Back years ago, when a person died during a war, they were buried nearby according to the orders given by the appropriate superior. Usually but not always was a record kept. Then after the war was over, the family was then notified as to what they prefered to do at that time - keep the family member in the current burial location or removed and returned to the home area for burial. I've seen reference to this in recent months for Civil War burials. In WWI and WWII the soldiers usually were returned home after the war but it took several years even with good records available. I know one from WWII whose death occurred in 1943, but wasn't returned home until 1947 or 1948. I've never been able to learn why the delay unless the military took each death as they occurred to make sure all had been accounted for accordingly. Then you have cases where a person is interred in a cemetery at the orders of the family and in later years someone decides that they want to have the person removed and reinterred in another cemetery. Perhaps because the family moved, perhaps the first burial decision was by someone who really didn't have any authority and forced the burial accordingly. In most states today, removal for reinterment in another location within the same cemetery can be done without any court order. However, to remove and reinter in another cemetery requires a court order and can only be requested by the "official" next of kin. When the next of kin is a child, then all the children must agree and notify the court they all agree with the petition. One objection is all that's needed for the judge to deny the request even though he/she may agree that the request is for the better. I know of one burial that caused a family a lot of headaches and heartbreak. The person was divorced from the 1st spouse by whom there were several children. The children were all grown and married and had their own children. The person was engaged (supposedly) and upon the sudden death the fiance decided to handle all the funeral arrangements without consulting the children or allowing the children to have any input. The supposed fiance had the burial in the fiance's family's cemetery lot. Afterwards the children talked to a lawyer and got a court order for the removal from the cemetery and reinterment in another cemetery where their grandparents and other relatives are buried. The original gravestone is still in the first cemetery and a new gravestone along with a military marker is in the second cemetery. Debbi Geer __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com