Title 10, Property Rights and Transactions

All plots conveyed to individuals are presumed to be solely and separately owned by the person named in the instrument of conveyance.

(1) The spouse of an owner of any plot containing more than one interment space has a vested right of interment of the remains of the spouse in the plot, and any person thereafter becoming the spouse of the owner has a vested right of interment of the remains of the person in the…

No conveyance or other action of the owner without the written consent or joinder of the spouse of the owner divests the spouse of the vested right of interment, except that a judgment of divorce between them terminates the right unless otherwise provided in the judgment. [Amende…

No transfer of any plot, heretofore or hereafter made, or any right of interment is complete or effective until recorded on the books of the cemetery authority.

Upon the death of the owner, unless the owner has disposed of the plot either by specific direction in the will of the owner or by a written declaration filed and recorded in the office of the cemetery authority, if no interment has been made in an interment plot which has been t…

When there are two or more owners of a burial plot or of rights of interment therein, such owners may designate one or more persons to designate the burials to be made in the plot and file written notice of such designation with the cemetery association. In the absence of such no…

An affidavit by any person having knowledge of the fact, setting forth the fact of the death of one owner and establishing the identity of the surviving owners named in the deed to any plot, when filed with the cemetery authority operating the cemetery in which the plot is locate…

(1) Whenever an interment of the remains of a member or of a relative of a member of the family of the record owner, or of the remains of the record owner, is made in a plot transferred by deed or certificate of ownership to an individual owner, and the owner dies without making …

A vested right of interment may be waived and is terminated upon the interment elsewhere of the remains of the person in whom it is vested.

No vested right of interment gives to any person the right to have the remains of the person interred in any interment space in which the remains of any deceased person having equal or prior vested right of interment have been interred; nor does it give any person the right to ha…

A nonprofit corporation organized and existing solely for the purposes of either owning and operating a cemetery or cremating or reducing the bodies of deceased persons and burying and caring for cremated or reduced remains, may purchase or take, by gift or devise, and own and ho…

(1) A nonprofit corporation organized or existing solely for the purposes of either owning and operating a cemetery or cremating or reducing the bodies of deceased persons and burying and caring for cremated or reduced remains may, by its bylaws, provide that a stated percentage …

If in the board of directors’ opinion, any portion of the lands of a nonprofit corporation organized and existing solely for the purposes of either owning or operating a cemetery or the cremation or reduction of bodies of deceased persons and the burial and care of cremated or re…

Burial lots or space for burial of cremated or reduced remains in buildings or grounds sold by a nonprofit corporation organized and existing solely for the purposes of either owning and operating a cemetery or cremating or reducing the bodies of deceased persons and burying and …

(1) As used in this section, “plan” means a document indicating the placement of lots or burial spaces, and of the niches or inurnment spaces in the buildings erected thereon, as established and authorized by the cemetery authority. (2) A nonprofit corporation organized and exist…

(1) The cemetery authority may make and enforce rules and regulations for: (a) The use, care, control, management, restriction and protection of its cemetery; (b) Restricting and limiting the use of all property within its cemetery; (c) Regulating the uniformity, class and kind o…

(1) The person in charge of any premises on which interments, cremations or reductions are made shall keep a record of all remains interred or cremated or reduced on the premises under the person’s charge, in each case stating the name of each deceased person, the date of interme…

(1) As used in this section, “unclaimed burial space” means a burial space in a cemetery: (a) That has not been used for purposes of interment for at least 75 years by the record owner of the burial space or by a party claiming through the record owner of the burial space; and (b…

Gifts, grants and bequests of personal property in trust for the purpose of providing perpetual care and maintenance, improvement or embellishment of private burial lots in or outside of cemeteries and of the walks, fences, monuments, structures or tombs thereon, are permitted an…

For the purposes of ORS 97.740 to 97.760: (1) “Burial” has the meaning given that term in ORS 358.905. (2) “Funerary object” has the meaning given that term in ORS 358.905. (3) “Human remains” has the meaning given that term in ORS 358.905. (4) “Indian tribe” means any tribe of I…

(1) Except as provided in ORS 97.750, no person shall willfully remove, mutilate, deface, injure or destroy any cairn, burial, human remains, funerary object, sacred object or object of cultural patrimony of any native Indian. Persons disturbing native Indian cairns or burials th…

(1) Any proposed excavation by a professional archaeologist of a native Indian cairn or burial shall be initiated only after prior written notification to the State Historic Preservation Officer and the state police, as defined in ORS 358.905, and with the prior written consent o…

(1) Apart from any criminal prosecution, an Indian tribe or enrolled member thereof shall have a civil action to secure an injunction, damages or other appropriate relief against any person who is alleged to have violated ORS 97.745. The action must be brought within two years of…

For purposes of ORS 97.772 to 97.784, “historic cemetery” means any burial place that contains the remains of one or more persons who died before the date that is 75 years before the current date. [1999 c.731 §1; 2003 c.173 §1; 2021 c.22 §1] Note: 97.772 to 97.784 were enacted in…

(1) There is established within the State Parks and Recreation Department the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries consisting of seven members appointed by the State Parks and Recreation Director. (2) The term of office of each member is four years, but a member serves at the…

The members of the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries must be citizens of this state who are well informed on the restoration and maintenance of historic cemeteries. The State Parks and Recreation Director shall select members from nominations made by organizations of local…

