Contract Controls Removal Of Cremains
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed an order to disinter and relocate the cremains of parishioners
This case concerns the scope of rights conveyed by a set of burial certificates, as sold by a church to its parishioners. After dwindling membership compelled the Church of the Holy Spirit of Wayland (Church of the Holy Spirit, or church) to close and sell its property, do the certificates permit the church to disinter and relocate the cremated remains buried on that property despite the objections of the decedents’ families?
Although we acknowledge the sensitive — even sacred — nature of the subject matter of this dispute, we conclude that the burial certificates’ unambiguous language permits the disinterment and that no common-law right held by the families prevents it. We therefore affirm.
The issue arose when the Church fell on hard times and sold the property
Although St. Mark agreed to meet the asking price, it objected to taking ownership of the Churchyard as it was, largely because the Coptic Church’s religious beliefs do not permit cremation. The church ultimately agreed to disinter and relocate the cremains as a condition of the sale. St. Mark took the deed to the Wayland property in 2016, and shortly thereafter it resold the property and assigned its rights under the purchase and sale agreement to Saint Philopateer Mercurius & Saint Mina Coptic Orthodox Church, Inc. (St. Philopateer). For the same religious reasons, St. Philopateer shared St. Mark’s objections to the cremains remaining on the property.
Most affected families consented to the removal; some did not.
Contract controlled
there is nothing in the plain language of the certificates and attendant regulations that prohibits disinterment by the church. It was permitted under the certificates to regulate the Churchyard and amend the regulations, and it did so. Its planned course of action pursuant to the amended regulations therefore is, as a simple matter of contract law, permissible.
If you desire a permanent resting place, read the contract
Although we resolve this case by applying long-standing legal principles, we, of course, recognize the human element involved. We also reiterate that in other circumstances a different result might obtain. Disinterring the remains of one’s ancestors will forever be a sensitive, difficult prospect. To repeat our words from Antoniewicz v. Del Prete, 340 Mass. 742, 743 (1960):
“The court is fully aware that a decent respect for the memory of those who have been buried requires that there be no disturbance of the remains of one deceased unless the law as applied to the particular circumstances compels such a conclusion. Here, with considerable reluctance, that conclusion seems necessary to the court.”
(Mike Frisch)