to said date may continue to be owned, maintained and operated under the form of organization adopted therefor.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 43b - Sale of Cemetery Lots and Plots for Speculative Purposes

Section 43B. The sale of cemetery lots and plots, or the sale of crypts in a community mausoleum or niches in a columbarium, for speculative purposes, or the conveyance of any portion of a cemetery already dedicated to burial purposes as security for debt, is hereby prohibited, and every such conveyance shall be void and of no effect. Whoever makes or attempts to make a sale or conveyance contrary to the provisions of this section shall be subject to the penalty provided by section forty-three N.
2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title XVI - Public Health › Chapter 114 - Cemeteries and Burials › Section 43c - Disposition of Proceeds of Sales of Cemetery Lots and Plots; Liquidation of Indebtedness

Section 43C. The proceeds of the sales of lots and plots in a cemetery shall, except as hereinafter provided, be applied solely to the improvement and maintenance of the cemetery and the avenues, paths and structures situated therein, for the purchase of additional cemetery land, and for the accumulation of a permanent care and improvement fund. If any indebtedness of a fixed amount is incurred in the purchase of lands for such cemetery, or in making any improvement therein, a sum not exceeding fifty per cent of the gross receipts from the sale of burial lots and plots may be applied to the liquidation of such indebtedness. All moneys received from the sale of personal property and surplus real estate of a cemetery shall be applied first to the liquidation of any fixed indebtedness incurred by it on account of the purchase or improvement of the lands dedicated to cemetery purposes, and any residue remaining after the liquidation of such indebtedness shall be deposited in the permanent care and improvement fund of the cemetery. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any cemetery established prior to July first, nineteen hundred and thirty-six, or to any cemetery owned, maintained and operated by a church or religious society.