Title 57, Title 57. Religious and Charitable Matters; Cemeteries

A. As used in this section: "Establishment" means any building or part thereof, including without being limited to public inns and hotels, any structure, enclosure, tract of land, and all improvements, appurtenances, and additions, bodies of water whether natural or artificial, a…

A. The glebe lands and church property, or the proceeds thereof held by the authorities of any county under the act of January 12, 1802, or under any other act, which may not have been applied to some particular object under a local statute passed for the purpose, shall be approp…

Where, previous to January 30, 1806, any donation was made of money or any other thing, for a charitable purpose, and the donation was to be controlled or managed by a vestry, the governing body of the county, city or town, in which the charity was intended by the donor to be exe…

The act entitled "An act to incorporate R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1, Confederate Veterans," approved March 13, 1884; and the act entitled "An act making an annual appropriation for the support of the home of R. E. Lee Camp, No. 1, Confederate Veterans," approved February 12, 1886, shal…

The act entitled "An act to incorporate the Lee Memorial Association," approved January 14, 1871, as amended by an act approved December 29, 1877, as amended by an act approved March 3, 1879, as amended by an act approved March 13, 1884; the act entitled "An act to authorize the …

Every gift, grant, devise, or bequest made on or after April 2, 1839, for literary or educational purposes, and every gift, grant, devise, or bequest made on or after April 6, 1976, for charitable purposes, whether made in any case to any type of entity or to a natural person, sh…

When personal property shall be given or acquired for the benefit of an unincorporated church or religious body, to be used for its religious purposes, the same shall stand vested in the trustees having the legal title to the land, to be held by them as the land is held, and upon…

Such trustees, and such as are mentioned in §§ 57-21, 57-22, and 57-23, may, in their own names, sue for and recover any real or personal estate held by them respectively in trust, or damages for injury thereto, and be sued in relation to the same. Such suit notwithstanding the d…

Any one or more members of any church diocese or religious congregation whose property is held by trustees may, in his or their names, on behalf of such church diocese or congregation, commence and prosecute a suit in equity against any such trustee to compel him to apply such re…

Whenever the governing body of any church diocese or any religious congregation whose property is held by trustees, for whose use a conveyance, devise, or dedication of land has been lawfully made, shall deem that their interest will be promoted by a sale of the whole or a part o…

A. The trustees of such a church diocese, congregation, or church or religious denomination, or society or branch or division thereof, in whom is vested the legal title to such land held for any of the purposes mentioned in § 57-7.1, may file their petition in the circuit court o…

Any order entered pursuant to §§ 57-14 and 57-15 may provide that any instrument evidencing a debt secured by a deed of trust or mortgage made in behalf of a church diocese, congregation, church or religious denomination or society or branch or division thereof, hereinafter refer…

A. How property acquired, held, transferred, etc. -- Whenever the laws, rules or ecclesiastic polity of any church or religious sect, society or denomination commits to its duly elected or appointed bishop, minister or other ecclesiastical officer, authority to administer its aff…

Whenever the laws, rules, or ecclesiastic polity of an unincorporated church or religious body provide for it to create a corporation to hold, administer, and manage its real and personal property, such corporation shall have the power to (i) acquire by deed, devise, gift, purcha…

Whenever any church in the Commonwealth has been in the undisputed possession, for a period of 25 years or more, of any real estate, and for which there is no deed of record, the church, after giving notice once a week for four successive weeks in some newspaper published in, or …

Every conveyance or transfer of real or personal property, whether inter vivos or by will, which is made to or for the benefit of any church, church diocese, religious congregation or religious society, whether by purchase or gift, shall be valid. Any such conveyance or transfer …

The circuit court of the county or the circuit court of the city, or the judge thereof in vacation, wherein there is any parcel of such land or the greater part thereof may, on the application of the proper authorities of an unincorporated church or religious body or branch or di…

A. If a division has heretofore occurred or shall hereafter occur in a church or religious society, to which any such congregation whose property is held by trustees is attached, the members of such congregation over 18 years of age may, by a vote of a majority of the whole numbe…

In any case where, since June 18, 1914, there has been, or at any time hereafter there may be, (i) any gift, grant, or devise of real estate or personal property for charitable purposes to an unincorporated body, society, group, association, or post, including those referenced in…

When any conveyance of land has been or shall be made to trustees for the use of any society of Freemasons, Odd Fellows, Sons of Temperance, posts of Veterans of Foreign Wars or of the American Legion, Spanish War Veterans, Disabled American Veterans and of other associations of …

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the trustee for the use of any benevolent or other association referred to in § 57-19 shall not hereafter take or hold, at one time, any land exceeding five acres; and the trustees of two or more bodies or societies may hold jointly, …

Any such unincorporated body, society, group, association, or post referenced in § 57-18 or 57-19 may acquire personal property for its use, and hold the same and any such as it may have heretofore acquired, through the intervention of trustees in whom the legal title shall be ve…

A. Land may be conveyed to trustees, not less than five nor more than nine in number, for the use of any city, town, county, magisterial district, cemetery association, ecclesiastical or other society, as a cemetery. It shall be held by such trustees and their successors for such…

