(765 ILCS 835/0.001) (from Ch. 21, par. 14.001)
Sec. 0.001.
Short title.
This Act may be cited as the
Cemetery Protection Act.
(Source: P.A. 86-1324.)
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(765 ILCS 835/.01) (from Ch. 21, par. 14.01) (Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 103-841) Sec. .01. For the purposes of this Act, the term:
"Cemetery authority" means an individual or legal entity that owns or controls cemetery lands or property. "Community mausoleum" means a mausoleum owned and operated by a cemetery authority that contains multiple entombment rights sold to the public.
(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10; 97-679, eff. 2-6-12.) (Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 103-841) Sec. .01. For the purposes of this Act, the term: "Cemetery authority" means an individual or legal entity that owns or controls cemetery lands or property. "Community mausoleum" means a mausoleum owned and operated by a cemetery authority that contains multiple entombment rights sold to the public. "Not-for-profit corporation" means a corporation as defined in the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986. "Veteran" means a person who has served as a member of the armed forces of the United States, the Illinois National Guard, or a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States and has been buried in a grave that is more than 100 years old. "Veterans' organization" means an organization comprised of members of which substantially all are individuals who are veterans or spouses, widows, or widowers of veterans, the primary purpose of which is to promote the welfare of its members and to provide assistance to the general public in such a way as to confer a public benefit. (Source: P.A. 103-841, eff. 1-1-25.) |
(765 ILCS 835/1) (from Ch. 21, par. 15) (Text of Section before amendment by P.A. 103-841) Sec. 1. (a) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and
who willfully and knowingly destroys or damages the remains of a deceased
human being or who desecrates human remains is guilty of a Class 3 felony. (a-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully
and knowingly removes any portion of the remains of a deceased human
being from
a burial ground where skeletal remains are buried or from a grave, crypt,
vault, mausoleum, or other repository of human remains is guilty of a Class 4
felony. (b) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully
and knowingly: (1) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a burial | ||
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(2) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a park or | ||
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(3) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates plants, | ||
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(4) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a fence, | ||
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is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor if the amount of the damage is less than
$500, a Class 4
felony if the amount of the damage is at least $500 and less than $10,000, a
Class 3 felony if the amount of the
damage is at least $10,000 and less than $100,000, or a Class 2 felony if the
damage is
$100,000 or more and shall provide
restitution to
the cemetery authority or property owner for the amount of any damage caused. (b-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully
and knowingly defaces, vandalizes, injures, or removes a gravestone or other
memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a deceased person or group of
persons,
whether located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, memorial park, or
battlefield is guilty of a Class 4 felony for damaging at least one but no more
than 4
gravestones, a
Class 3 felony for damaging at least 5 but no more than 10 gravestones, or a
Class 2
felony for
damaging more than 10 gravestones and shall provide restitution to the
cemetery authority or property owner for the amount of any damage caused. (b-7) Any person who acts without proper legal authority
and who willfully and knowingly removes with the intent to
resell a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker
commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether
located within or outside a recognized cemetery, memorial
park, or battlefield, is guilty of a Class 2 felony. (c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the removal or
unavoidable breakage or injury by a cemetery authority of anything placed
in or upon any portion of its cemetery in violation of any of the rules and
regulations of the cemetery authority, nor to the removal of anything
placed in the cemetery by or with the consent of the cemetery authority
that in the judgment of the cemetery authority has become wrecked,
unsightly, or dilapidated. (d) If an unemancipated minor is found guilty of violating any of the
provisions of subsection (b) of this Section and is unable to provide
restitution to the cemetery authority or property owner, the parents or
legal guardians of that minor shall provide restitution to the cemetery
authority or property owner for the amount of any damage caused, up to the
total amount allowed under the Parental Responsibility Law. (d-5) Any person who commits any of the following: (1) any unauthorized, non-related third party or | ||
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(2) any non-cemetery personnel who solicits cemetery | ||
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(3) any person who harasses or threatens any employee | ||
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(4) any unauthorized person who removes, destroys, or | ||
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is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and of a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense. (e) Any person who shall hunt, shoot
