Grave Ownership

Identifying the right person to be a grave owner is important, therefore the decision should carefully be considered  before a final decision is made. Grave ownership can be solely or jointly held and no one other than the grave owner(s) will have any say over who is buried in the grave or what memorial is to be placed etc. You are therefore welcome to contact the cemetery office to discuss before making a final decision.

Before any burial can take place a date and time must be booked with the Cemetery Office and the standard burial form, Notice of Interment, must be submitted. These are either done by the Funeral Director handling the arrangements or by the nominated family member if it is a self-arranged funeral (this means that there is no Funeral Director being involved and the family are handling all arrangements). In either case the ‘Notice of Interment’ should be completed by the nearest surviving relative to the deceased. It is also on the ‘Notice of Interment’ where the grave owner(s) will need to sign.

When someone becomes ‘grave owner’ they become the holder of the Exclusive Right of Burial. The holders will then have the right to :

• Be buried in that grave, subject to sufficient space
• Arrange further burials in that grave, subject to sufficient space
• Place or replace a memorial
• Have an additional inscription on an existing memorial

The grave owner(s) has the rights listed above but the actual ground remains in the ownership of the Council of which we are responsible for its maintenance.

The signature of the living grave owner(s) is always required before permission for any of the above is granted by the Cemeteries Registrar. The exception to this is when the grave owner has died of which a transfer of burial rights will then be required. Contact the Cemetery Office to discuss a transfer if that is needed.

Torfaen issues its Exclusive Right of Burial for 75 years. The legal position is that after the Exclusive Right of Burial period has elapsed, unless they are renewed, they will revert back to the Council.