2010 Tennessee Code
Title 46 - Cemeteries
Chapter 1 - Regulation of Cemeteries
Part 1 - General Provisions
46-1-108 - Purchase and subdivision of land Sale of lots Approval of location for cemetery use Purchase contract Attachment or levy of execution.

46-1-108. Purchase and subdivision of land Sale of lots Approval of location for cemetery use Purchase contract Attachment or levy of execution.

(a)  A cemetery company has the power to purchase land, not exceeding two hundred (200) acres, to be used as a cemetery forever, to lay the land off in suitable avenues or walks and embellish with trees, shrubbery, and flowers, and to subdivide the land into lots suitable for graves, monuments, and vaults, and sell the lots in the manner that the board of directors of the cemetery determines; provided, that any land may be purchased and used as a cemetery at any place within a town or city after the proposed location has been approved by resolution of the governing body of the town or city.

(b)  Each contract for the sale of burial space or the conveyance of interment rights shall be executed in duplicate, and an executed copy shall be given to the purchaser.

(c)  If a specific interment site is selected by the purchaser at the time the purchase contract is executed, the contract shall contain a detailed description of the location of the interment site purchased. All such contracts must also contain the following or similar notices to the purchaser: “This cemetery is regulated by the State of Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Burial Services Section. The purchaser or the purchaser's designated legal agent has the right upon request to access the cemetery's records relating to the purchaser's interment right or interment site. Within ninety (90) days of the receipt of the final payment on the purchase contract for any interment right, the purchaser shall receive from the cemetery company proof of ownership of that interment right. The purchaser, at the purchaser's own cost, may record a copy of such proof of ownership with the register of deeds for the county in which the cemetery is located.”

(d)  All lots sold to purchasers pursuant to subsection (c) shall forever be free from attachment or the levy of an execution.

[Acts 1875, ch. 142, § 9; 1895, ch. 131, § 1; 1899, ch. 277, § 1; Shan., § 2181; Acts 1919, ch. 195, § 1; Code 1932, § 3919; Acts 1968, ch. 557, §§ 2, 4; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), §§ 46-101, 46-102; T.C.A., §§ 46-201, 46-202; Acts 1984, ch. 585, § 1; 1986, ch. 693, § 10; T.C.A. §§ 46-2-101, 46-2-102; Acts 2006, ch. 1012, § 2.]