or discharge any gun, pistol or other missile, within the limits of any
cemetery, or shall cause any shot or missile to be discharged into or over
any portion thereof, or shall violate any of the rules made and established
by the board of directors of such cemetery, for the protection or
government thereof, is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor. (f) Any person who knowingly enters or knowingly remains upon the
premises of a public or private cemetery without authorization during hours
that the cemetery is posted as closed to the public is guilty of a Class A
misdemeanor. (g) All fines
when recovered, shall be paid over by the court or officer receiving the
same to the cemetery authority and be applied, as far as possible in
repairing the injury, if any, caused by such offense. Provided, nothing
contained in this Act shall deprive such cemetery authority or the owner
of any interment, entombment, or inurnment right or monument from maintaining an action for the recovery of
damages caused by any injury caused by a violation of the provisions of
this Act, or of the rules established by the board of directors of such
cemetery authority. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to
prohibit the discharge of firearms loaded with blank ammunition as part of
any funeral, any memorial observance or any other patriotic or military
ceremony.(Source: P.A. 95-331, eff. 8-21-07; 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.) (Text of Section after amendment by P.A. 103-841) Sec. 1. (a) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully and knowingly destroys or damages the remains of a deceased human being or who desecrates human remains is guilty of a Class 3 felony. (a-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully and knowingly removes any portion of the remains of a deceased human being from a burial ground where skeletal remains are buried or from a grave, crypt, vault, mausoleum, or other repository of human remains is guilty of a Class 4 felony. (b) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully and knowingly: (1) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a burial | ||
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(2) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a park or | ||
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(3) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates plants, | ||
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(4) obliterates, vandalizes, or desecrates a fence, | ||
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is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor if the amount of the damage is less than $500, a Class 4 felony if the amount of the damage is at least $500 and less than $10,000, a Class 3 felony if the amount of the damage is at least $10,000 and less than $100,000, or a Class 2 felony if the damage is $100,000 or more and shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or property owner for the amount of any damage caused. (b-5) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully and knowingly defaces, vandalizes, injures, or removes a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether located within or outside of a recognized cemetery, memorial park, or battlefield is guilty of a Class 4 felony for damaging at least one but no more than 4 gravestones, a Class 3 felony for damaging at least 5 but no more than 10 gravestones, or a Class 2 felony for damaging more than 10 gravestones and shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or property owner for the amount of any damage caused. (b-7) Any person who acts without proper legal authority and who willfully and knowingly removes with the intent to resell a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a deceased person or group of persons, whether located within or outside a recognized cemetery, memorial park, or battlefield, is guilty of a Class 2 felony. (c) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the removal or unavoidable breakage or injury by a cemetery authority of anything placed in or upon any portion of its cemetery in violation of any of the rules and regulations of the cemetery authority, nor to the removal of anything placed in the cemetery by or with the consent of the cemetery authority that in the judgment of the cemetery authority has become wrecked, unsightly, or dilapidated, nor to the removal, replacement, or installation of a gravestone or other memorial, monument, or marker commemorating a veteran pursuant to Section 17 of this Act. (d) If an unemancipated minor is found guilty of violating any of the provisions of subsection (b) of this Section and is unable to provide restitution to the cemetery authority or property owner, the parents or legal guardians of that minor shall provide restitution to the cemetery authority or property owner for the amount of any damage caused, up to the total amount allowed under the Parental Responsibility Law. (d-5) Any person who commits any of the following: (1) any unauthorized, non-related third party or | ||
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(2) any non-cemetery personnel who solicits cemetery | ||
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(3) any person who harasses or threatens any employee | ||
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(4) any unauthorized person who removes, destroys, or | ||
