By Hunter H.B. No. 3694
76R9284 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to abandoned burial plots.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 714.003, Health and Safety Code is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 Section 714.003. ABANDONED PLOTS [LOTS] IN PRIVATE
1-7 CEMETERIES.
1-8 (a) The ownership or right of sepulture in an unoccupied
1-9 plot [lot or a part of a lot] for which adequate perpetual care has
1-10 not been provided in a private cemetery operated by a nonprofit
1-11 organization reverts to the cemetery on a finding by a court of
1-12 competent jurisdiction that the plot [lot or part of the lot] is
1-13 abandoned. A cemetery may convey title to any plot [a lot or part
1-14 of a lot] that has reverted to the cemetery.
1-15 (b) A plot [lot] is presumed to be abandoned if for 10
1-16 consecutive years an owner or an owner's successor in interest does
1-17 not:
1-18 (1) maintain the plot [lot] in a condition consistent
1-19 with other plots [lots] in the cemetery; or
1-20 (2) pay any assessments for maintenance charged by the
1-21 cemetery.
1-22 (c) An owner or an owner's successors in interest may rebut
1-23 the presumption of abandonment by:
1-24 (1) delivering to the governing body or by filing with
2-1 the court written notice claiming ownership of or right of
2-2 sepulture in the plot [lot]; and
2-3 (2) paying the cemetery for any past due maintenance
2-4 charges on the plot [lot] plus interest at the maximum legal rate.
2-5 (d) A notice for rebuttal of a presumption must be given by
2-6 delivery in person or by prepaid United States mail, properly
2-7 addressed. If the notice is mailed, delivery is effective on the
2-8 date the envelope containing the notice is postmarked.
2-9 (e) The governing body may petition a court of competent
2-10 jurisdiction for an order declaring that a plot [lot or a part of a
2-11 lot] is abandoned if, not later than the 91st day and not earlier
2-12 than the 120th day before the date the petition is filed, the
2-13 governing body gives written notice of its claim of the plot, to
2-14 the [lot] owner or, if the owner is deceased or his address is
2-15 unknown, to the owner's known successors in interest. The notice
2-16 must be delivered in person or by prepaid United States mail, sent
2-17 to the last known address of the owner or the owner's successors in
2-18 interest.
2-19 (f) If after reasonable effort the governing body cannot
2-20 locate or ascertain the identity of an owner or an owner's
2-21 successors in interest, the governing body must give the notice
2-22 required by this section by publishing it once each week for four
2-23 consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the
2-24 county in which the cemetery is located.
2-25 (g) After deducting reasonable expenses related to the
2-26 reacquisition and sale of an abandoned plot [cemetery lot]
2-27 including restoration, expenses of the sale, costs and legal fees,
3-1 a cemetery shall deposit the balance of the funds from the sale of
3-2 the plot [lot] into an account to be used [solely] for the
3-3 [perpetual] care of the cemetery.
3-4 (h) This section prevails over Sections 711.035, 711.036,
3-5 711.038, 711.039, and 711.040 to the extent of any conflict.
3-6 (i) In this section:
3-7 (1) "Governing body" means the person in a nonprofit
3-8 organization responsible for conducting a cemetery business.
3-9 (2) "Nonprofit organization" means an organization
3-10 described by Section 501(c)[(3)](13), Internal Revenue Code of
3-11 1986. [26 U.S.C. Section 501(c)(3)).]
3-12 (3) "Private cemetery" means a cemetery that is not
3-13 owned or operated by the United States, this state, or a political
3-14 subdivision of this state, but is owned and operated by a nonprofit
3-15 organization.
3-16 (4) "Plot" means a grave space or grave spaces, as
3-17 dedicated for, or designated by, the cemetery, in which there has
3-18 been no prior interment of human remains.
3-19 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
3-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-24 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-25 passage, and it is so enacted.