(a) All cemetery grave sites conveyed by the City shall be presumed to be the sole and separate property of the person named as grantee in the instrument of conveyance. A right of interment is waived and terminated upon the interment elsewhere of the remains of a person entitled thereto.
(b) If no interment has been made in a grave site which has been conveyed to an owner, then, in the absence of specific disposition thereof by the owner in his or her Last Will and Testament, and recorded transfer, the right of interment is extinguished and the City may sell the grave site.
(c) Whenever a lot is conveyed to an individual owner, the whole of such lot becomes inalienable and shall be held as a family lot of the owner. One grave site may be used for the owner's interment, one may be used for the interment of a surviving spouse of the owner, and those remaining may be used for the parents and children of such deceased owner, who may be interred in order of need without the consent of any person claiming any interest therein. In the event there is no spouse, parent or child surviving an owner, the right of interment shall go to the next heirs at law of the deceased owner, as specified by the Michigan statutes of intestate succession. Any surviving husband or wife, or any parent, child or heir of such deceased owner, may waive his or her right of interment in favor of any other relative of the deceased owner. In the event there are no surviving heirs of the owner, or upon waiver of the right of interment by such persons, all rights of interment are extinguished and the City may sell any remaining grave sites.
(d) The City Clerk shall act as agent for the owners of lots and sections who wish to resell them. The purchaser of such lots or grave sites shall pay the current price, as set forth in the schedule established by the City Commission, to the Clerk. Upon receipt of the purchase price, the Clerk shall refund to the original owner the amount paid at the time of their purchase, any balance to be retained by the City. A transfer of title shall be made by the Clerk to the new purchaser, extinguishing any right or claim of the previous owner or that person's heirs.
(e) No transfer or assignment of any grave site shall be valid without properly recording the same and paying a fee, pursuant to the fee schedule established by the City Commission, to the City Clerk.
(Ord. 19-87. Passed 9-8-87.)