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is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and of a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense. (e) Any person who shall hunt, shoot or discharge any gun, pistol or other missile, within the limits of any cemetery, or shall cause any shot or missile to be discharged into or over any portion thereof, or shall violate any of the rules made and established by the board of directors of such cemetery, for the protection or government thereof, is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor. (f) Any person who knowingly enters or knowingly remains upon the premises of a public or private cemetery without authorization during hours that the cemetery is posted as closed to the public is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. (g) All fines when recovered, shall be paid over by the court or officer receiving the same to the cemetery authority and be applied, as far as possible in repairing the injury, if any, caused by such offense. Provided, nothing contained in this Act shall deprive such cemetery authority or the owner of any interment, entombment, or inurnment right or monument from maintaining an action for the recovery of damages caused by any injury caused by a violation of the provisions of this Act, or of the rules established by the board of directors of such cemetery authority. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit the discharge of firearms loaded with blank ammunition as part of any funeral, any memorial observance or any other patriotic or military ceremony.(Source: P.A. 103-841, eff. 1-1-25.) |
(765 ILCS 835/2) (from Ch. 21, par. 16)
Sec. 2. (a) The cemetery authority is hereby
authorized to make rules and regulations for the government thereof, including rules
regarding the driving of cars, motorcycles, carriages, processions, teams, and the speed
thereof, the use of avenues, lots, walks, ponds, water courses, vaults,
buildings, or other places within such cemetery, the operations and good management in such cemetery, the protection of visitors, the protection of employees, and for the maintenance of
good order and quiet in such cemetery, so long as such rules and regulations shall be subject to the
rights of interment, entombment, or inurnment right owners, or others, owning any interest in such cemetery; and
all persons found guilty of a violation of such rules shall be guilty of a
petty offense and shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100, nor more
than $500 for each offense. No judge shall be disqualified from hearing any
cause that may be brought before him or her under the provisions of this Act, nor
shall any person be disqualified from acting as a juror in such cause, by
reason of any interest or ownership they or either of them may have in the
interment, entombment, or inurnment rights of such cemetery. (b) The rules and regulations, as referenced in subsection (a), shall be made publicly available through continuous publication on an Internet website or social media page that the cemetery authority maintains, operates, or uses. Each contract that a cemetery authority presents to a consumer shall contain a reference to and notice of the Internet website or social media page that it maintains, operates, or uses to make available its rules and regulations as referenced in subsection (a). (c) If a cemetery authority does not maintain, operate, or use an Internet website or social media page, the cemetery authority must provide a consumer with either an email or paper copy of the rules and regulations, as referenced in subsection (a), at the execution of a contract or within 5 business days of request thereof. A cemetery authority may charge a reasonable copying fee in exchange for a paper copy of the cemetery authority's rules and regulations. Each contract that a cemetery authority presents to a consumer shall contain a reference to and notice of such rules and regulations set forth together with information about where the consumer can access or obtain a copy of the rules and regulations.
(Source: P.A. 103-421, eff. 1-1-24.)
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(765 ILCS 835/3) (from Ch. 21, par. 17)
Sec. 3. The cemetery authority may
appoint policemen to protect such cemetery and preserve order therein, and
such policemen shall have the same power in respect to any offenses
committed in such cemetery, or any violation of this act, that city
marshals or policemen in cities have in respect to maintaining order in
such cities or arresting for offenses committed therein.
(Source: P.A. 94-44, eff. 6-17-05.)
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(765 ILCS 835/4) (from Ch. 21, par. 18)
Sec. 4. The cemetery authority may set apart such
portion as they see fit of the moneys received from the sale of the interment, entombment, or inurnment rights,
in such cemetery or graveyard, which sums shall be kept separate from all
other assets as an especial trust fund, and they shall keep the same
invested in safe interest or income paying securities, for the purpose of
keeping said cemetery or graveyard, and the interment, entombment, or inurnment rights therein, permanently in
good order and repair, and the interest or income derived from such trust
fund shall be applied only to that purpose, and shall not be diverted from
such use.
(Source: P.A. 94-44, eff. 6-17-05.)
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(765 ILCS 835/5) (from Ch. 21, par. 19)
Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the cemetery authority of a public graveyard to
receive by gift or bequest, real or personal property, or the income or
avails of property which shall be conveyed in trust for the improvement,
maintenance, repair, preservation and ornamentation of such interment, entombment, or inurnment rights or lots,
vault or vaults, tomb or tombs, or other such structures in the cemetery or
graveyard of which such board or trustees have control, as may be
designated by the terms of such gift or bequest, and in accordance with
such reasonable rules and regulations therefor, as shall be made by such
board of directors or trustees, and such board of directors or trustees
shall keep such trust funds invested in safe interest or income bearing
securities, the income from which shall be used for the purpose aforesaid.
(Source: P.A. 94-44, eff. 6-17-05.)
