A garden burial in Braintree? The answer may surprise you. Check out Laura Richardson’s latest article to find out more.
A garden burial in Braintree is permitted under the Burial Laws Amendment Act 1880, however, there are a few
legal restrictions:
Firstly it is a legal requirement that in order to be buried upon the land, it must be privately owned
outright by you or someone who is willing for you to be buried upon their land. It is also important
that you check with a legal specialist to ensure that there is nothing recorded in the deeds to the
land that prohibits burial or that a private burial would break a local by-law.
Secondly, planning permission from your local council may be required if you intend to mark the
grave in any way that could be considered a permanent structure, for example, if you were
considering erecting a gravestone, mausoleum, vault or memorial at the burial site. However,
planning permission is not required in order to simply dig a simple unmarked grave for a burial on
your own private land.
Thirdly, the Environment Agency have strict rules when it comes to the location of the burial site.
The basic rules for home burial are:
A burial authorisation form must be completed. This is available from your local council.
The burial must be recorded in a land burial register.
A detailed map of the burial area, clearly showing where the grave is positioned should be
filed along with the deeds to the land.
The minimum groundwater protection requirements must be followed.
The full guidelines can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cemeteries-and-burialsprevent-groundwater-pollution.
Finally, it is important to consider how the land will be owned in the future. For example, if the land
is sold off at any time, there is no automatic legal right for friends or family members to be allowed
access to the site in order to visit the burial site. Furthermore, the new owners could decide to
exhume the body and have it buried elsewhere! One way to circumvent this is to put into place legal
rules called “restrictive covenants” over the land, however this may affect the value and saleability
of the land in the future. A simpler alternative may be for the portion of the land containing the
burial site to be retained separately in the event of a future sale.
If you would like to discuss your options for the home burial of you or a loved one, contact Andrew Douglas Wills and Legal Services today. We offer a free initial consultation and whether in Braintree or the surrounding areas of Essex, we can advise you on the legalities surrounding home burial as well as all other options for burial or cremation in the UK.
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