Massachusetts General Laws
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 114, § 31 (2026)
Descent of family cemetery lot to heirs
✓ current as of July 2026
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Section 31. If in a will no express disposition or other mention is made of a cemetery lot owned by the testator at his decease, and wherein he or any member of his family is buried, the ownership of the lot shall not pass from his lawful heirs by any residuary or other general clause of the will, but shall descend to his heirs, as if he had died intestate.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2
cases, 1960–1990 · leading case: Sanford v. Vinal, 552 N.E.2d 579 (Mass. App. Ct. 1990).
Sanford v. Vinal, 552 N.E.2d 579 (Mass. App. Ct. 1990). “See G. L. c. 114, § 31. We know the burial ground was excepted from the 1745 conveyance by which title to the farm passed from the Wanton family.”
Antoniewicz v. Del Prete, 166 N.E.2d 706 (Mass. 1960). “The judge found these facts and caused a final decree to be entered granting the relief prayed for.”
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