In my story, I realized it would be best for my characters to have a family cemetery set up and I wondering how they can do it on their private property in New York State. On maybe about 20 acres of land. I haven't figured out if they are going to cremate or embalm yet, but I am sure that changes matters. But I am leaning towards half and half. Does anyone know the statutes pertaining to these matters and/the step-by-step guide so I can make it realistic? Also, this story takes place in 2020 and so it's a modern story. For various reasons, it's better their bodies are not buried in other cemeteries.
This appears to be the relevant statute regarding the formation of a private cemetery. New York Consolidated Laws, Not-for-Profit Corporation Law - NPC §1401 | NY State Senate (nysenate.gov)
Here's an article about the laws of burial and cremation in the state. Burial and Cremation Laws in New York | Nolo
The story takes place in 2020, but will your characters be the first to be buried in this cemetery? I grew up in Connecticut, adjacent to New York. There are old, family cemeteries all across the state. Many of them have been abandoned by the families (or all living relatives have died off), so some of them have fallen into disrepair due to lack of maintenance and care, while I believe some others have been maintained by the towns in which they are located. I don't know if this provides anything of use to you: https://www.dos.ny.gov/cnsl/cemreg.html
I think that people were first buried there in the 1970's. And yeah, the graveyard is going to upkept properly. And thank you for the government link!
Well, each grave is 6 feet and I have planned 3 burials in there so far and it's supposed to have room for at least 7 more. So... I think 20 feet may be too little.
6 feet? Is the length, width, or depth? I'm not in New York state, but I do live in a small, old town. Down the hill from me is one of three old cemeteries in town. I think the town owns all three -- I know the town owns the one near me. A number of years ago it had reached capacity, so they added a section. They had a surveyor lay it out, but then he died and the originals of the layout disappeared. All the town had was one print, on paper. I volunteered to redraw it, in AutoCAD (the major computer drafting program), and give the digital file to the town. I still have a copy of the file on my computer, so I just opened it up to check. Each plot is 11 feet long by 39 inches wide -- and there is NO space between plots. The new section includes 866 individual plots. The entire area of the new section is just slightly over 1 acre. That includes a 12-foot wide loop road that runs through the section.