(1) The Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries shall select one of its members as chairperson and another as vice chairperson for such terms and with duties and powers necessary for the performance of the functions of such offices as the commission determines. (2) A majority of…

The Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries shall: (1) Maintain a listing of all historic cemeteries in this state. (2) Assist in coordination of restoration, renovation and maintenance of Oregon’s historic cemeteries. (3) Make recommendations to the State Parks and Recreation D…

A historic cemetery that is not an operating cemetery, as defined in ORS 692.010, shall be listed with the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries. An owner or any other person or association of individuals that maintains such a historic cemetery shall list the historic cemetery…

The State Parks and Recreation Department shall provide support services to the Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries. One staff person of the department shall be the executive secretary of the commission. [1999 c.731 §8; 2003 c.173 §7] Note: See note under 97.772. CEMETERY CA…

(1) As used in ORS 97.810 to 97.920: (a) “Endowment care cemetery” means a cemetery that maintains an endowment care fund placed in an irrevocable trust fund. (b) “Grave liner” means a burial receptacle designed to be installed in a grave, as defined in ORS 97.010, to assist in p…

The Department of Consumer and Business Services, in collaboration with the State Mortuary and Cemetery Board, shall adopt rules relating to: (1) Minimum standards of care for the maintenance and operation of endowment care cemeteries; and (2) The ability of the public to access …

(1) Every cemetery authority that operates a cemetery may place its cemetery under endowed care and establish, maintain and operate an endowment care fund. All endowed care funds shall be deposited with and held solely by the trustee or custodian appointed by the cemetery authori…

A person may not, in connection with operating an endowment care cemetery: (1) Employ any device, scheme or artifice to defraud; (2) Knowingly make any untrue statement of a material fact or omit stating a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of …

(1)(a) If the cemetery authority fails to remit to the trustee or trustees, in accordance with the law, the funds herein provided for endowment and special care, or fails to expend the net income from the funds and generally care for and maintain any portion of a cemetery entitle…

(1) The principal of all funds for endowed care shall be invested, from time to time reinvested and kept invested. If a trust agreement imposes upon the trustee or custodian the duty to direct the investment or reinvestment of endowed care funds, the trustee or custodian shall pe…

The trustee shall have no duty whatsoever to operate, maintain or to supervise the general maintenance of any endowment fund cemetery, and the trustee shall have no duty whatsoever to enforce collection of any of the trust funds either from the purchasers of lots, or from the cem…

A cemetery authority which has established an endowment care fund may take, receive and hold any property, real, personal or mixed, bequeathed, devised, granted, given or otherwise contributed to it for its endowment care fund. Within 30 days of the receipt of such contributions,…

The endowment and special care funds and all payments or contributions to them are expressly permitted as and for charitable and eleemosynary purposes. Endowment care is a provision for the discharge of a duty from the persons contributing to the persons interred and to be interr…

(1) Upon payment of the purchase price, including the amount fixed as a proportionate contribution for endowed care, there may be included in the deed of conveyance, or by separate instrument, an agreement to care, in accordance with the plan adopted, for the cemetery and its app…

(1) The Department of Consumer and Business Services may, if a cemetery authority responsible for an endowment care cemetery violates a provision of ORS 97.810 to 97.920 with respect to the endowment care cemetery: (a) Issue an emergency order to suspend or restrict the operation…

(1) The following may petition the circuit courts of this state for an appointment of receiver for an endowment care cemetery: (a) The Department of Consumer and Business Services; (b) The district attorney of the county where the endowment care cemetery is located; or (c) A loca…

(1) A cemetery authority that operates a cemetery for any religious or eleemosynary corporation, church, religious society or denomination, corporation sole administering temporalities of any church or religious society or denomination and any county or city may make an irrevocab…

(1) In all cases where a cemetery authority has owned a site for a cemetery for more than 40 years and has during that period sold lots, subdivisions of lots, pieces or parcels of the cemetery for burial purposes and the grantee or party claiming through the grantee has not used …

The governing board of a cemetery authority described in ORS 97.870 may adopt a resolution declaring such unused and unimproved portion of its cemetery as is described in ORS 97.870 a common nuisance and an abandoned and unused portion of such cemetery, and may direct its officer…

(1) Upon the adoption of the resolution described in ORS 97.880 the officers of the cemetery authority may file a complaint in the circuit court for the county in which the cemetery is located against the owners, holders or parties interested in such abandoned portion of its ceme…

(1) Summons shall be served upon all owners or holders who are residents of this state in like manner as in service of summons in a civil action if such owners and holders are known to the sheriff in the county in which the cemetery is located. If the defendants are not known to …

In all cases arising under ORS 97.870 to 97.900, the fact that the owner, holder or interested party, of the unused and unimproved portion of the cemetery has not, for a term of 20 years or more, used the plot and has failed to keep it clear of weeds or brush is prima facie evide…

Upon the failure of the owner of the premises to comply with the order of the court requiring proper care of the premises or upon the failure of any of the defendants to appear and answer the complaint or upon the trial of the cause, if the court finds that the allegations of the…

As used in ORS 97.012, 97.923 to 97.949 and 97.994, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Beneficiary” means the person who is to receive the funeral and cemetery merchandise, funeral and cemetery services or completed interment spaces. (2) “Certified provider” means an ent…