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(765 ILCS 835/5a) (from Ch. 21, par. 19a)
Sec. 5a. The cemetery authority may invest the funds received under Section 4 or
5 in notes secured by a first mortgage or trust deed upon improved or
income producing real estate situated in this State and not exceeding
one-half the value thereof at the time the investment is made by the
directors. Whenever any cemetery society or cemetery authority acquires
property as a result of the foreclosure of such mortgage, or
in any other manner, the directors or managing officers of such society
or authority have the power to sell and convey the land received.
(Source: P.A. 94-44, eff. 6-17-05.)
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(765 ILCS 835/6) (from Ch. 21, par. 20)
Sec. 6.
The trust fund mentioned in Sections 4 and 5 of this act, shall
be vested in the board of directors and trustees, and the securities taken
therefor shall be approved by circuit court for the county wherein such
cemetery or graveyard is located; and the board of directors or trustees
shall, once in every 2 years, make an itemized report to the court of all
such trust funds in their hands, and the securities taken therefor.
(Source: Laws 1965, p. 595.)
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(765 ILCS 835/7) (from Ch. 21, par. 21)
Sec. 7.
The trust funds, gifts and bequests mentioned in sections four (4)
and five (5) of this act, shall be exempt from taxation and from the
operation of all laws of mortmain, and laws against perpetuities and
accumulations.
(Source: Laws 1889, p. 63.)
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(765 ILCS 835/8) (from Ch. 21, par. 21.1)
Sec. 8. If the cemetery is a privately owned cemetery, as defined in Section 2 of the Cemetery Care Act, or a licensed cemetery authority under the Cemetery Oversight Act, or if the burial lot or grave, vault, tomb, or other such structures are in a privately owned cemetery, as defined in Section 2 of the Cemetery Care Act, or a licensed cemetery authority under the Cemetery Oversight Act, then such company or association shall also comply with the provisions of the Cemetery Care Act or Cemetery Oversight Act, whichever is applicable. Furthermore, no cemetery authority company or other legal entity may deny burial space to any person because of race, creed, marital status, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, or color. A cemetery company or other entity operating any cemetery may designate parts of cemeteries or burial grounds for the specific use of persons whose religious code requires isolation. Religious institution cemeteries may limit burials to members of the religious institution and their families.
(Source: P.A. 96-863, eff. 3-1-10.)
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(765 ILCS 835/9) (from Ch. 21, par. 21.2)
Sec. 9. When there is no memorial, monument, or marker installed on a
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment rights in a community columbarium; no interment in a cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium; no transfer or assignment of a
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium on the cemetery authority records; no contact by an owner recorded
in the cemetery authority records; publication has been made in a
newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the interment, entombment, or inurnment rights are located and no
response was received; and 50 years have passed since the cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium was
sold,
there is a presumption that the cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium has been abandoned, unless a specific agreement has been entered into designating said rights to be inviolate.
Alternatively, where there is an obligation to pay a cemetery authority,
annually
or periodically, maintenance or care charges on a cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium, or part
thereof, and the owner of or claimant to a right or easement for burial in
such cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium, or part thereof, has failed to pay the required annual
or periodic maintenance or care charges for a period of 30 years or more,
such continuous failure to do so creates and establishes a presumption that
the cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium, or part thereof, has been abandoned.
Upon a court's determination of abandonment, the ownership of a right or
easement for burial in a
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium, or part thereof, shall be subject to sale in the manner
hereinafter provided.
(Source: P.A. 94-44, eff. 6-17-05.)
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(765 ILCS 835/10) (from Ch. 21, par. 21.3)
Sec. 10. A cemetery authority may file in the office of the clerk of the
circuit court of the county in which the cemetery is located a verified
petition praying for the entry of an order adjudging a cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium to have been abandoned. The petition shall describe the
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium alleged to have been abandoned, shall allege
ownership by the petitioner of the cemetery, and, if
known, the name of the owner of the right or easement for burial in such
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium as is alleged to have been abandoned, or, if
the owner thereof is known to the petitioner to be deceased, then the
names, if known to petitioner, of such claimants thereto as are the
heirs-at-law and next-of-kin or the specific legatees
under the will of the
owner of the right or easement for burial in such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium
and such other facts as the petitioner may have with respect to ownership
of the right or easement for burial in such cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium.
