Dear Susan: There are a couple of great resources available on the INPCRP main webpage to help you in your quest. Go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~inpcrp The first I would suggest to you would be Marlene Mattox's wonderful article on researching cemetery deed records. You are apparently way ahead of the game on this already, but I recommend reading this anyway. You need to first be armed with the full recorded history of the cemetery (copy of the deed, etc.) By the way, the deed to the cemetery property, upon examination, may reveal an easement for ingress and egress. Alternatively, it may be mentioned on current or past deeds to the surrounding property. This is the right to enter and exit across another's land. That might be very important in this project. Then you need to confirm through the County Auditor's Office that real property taxes are NOT paid on the cemetery itself. I suggest you get written confirmation of this from the County. Assuming taxes are NOT paid on the cemetery property and armed with the above information, photographs of the site (if possible), a map of the area (see www.topozone.com) and a well-read copy of Indiana Code 23-14-68 (CARE OF CEMETERIES BY TOWNSHIPS) [see http://www.ai.org/legislative/ic/code/title23/ar14/ch68.html ], I then suggest that you approach your Township Trustee [see http://www.IN.gov/sboa/publications/roster/ for a current Roster of Indiana State and Local Officals if you don't know who is the Trustee] in a courteous, cooperative spirit to find out how you and the Trustee can work together to protect and maintain this site. To answer the question about the responsibilities of the owner of the surrounding property, they are few to none. He/she/it has no obligation to build a fence, though the Township Trustee does have a duty to do so. There is a prohibition against "disturbing the soil" within 100 feet of a known cemetery, but there is no duty for the owner of the surrounding property to care for or maintain the cemetery, even if the cemetery were not deeded out and remained a part of the surrounding property. For more information, see IC 14-21-1-26.5 at http://www.ai.org/legislative/ic/code/title14/ar21/ch1.html#IC14-21-1-26.5 If the cemetery is deeded out as I believe this one is, then the property owner can't take advantage of the new special classification of cemeteries on private property to receive a token assessment for tax purposes. For more information, see IC 6-1.1-6.8 (ASSESSMENT OF CEMETERY LAND) at http://www.ai.org/legislative/ic/code/title6/ar1.1/ch6.8.html There is also no other "duty" for a surrounding property owner to permit or allow ingress and egress to a cemetery that is "deeded out" from the rest of the parcel, unless entry could be made without trespassing on the property owner's surrounding land. (For instance, if the cemetery is bounded by a public road, the owner of the surrounding property could not legally restrict your access to the "deeded out" cemetery.) That is apparently not the case. Again, I suggest you obtain a copy of the deed to the cemetery itself AND a copy of the deeds going back 100 years or so for the surrounding property. You may find that ingress and egress is set out in the very old deed documents. Then you will have a much stronger leg to stand on! You didn't indicate what the new owners of the surrounding property intend to do with the property. Do you believe that they intend to develop it or will it continue to be use for residential/agricultural/commercial purposes? If development is planned for the future, your interests would be well-served to find out when any County Plan Commission hearings will be held to discuss those plans. Finally, assuming I understand the circumstances correctly, you've got an "excepted" or "deeded" cemetery on which taxes are NOT paid. I suspect your very best bet will be to work in cooperation with the Township Trustee to gain access to the site to do maintenance pursuant to IC 23-14-68. I beg you to not approach the Township Trustee in a threatening or aggressive manner. There are all manner of reasons why he/she or his/her predecessors in office did not maintain the site in the past. What's more important here is the FUTURE and how interested parties such as yourself can participate in IMPROVING the situation. You might also want to type up a very SIMPLE petition to give to the Township Trustee at your first meeting and collect signatures of family members (especially those who live in the area. . . potential voters!) who want to see the cemetery restored. Don't forget to mention to the Township Trustee that he/she has access to FREE LABOR in the form of inmate work crews and Community Service workers who can assist with any heavy clean-up efforts. Hope this was of some help. Lois ----- Original Message ----- From: "Susan Barrett" <sbarrett@indy.net> To: <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2001 9:30 PM Subject: [INPCRP] Cemetery Preservation > I am new at the quest for safe cemeteries. The land, my family's cemetery is on, is being sold.The cemetery was deeded to the cemetery's successors and if found recorded in the deeds office and in the grantor books. My family does not own the land the cemetery is on. What rights as a descendant do I have to protect that cemetery and what are the responsibilities of the owner to the cemetery. I have contacted the realtor but I do not know the legalities and she said she did not know anything about cemetery law. I need to know if the new owner should fence in the cemetery, is that my responsibility, and since there is no egress-ingress to this cemetery, does the owner have to provide me with one if I want to go in and clean it up as the old owner was very pleasant about allowing to happen. Thank you for all your expertise. Susan >