Title 68, CEMETERIES, MORGUES, AND HUMAN REMAINS

It shall be unlawful for a cemetery authority to pay or offer to pay to any person, firm, or corporation, directly or indirectly, a commission or bonus or rebate or other thing of value for the sale of a plot, right of interment, or services. This shall not apply to an owner or a…

Every person who pays, causes to be paid, or offers to pay to any other person, firm, or corporation, directly or indirectly, except as provided in RCW 68.24.140, any commission, bonus, or rebate, or other thing of value in consideration of recommending or causing the disposition…

All mortgages, deeds of trust, and other liens placed upon property which has been dedicated as a cemetery, or which is afterwards dedicated to cemetery purposes pursuant to this section, shall not affect or defeat the dedication. The mortgage, deed of trust, or other lien is sub…

A record shall be kept of the ownership of all plots or rights of interment in the cemetery, which have been conveyed by the cemetery authority and of all transfers of plots and rights of interment in the cemetery. No transfer of any plot or right of interment, shall be complete …

After dedication under this title, and as long as the property remains dedicated to cemetery purposes, a railroad, street, road, alley, pipe line, pole line, or other public thoroughfare or utility shall not be laid out, through, over, or across any part of it without the consent…

Every person who shall make or open any road, or construct any railway, turnpike, canal, or other public easement over, through, in, or upon any property used for the burial of human remains, without authority of law or the consent of the owner, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. …

Whenever any part of such burying ground shall have been designated and appropriated by the owners as the burying place of any particular person or family, the same shall not be liable to be taken or disposed of by any warrant, execution, tax, or debt whatever; nor shall the same…

Upon compliance with the requirements of *this act said lands shall forever be exempt from taxation, judgment and other liens and executions. [ 1901 c 147 s 4; RRS s 3763.] Notes: *Reviser's note: "this act" appears in 1901 c 147, the remaining sections of which were repealed by …

(1) Every cemetery shall disclose and give to the person making cemetery arrangements a written statement, contract, or other document that indicates all the items of property, merchandise, and service that the customer is purchasing, and the price of those items. (2) Any cemeter…

RCW 68.28.020 through 68.28.070, 68.20.080, * 68.20.090, 68.56.040, and 68.56.050, apply to all buildings, mausoleums, and columbariums used or intended to be used for the placement of the human remains of fifteen or more persons, whether erected under or above the surface of the…

A building not erected for, or which is not used as, a place for placement of human remains which is converted or altered for such use is subject to *this act. [ 2005 c 365 s 88; 1943 c 247 s 135; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-135.] Notes: *Reviser's note: For "this act," see note follo…

No building or structure intended to be used for the placement of human remains shall be constructed, and a building not used for the placement of human remains shall not be altered for use or used for interment purposes, unless constructed of such material and workmanship as wil…

All mausoleums or columbariums hereafter constructed shall be of class A fireproof construction. [ 1943 c 247 s 137; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-137.]

If the proposed site is within the jurisdiction of a city having ordinances and specifications governing class A construction, the provisions of the local ordinances and specifications shall not be violated. [ 1943 c 247 s 138; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-138.]

Every owner or operator of a mausoleum or columbarium erected in violation of *this act is guilty of maintaining a public nuisance. A violation of this section is a gross misdemeanor. [ 2005 c 365 s 90; 2003 c 53 s 306; 1943 c 247 s 140; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-140.] Notes: *Revis…

The costs, expenses and disbursements shall be fixed by the court having jurisdiction of the case. [ 1943 c 247 s 141; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-141.]

The penalties of *this act shall not apply as to any building which, at the time of construction was constructed in compliance with the laws then existing, if its use is not in violation of the laws for the protection of public health. [ 1943 c 247 s 142; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-1…

This chapter does not apply to mausoleums and columbaria constructed on a family burial ground established pursuant to chapter 68.74 RCW. [ 2026 c 173 s 17.] Notes: Intent—2026 c 173: See note following RCW 68.74.010.

All plots or rights of interment conveyed to individuals are presumed to be the sole and separate property rights of the owner named in the instrument of conveyance. [ 2005 c 365 s 91; 1943 c 247 s 88; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-88.]

The spouse or state registered domestic partner , of an owner of any plot or right of interment containing more than one placement space has a vested right of placement in the plot and any person thereafter becoming the spouse or state registered domestic partner , of the owner h…

No conveyance or other action of the owner without the written consent of the spouse or state registered domestic partner , of the owner divests the spouse or state registered domestic partner , of a vested right of placement. A final decree of divorce between them or certificati…

If no placement is made in a plot or right of interment, which has been transferred by deed or certificate of ownership to an individual owner, the title descends to the surviving spouse or state registered domestic partner. If there is no surviving spouse or state registered dom…

An affidavit by a person having knowledge of the facts setting forth the fact of the death of the owner and the name of the person or persons entitled to the use of the plot or right of interment pursuant to RCW 68.32.010 through 68.32.040, is complete authorization to the cemete…

Whenever an interment of the human 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 both the owner and the survivin…

In a conveyance to two or more persons as joint tenants each joint tenant has a vested right of placement in the plot or right of interment conveyed. [ 2005 c 365 s 97; 1943 c 247 s 94; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-94.]