The petition shall also allege the facts with respect to the abandonment of
the cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium or facts about
the obligation of the owner to pay annual or periodic maintenance or care
charges on such cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium, the amount of such charges
as are due and unpaid, and shall also allege the continuous failure by the
owner or
claimant to pay such charges for a period of 30 consecutive years or more.
Irrespective of diversity of ownership of the right or easement for
burial therein, a cemetery authority may include in one petition as many
cemetery interment rights, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment rights in a community columbarium as are alleged to have been abandoned.
(Source: P.A. 94-44, eff. 6-17-05.)
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(765 ILCS 835/11) (from Ch. 21, par. 21.4)
Sec. 11.
All persons so named in such petition, except the petitioner,
shall be made parties defendant by name, and if the name or names of any
owner or claimant are alleged in the petition to be unknown, such persons
shall be made parties defendant under the name and style of "Unknown
Owners". All parties defendant shall be notified of the pendency of the
proceeding in the same manner as is now or may hereafter be required in
other civil cases.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 2908.)
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(765 ILCS 835/12) (from Ch. 21, par. 21.5)
Sec. 12. In the event the owner, the claimant, or the heirs-at-law and
next-of-kin or the specific legatees under the will of
either the owner or
claimant submits proof of ownership to the court or appears and
answers
the petition, the presumption of abandonment
shall no longer exist and the court shall set the matter for hearing upon
the petition and such answers thereto as may be filed.
In the event the defendant or defendants fails to appear and answer
the petition, or in the event that upon the hearing the court determines
from the evidence presented that there has been an abandonment of the
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium for 50 years or a continuous failure to pay
the annual or periodic maintenance or care charges on such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium, or part
thereof, for a period of 30 years or more preceding the filing of the
petition, then, in either such event, an order shall be entered
adjudicating such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium, to have been abandoned and
adjudging the right or easement for burial therein to be subject to sale by
the cemetery authority at the expiration of one year from the date of the
entry of such order. Upon entry of an order adjudicating abandonment of a
cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium, the court shall fix such sum as is deemed a
reasonable fee for the services of petitioner's attorney.
(Source: P.A. 94-44, eff. 6-17-05.)
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(765 ILCS 835/13) (from Ch. 21, par. 21.6)
Sec. 13. In the event that, at any time within one year after adjudication
of abandonment, the owner or claimant of an interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or an inurnment right in a community columbarium which has
been adjudged abandoned, shall contact the court or the cemetery authority
and pay all maintenance or care charges that are
due and unpaid, shall reimburse the cemetery authority for the costs of
suit and necessary expenses incurred in the proceeding with respect to such
interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium and shall contract for its future care and
maintenance, then such lot, or part thereof,
shall not be sold as herein
provided and, upon petition of the owner or claimant, the order or judgment
adjudging
the same to have been abandoned shall be vacated as to such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium.
(Source: P.A. 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)
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(765 ILCS 835/14) (from Ch. 21, par. 21.7)
Sec. 14. After the expiration of one year from the date of entry of an
order adjudging an interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium to have been abandoned, a cemetery
authority shall have the right to do so and may sell such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium at public sale and grant an easement therein for burial purposes
to the purchaser at such sale, subject to the interment of any human
remains theretofore placed therein and the right to maintain memorials
placed thereon. A cemetery authority may bid at and purchase such interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium at such sale.
Notice of the time and place of any sale held pursuant to an order
adjudicating abandonment of a cemetery interment right, entombment rights in a community mausoleum or lawn crypt section, or inurnment right in a community columbarium shall be published
once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
cemetery is located, such publication to be not less than 30 days prior to
the date of sale.
The proceeds derived from any sale shall be used to reimburse the
petitioner for the costs of suit and necessary expenses, including
attorney's fees, incurred by petitioner in the proceeding, and the balance,
if any, shall be deposited into the cemetery authority's care fund or, if
there is no care fund, used by the cemetery authority for the care of its
cemetery and for no other purpose.
(Source: P.A. 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)
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(765 ILCS 835/14.5)
Sec. 14.5.
Correction of encroachment on interment, entombment, or
inurnment rights.
(a) Whenever a cemetery becomes aware that there is an
encroachment on or in the lawful interment, inurnment, or entombment
rights of another, and when the cemetery buried or placed or permitted the
burial or placement of the encroaching item in or on these rights, the
cemetery may correct the encroachment in accordance with this Section.
