Section 214.209

Title XII PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE

Chapter 214

Effective - 28 Aug 2001   

  214.209.  Abandonment of burial site, rights revert to cemetery. — 1.  After a period of seventy-five years since the last recorded activity on a burial site and after a reasonable search for heirs and beneficiaries, the burial site shall be abandoned and the right of ownership in the burial site shall revert to the private or public cemetery, after the cemetery has met the requirements of this section.

  2.  A reasonable search for heirs and beneficiaries pursuant to this section shall include sending a letter of notice to the last known address of the record property owner; and publishing a copy of the description of the abandoned burial site in a newspaper qualified to publish public notices as provided in chapter 493, published in the county of the record property owner's last known address, for three weeks; and if no person proves ownership of the burial site within one year after such publication, the burial site shall be deemed abandoned.

  3.  If persons with a legitimate claim to the abandoned burial site present themselves after the abandoned burial site has been used or sold by the private or public cemetery, the person's claim shall be settled by providing an equal burial site in an equivalent location to the burial site that reverted to the private or public cemetery.

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(L. 2001 H.B. 567)