My friend's Dad wants to be buried on his ranch when he dies. He seems to think he can be cremated and the urn can be buried on a hill with a marble headstone. Does anyone know if this is legal or not? My vote is yes but my friend says not.

I bet it is in at least unincorporated areas.

Yes as long as you are cremated first no big deal. You can buy a vault that is just for this. If you are not cremated then you have to do some legal work first and need to do it while still alive as it can/will take some time.

both my grandfathers were cremated and we buried them on their land.



[This message has been edited by YellowPot_97 (edited 9/24/2012 9:10p).]

The cemetary borders up to our land, and my grandparents sold them an acre at one point. My deer feeder is 200 yards from it. And there is another cemetary that quit being used in the late 1880's, in favor of the new one, and is in ruins now, that is on my uncle's land, literally across the fence from us. So we've kind of got that covered.

Yes you can. Here are the reqs

http://www.tfsc.state.tx.us/documents/crematoriesDocs/FAMILY%20CEMETERY.pdf

The land has to be platted out and you have to be in an unincorporated area

[This message has been edited by BunkerHill (edited 9/24/2012 9:55p).]

Thanks for the reference Bunker. Since the body will be cremated, I'm not sure a plat is required. Maybe it still is required. Glad to hear others have already done this.

What exactly would the consequence be? Do you still get a jury of your peers?

Is anyone else concerned that someone with the name 86 is asking about burying people?

If you can be cremated and put on the mantle in the living room or on the Lazy Susan on the dining room table...I am pretty sure you can bury the Urn anywhere you want.

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Is anyone else concerned that someone with the name 86 is asking about burying people?

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My dad is class of 82, and his dad has been dead a couple years now.

[This message has been edited by aggie_2001_2005 (edited 9/24/2012 10:22p).]

I have a cousin that lost his grandson. Cousin set up a cemetery on his farm and buried him there. It's just been a short time, but a friend/neighbor of his passed away a couple of months ago and was also buried there.

Obviously, read the rules above, but he told me it was a simple process, basically going to the county and declaring that the area was a cemetery.

we buried father-in-law on his place - just down from the oil well, under a big oak tree, looking out over the fishing tank - my spots there too

I shredded off an area, brought in a backhoe to dig the grave and registered it at the county as a cemetery - we didn't do a survey, just a map and a reference point - 1.2 miles north of intersection of FM and CR roads...

he was not cremated - it was very simple and easy to do - different counties may have different rules, but Eastland county was a backhoe and a few dollars filing fees - then of course the headstone

I missed the part about cremation.

I'm sure the cremation would get you around this. But for a regular grave, don't you have to put the casket in a cement vault per Texas law?

Don't have to be in a concrete vault.

You do have to establish a cemetery plat, which is what a person I used to work with, had to do in order to bury his wife on their ranch.

Whether it's burying ashes or a body, if it is considered a grave site, there are State requirements that must be met. And it can take some time to get set up properly.

The only problem I see with having a family cemetery on your ranch, is in the event you ever have to sell the property.

It makes it a little less attractive to a potential buyer that there will be a cemetery on the property and that all the decendents will have the right to access the burial site. Which means there will most likely have to be an ingress/egress created with an easement along with fencing around the site.

[This message has been edited by Doc Hayworth (edited 9/25/2012 12:50p).]

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that all the decedents will have the right to access the burial site

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I would hope the decedents aren't going to need a road in and out of the cemetery...

[This message has been edited by AgLaw06 (edited 9/25/2012 1:09p).]

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If you can be cremated and put on the mantle in the living room or on the Lazy Susan on the dining room table...I am pretty sure you can bury the Urn anywhere you want

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And yet for some reason, I can't be mummified and strung up in my attic.

Is there a legal difference in spreading ashes and burying ashes? I thought you could spread ashes willy nilly, so why would burying them be any different?

Another question: could you just be left unburied, uncreamated, and un-imbalmed to rot in a field like an animal?

Some local Ags just did this w their Dad (not cremated) on their ranch. They designated enough plots for 3 generations or so. A survey is required - and it was less painful than I would have thought.

Whoa. Not just left there. Didn't see that post - he was buried.

just donate your body to the cadaver lab at texas state

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Is anyone else concerned that someone with the name 86 is asking about burying people?

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