This Section shall not apply to, or be utilized in connection with, any
eminent domain, quick-take, or other condemnation proceeding that is designed
to relocate a cemetery or portion thereof to another location.
(b) When the encroaching item is a marker, monument or memorial
that should be placed on or in another interment,
inurnment, or entombment right located within the cemetery, or when the
item is the foundation or base for any of the foregoing, the cemetery may
with reasonable promptness, and without being required to obtain any
permit, relocate the item to its proper place. Notice of the corrective action
shall be given no later than 30 days following the correction in accordance
with subsection (d) of this Section.
(c) When the encroaching item is a vault, casket, urn, outer burial
container,
or human remains that should be placed in or on another interment,
inurnment, or entombment right located within the cemetery, the cemetery
may with reasonable promptness, and without being required to obtain any
permit, relocate the item to its proper place. Except as otherwise provided in
this subsection, notice of the corrective action shall be given no later than
30
days prior to the correction in accordance with subsection (d) of this Section.
When the involved encroachment would, if uncorrected within 30 days,
interfere with a scheduled interment, inurnment, or entombment, then the
notice shall be given in accordance with subsection (d) of this Section with as
much advance notice as reasonably possible or, if advance notice is not
reasonably possible, no later than 30 days following the correction. In the
event the correction is to occur in a religious cemetery that, for religious
reasons, maintains rules that preclude advance notice of corrections, the
notice shall occur no later than 30 days following the correction.
(d) Notice under this Section shall be by certified mail or other
delivery method that has a confirmation procedure, in 12-point type, to the
owner of any affected interment, inurnment, or entombment right or, when
the owner is deceased, to the surviving spouse of the deceased, or if none,
any surviving children of the deceased, or if no surviving spouse or children,
a parent, brother, or sister of the deceased, or, if failing all of the above,
any
other listed heir of the deceased in the cemetery records. In providing
notice, the cemetery authority shall exercise due diligence to engage in a
reasonable search of available funeral home of record or cemetery records to
obtain the current address of the party to be notified. The notice shall
provide a clear statement of the correction taken or to be taken,
together with the reasons for the correction, and shall outline a simple
process for the notified person to obtain additional information regarding the
correction from the cemetery. When advance notice is required, the notice
shall inform the notified party of his or her right to be present for any
reinterment, reinurnment, or reentombment, as well as his or her option to
object by obtaining an injunction enjoining the contemplated correction.
The cemetery shall maintain for no less than 5 years a record of any notice
provided under this Section.
(e) Nothing in this Section shall make a cemetery financially
responsible for the correction of encroachments that are directly or indirectly
caused by the owner of an interment, inurnment, or entombment right or by
his or her heirs or by an act of God, war, or vandalism. The cemetery shall
be financially responsible for the correction of all other encroachments
covered by this Section.
(f) Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit the liability of
any party.
(Source: P.A. 93-772, eff. 1-1-05.) |
(765 ILCS 835/15) (from Ch. 21, par. 21.8)
Sec. 15.
Purchases made pursuant to this Act shall be made in
compliance with the "Local Government Prompt Payment Act", approved by the
Eighty-fourth General Assembly.
(Source: P.A. 84-731.)
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(765 ILCS 835/16)
Sec. 16. When a multiple interment right owner becomes deceased, the
ownership of any
unused rights of interment shall pass in accordance with the specific bequest
in the decedent's will. If there is no will or specific bequest then the ownership and use
of the unused rights of interment shall be determined by a cemetery authority
in
accordance with the information set out on a standard affidavit for cemetery
interment rights use form if such a form has been prepared. The unused right
of interment shall be
used for the interment of the first
deceased heir listed on the standard affidavit and continue in sequence until
all listed heirs are deceased. In the event that an interment right is not
used,
the interment right shall pass to the heirs of the heirs of the deceased
interment right owner in perpetuity. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, this shall not preclude the ability of
the heirs to sell said interment rights, in the event that all listed living
heirs are in agreement, and it shall not preclude the ability of a 2/3 majority of the living heirs to sell a specific interment right to the spouse of a living or deceased heir. If the standard affidavit for cemetery interment
rights use, showing heirship of decedent
interment right owner's living heirs is provided to and followed by a cemetery
authority, the
cemetery authority shall be released of any liability in relying on that
affidavit.