On the application of the governing body of a city or town, the attorney for the Commonwealth of a county, ten citizens of a magisterial district, or the proper authorities of any such association or society, for whose use such cemetery is held, the circuit court of the county in…

Such trustees and their successors shall have power to make such rules and regulations for the burial of the dead, the laying off, assignment and sale of burial lots, and the management, care, preservation and improvement of the grounds, as they may deem proper. They may take and…

In the case of any private or family graveyard, where no trustees have been designated, and it appears that the interest of justice may be served by the appointment of a trustee or trustees for the purpose of suing or being sued, on the petition of any interested party, the court…

If it is desired at any time to establish a cemetery for the use of a city, town, county or magisterial district, or to enlarge any such cemetery already established, and the title to land needed cannot be otherwise acquired, land sufficient for the purpose may be condemned. Appl…

(1) Restrictions as to location. -- No cemetery shall be hereafter established within a county or the corporate limits of any city or town, unless authorized by appropriate ordinance subject to any zoning ordinance duly adopted by the governing body of such county, city or town; …

The governing body of the City of Richmond may, by ordinance, prohibit the burial of dead bodies in the cemeteries known as Ham's, Cedarwood, Methodist, Union Mechanics', Ebenezer, and Sycamore cemeteries, respectively, and may by such ordinance provide for penalties for violatio…

A. Owners of private property on which a cemetery or graves are located shall have a duty to allow ingress and egress to the cemetery or graves by (i) family members and descendants of deceased persons buried there; (ii) any cemetery plot owner; and (iii) any person engaging in g…

A. For purposes of this section: "Family cemetery" means a private burying ground or cemetery, not operated for profit, that contains a collection of graves of people who descend from the same immediate family and that is exempt from taxation pursuant to Article X, § 6 (a) (3) of…

A. In any instance where the operator of a cemetery is informed or becomes aware that it has interred or permitted the interment of a body or cremains in the wrong burial space, it shall disinter the burial container wrongfully interred, identify the burial container, and reinter…

A cemetery may accept the notarized signature of one next of kin of a decedent for the purpose of authorizing the interment or entombment, and for erecting a memorial on the grave, crypt or niche, unless the cemetery is on written notice that there exists a dispute between next o…

Any city and county, or any number of cities and counties, may jointly purchase or otherwise acquire land for the purpose of improving and establishing a jointly owned cemetery or cemeteries, and the governing bodies of the cities and counties purchasing or acquiring land for joi…

After acquiring and planning such cemetery or cemeteries, the circuit court of the county wherein the cemetery is located shall appoint not less than five nor more than nine trustees, who shall reside in the city or county, for the purpose of managing and controlling such cemeter…

The trustees shall, upon delivery of a deed for any lot or portion thereof, except a pauper lot, collect the purchase price and pay it to the designated treasurer of either the county or city establishing the cemetery. The amounts received from the sale of lots or portions thereo…

No disposition of property heretofore or hereafter made for the maintenance or care of any cemetery, burial ground, burial lot in a cemetery, or monument, or other erections about such cemetery or burial lot, shall fail by reason of such disposition having been made in perpetuity…

Any cemetery company chartered under the laws of the Commonwealth, or a church, or any trustees holding title to a cemetery, or burial ground, may take and hold any property granted, bequeathed, devised, or given upon trust to apply its income to the improvement, repair, or embel…

Nothing contained in this article shall be construed as limiting the amount which may be given, bequeathed or devised to defray the original cost of the cemetery, burial lot, monument, vault or other like erection or structure, nor shall this article be construed as affecting any…

The board of directors of any incorporated cemetery company may by bylaw establish a trusteeship for holding and administering all funds paid to such cemetery company for the perpetual care of any lot or lots in the cemetery conducted by the company, and such trusteeship, once es…

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning: "Previously unidentified cemetery" means a cemetery that, notwithstanding the fact that it is known to researchers, members of the community, or descendants of those buried there, has not been identified in…

Notwithstanding the exemptions provided for in § 54.1-2312, a cemetery operated by a county or city shall keep accurate records of the ownership of cemetery lots and shall make a good faith effort to ensure, prior to interment, that the ownership of a cemetery lot is vested in th…

A. No cemetery owned by a county or city shall be sold to a private owner unless the county or city has made a good faith effort to ensure, prior to sale, that the ownership of such cemetery is vested in the estate of the last owner of record or that permission for the sale has b…

A. When a graveyard, wholly or partly within any locality, has been abandoned, is unused and neglected by the owners, or is a previously unidentified graveyard, and such graveyard is necessary, in whole or in part, for public purposes, authorized by the charter of such locality, …

In the event that the proceeds from the condemnation are insufficient to defray the costs of the suit and removal, and reinterment of the remains, then the additional amount necessary therefor shall be paid by the county, city or town instituting the suit. If, after the payment o…

Sections 57-36 and 57-37 shall not apply to any graveyard or cemetery owned by a church, or controlled by trustees, in which sections are sold.