| DATE: |
03/28/00 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUBJECT/TOPIC: |
CEMETERIES | |||
| Q: | Who actually owns those old family graveyards
in Tennessee? My county shows these
Graveyards and access lanes as separate
untaxed tracts. The tax records show no
ownership records. Does the state assume
ownership? If so, by what statute or case law?
Thanks. |
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| A: | Unless there has been a conveyance, family
cemeteries are owned by the owner of the land
on which they are situated, but are subject to
the easement rights of the descendants of those
who are buried there. Such easement rights
entitle the descendants to visit, take care of the
graves, and conduct additional burials. Given
this, I'm not sure why the tax assessor shows
such cemeteries as separate parcels.
Note: The Editor received an explanation from Devereaux Cannon, State Counsel For Old Republic National Title Insurance Company: "The reason . . . that taxes are not levied on cemeteries and the tax assessors show them as separate parcels is to show that they are not included in the assessment on the overall parcel; I am sure it could be done by a notation on the tax card instead, but that seems to be the reasoning." |
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