The following is the form of the standard affidavit:
STATE OF ILLINOIS ) ) SSCOUNTY OF ....................)
AFFIDAVIT FOR CEMETERY INTERMENT RIGHTS USE
I, .............., being first duly sworn on oath depose and say that:
1. A. My place of residence is ........................
B. My post office address is .......................
C. I understand that I am providing the information | ||
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D. I understand that, if I am an out-of-state | ||
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Name ................. Address .....................
City ................. Telephone ...................
Items 2 through 6 must be completed by the executor of the decedent's
estate, a personal representative, owner's surviving spouse, or surviving
heir.
2. The decedent's name is ..............................
3. The date of decedent's death was ....................
4. The decedent's place of residence immediately before
his or her death was ........................................
5. My relationship to the decedent is .................. and I am authorized to sign and file this affidavit.
6. At the time of death, the decedent (had no) (had a) surviving spouse.
The name of the surviving spouse, if any, is ....................., and
he or she (has) (has not) remarried.
7. The following is a list of the cemetery interment rights
that may be used by the heirs if the owner is deceased:
.............................................................
.............................................................
8. The following persons have an ownership interest in and the right to use the cemetery interment rights
in the order of their death:
.......................... Address ..........................
.......................... Address ..........................
.......................... Address ..........................
.......................... Address ..........................
.......................... Address ..........................
.......................... Address ..........................
.......................... Address ..........................
9. This affidavit is made for the purpose of obtaining the consent of the
undersigned to transfer the right of interment at the above mentioned cemetery
property to the listed heirs. Affiants agree that they will save, hold
harmless, and indemnify Cemetery, its heirs, successors, employees, and
assigns, from all claims, loss, or damage whatsoever that may result from
relying on this affidavit to record said transfer in its records and allow
interments on the basis of the information contained in this affidavit.
WHEREFORE affiant requests Cemetery to recognize the above named
heirs-at-law as those rightfully entitled to the ownership of and use of said interment
(spaces) (space).
THE FOREGOING STATEMENT IS MADE UNDER THE PENALTIES OF PERJURY.
(A FRAUDULENT STATEMENT MADE UNDER THE PENALTIES OF PERJURY IS PERJURY AS
DEFINED IN THE CRIMINAL CODE OF 2012.)
Dated this ........ day of .............., .....
................... (Seal) (To be signed by the owner or | ||
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Subscribed and sworn to before me, a Notary Public in and for the County and
State of .............. aforesaid
this ........ day of ..............., .....
............................ Notary Public.
(Source: P.A. 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)
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(765 ILCS 835/17) (This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a delayed effective date) Sec. 17. Memorialization of veteran remains. (a) If a veterans' organization or not-for-profit corporation has identified human remains of a veteran that are more than 100 years old and wishes to have a marker placed to designate the grave as that of a veteran, a cemetery authority may allow memorialization without permission of the decedent's heirs under this Section. The marker may be for a previously unmarked grave or serve as a replacement of or repair to an existing damaged marker. All costs for memorialization under this Section, including the marker, its installation, and any removal of or repair to a previous marker that is damaged, shall be entirely borne by the veterans' organization. In no event shall the human remains be disturbed. (b) The memorialization and its installation, and any removal of or repair to a damaged marker, may only take place with the permission of the involved cemetery authority and in compliance with the rules and regulations and any collective bargaining agreement of the involved cemetery. (c) Before any memorialization under this Section may take place, the veterans' organization must first make a good faith effort to contact the decedent's next of kin, and if there is no response within 120 days, the process may proceed. The veterans' organization shall provide the cemetery authority with a notarized statement detailing its efforts to identify and contact the next of kin and the lack of response thereto, which statement may be made a part of the cemetery records. (d) If any heir of a decedent later objects to a memorialization made under this Section, the sole remedy shall be the removal of the involved marker at the expense of the involved veterans' organization. If the veterans' organization no longer exists or is without funds, removal shall be at the expense of the heir. In no event shall there be monetary damages, or any other equitable relief or penalties, against the cemetery authority, cemetery, or veterans' association.(Source: P.A. 103-841, eff. 1-1-25.) |