Upon the death of a joint tenant, the title to the plot or right of interment held in joint tenancy immediately vests in the survivors, subject to the vested right of interment of the deceased joint tenant. [ 2005 c 365 s 98; 1943 c 247 s 95; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-95.] Notes: Co…

An affidavit by any person having knowledge of the fact of the death of one joint tenant and establishing the identity of the surviving joint tenants named in the deed to any plot or right of interment, when filed with the cemetery authority, is complete authorization to the ceme…

When there are several owners of a plot or right of interment, they may designate one or more persons to represent the plot or interment right and file written notice of designation with the cemetery authority. In the absence of such notice or of written objection to its so doing…

In a family plot one right of interment may be used for the owner's interment and one for the owner's surviving spouse or state registered domestic partner, if any. Any unoccupied spaces may then be used by the remaining parents and children of the deceased owner, if any, then to…

Any surviving spouse, state registered domestic partner, parent, child, or heir having a right of placement in a family plot may waive such right in favor of any other relative, spouse, or state registered domestic partner of a relative of the deceased owner. Upon such a waiver, …

A vested right of placement may be waived and is terminated upon the placement elsewhere of the remains of the person in whom vested. [ 2005 c 365 s 103; 1943 c 247 s 102; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-102.]

No vested right of interment gives any person the right to have his or her remains interred in any interment space in which the remains of any deceased person having a prior vested right of interment have been interred. No vested right of interment gives any person the right to h…

A cemetery authority may take and hold any plot or right of interment conveyed to it by the plot owner so that it will be nontransferable. Placements shall be restricted to the persons designated in the conveyance. [ 2005 c 365 s 105; 1943 c 247 s 104; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-104.…

Cemetery property passing to an individual by reason of the death of the owner is exempt from all inheritance taxes. [ 1943 c 247 s 92; Rem. Supp. 1943 s 3778-92.] Notes: Reviser's note: The inheritance tax was repealed by 1981 2nd ex.s. c 7 s 83.100.160 (Initiative Measure No. 4…

The ownership or right to unoccupied cemetery space in this state shall, upon abandonment, be subject to forfeiture and sale by the person or entity having ownership or management of the cemetery. Unoccupied cemetery space is presumed to be abandoned if it has been neglected and …

Cemetery management shall place a suitable notice on each unoccupied space, setting forth the date the notice is placed and that the unoccupied space is subject to forfeiture and sale by the cemetery. If the owner of the unoccupied space fails during the next three years followin…

After a three-year period, the owner or manager of the cemetery may file a verified petition in the office of the county clerk, setting forth the facts relating to the abandonment. The petition may ask for an order of the superior court for abandonment. At the time of filing the …

The notice may be served personally upon the owner, or may be given by the mailing of the notice by registered mail to the owner to his or her last known address and by publishing the notice three times in a legal newspaper published in the county in which the cemetery is located…

An owner or claimant may appear and answer the allegations of the petition. If an owner fails to do so prior to the day fixed for hearing, a default shall be entered and it shall then be the duty of the superior court to immediately enter an order adjudging the unoccupied space t…

If at any time before the adjudication of abandonment the owner of an unoccupied space contracts with the owner or manager of the cemetery for the endowment care of the space, the court shall dismiss the proceedings as to such unoccupied space. [ 1953 c 290 s 1; 1943 c 247 s 83; …

If at any time within one year after the adjudication of abandonment, the former owner of the unoccupied space shall contract for its endowment care, and reimburse the owner or manager of the cemetery for the expense of the proceedings, including attorney's fees, the space shall …

One year after the entry of the order adjudging such lot, part of lot, lots or parts of lots to have been abandoned, the owner or manager of the cemetery in which the same is located shall have the power to sell the same, in whole or in part, at public or private sale, and convey…

In any one petition for abandonment, a petitioner may, irrespective of diversity of ownership, include in any such petition as many lots or parts of lots as come within the provisions of *this act. The petition for abandonment shall be entitled: "In the Matter of the Abandonment,…

A cemetery authority not exempt under this chapter shall deposit in an endowment care fund not less than the following amounts for plots or interment rights sold: Ten percent of the gross sales price for each grave, niche, or crypt. In the event that a cemetery authority sells an…

Cemeteries with nonendowed sections opened before July 1, 1987, shall only be required to endow sections opened after July 1, 1987. On the face of any contract, receipt, or deed used for sales of nonendowed interment rights shall be prominently displayed the words "Nonendowment s…

A cemetery authority not exempt under this chapter shall file in its principal office for review by plot owners the previous seven fiscal years' endowment care reports as filed with the funeral and cemetery board in accordance with RCW 68.44.150. [ 2009 c 102 s 14; 1987 c 331 s 3…