The City of Kelowna is looking to reclaim unused burial plots sold more than 50 years ago.
Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery is gearing up to take back unused Right of Interment Permits to plots that were sold in or before 1973.
Those who have rights to the plot, or their immediate family members, have until Oct. 7 to notify the cemetery via email of their intent to use, transfer, or surrender their Right of Interment Permit — otherwise the cemetery will reclaim them.
“The purpose of this reclamation project is to ensure the city is responsibly managing cemetery land,” Tracey Hillis, cemetery manager, said in a press release.
“Because these plots were sold 50 years ago, they often get forgotten about after so many years, or the owner has already been interred elsewhere.
“Without completing a project like this, cemeteries would have plots that go unused forever, leaving less space for those who may want to be buried in our local cemetery.”
Cemetery permits issued in 1973 and earlier did not include detailed contact information of the purchaser, or the information provided is no longer valid.
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Those who may be affected by this shift are asked to send an email to cemeterypermits@kelowna.ca.
If the original plot holder has passed away, an immediate family member may be eligible to use the original Right of Interment Permit for a casket burial.
Reclamation is standard practice for cemeteries all over the world. In B.C., this practice is regulated by the Cremation, Interment, and Funeral Services Act.
The regulation states that a cemetery may reclaim a Right of Interment Permit if the permit was sold 50 or more years prior, and the cemetery attempted to contact the original permit holder and has waited 90 days.
The Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery provides individuals with five months before reclaiming these permits.
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