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Cemetery Summary

SELECTING A CEMETERY

Selecting a cemetery is an immensely personal decision with ramifications for the individual, next-of-kin, family, the community of mourners, and for future generations. A cemetery must simultaneously honor the decedent in a respectful manner and provide a peaceful and dignified place for visitors and mourners to gather. It must fulfill these functions now and perpetually into the future.

Selecting a cemetery is a difficult process because it is a unique decision that is made only once during a lifetime, the decision tends to have significant associated expense, and the consequences of the decision are not fully known until after a death has occurred.

We recommend that you COMPARE PRICES AND SERVICES.  When planning for services and a final disposition, it is beneficial to compare prices and services to ensure you are getting what you want. Visit websites and multiple funeral establishments to compare services, restrictions, rules, and prices. Decide how much you want to spend. Also, you may wish to compare prices at multiple cemeteries and ask about their endowment care funds and cemetery maintenance standards. Ask for a tour, and if a funeral establishment or cemetery is not being maintained to your satisfaction, take your business elsewhere.

PLOT:

Many factors can impact the cost of a cemetery plot. As you consider the option that works best for your family, it is important to have all the information prior to making final decisions.

We believe the most important factors to consider when selecting a cemetery include:

  • Burial options available

    Geographic location and proximity to family, friends

  • Type of memorialization allowed.
  • Type of care (perpetual and ongoing)
  • Available facilities (staffed office, restrooms, maps)
  • Visitation hours

All agreements made with our cemetery including any purchase, are in writing with copies retained by the customer.  Property purchases include specific burial locations and explicitly define what goods and services are included. Before selecting our cemetery, please review the rules and regulations that govern the rights and limitations property owners are afforded.

CEMETERY COSTS TO CONSIDER

BURIAL PROPERTY PURCHASE

If you choose a traditional burial or burial of an urn, you will need to purchase a cemetery plot or niche unless you are eligible for burial in a veterans’ cemetery.

You should consider:

  1. Prices and options available to you will make the price of burial property and the selection of burial property vary widely within this cemetery.
  2. Your preference and personal choices may affect the price of the burial location as well as the burial services available for each location.
  3. Please be sure to ask about the specific limitations and options available for a property you are interested in.
  4. However, single graves are one price.  Double graves are one price.  The grave costs will go higher if you choose an “upright monument” area.

Niches vary in costs due to size, materials, location inside, location outside, and individual development accommodations which can be very different and specific to an area.  This will affect prices.

Burial in a mausoleum (entombment) involves purchase of a crypt,

Ask if the cemetery will buy the property back if you move out of the area or change your mind.

Burial location will determine the burial arrangement limitations.

ENDOWMENT CARE FEES:

Ivy Lawn Memorial Park & Funeral Home is an endowment care cemetery.  We charge 10% of the property cost as an endowment fee and collect at the time of purchase.  It is a one-time fee.  This will ensure we continue to be able to provide the promised level of care and service.

See Endowment Care Information Agreement.

BURIAL COSTS AND FEES:
There are interment related fees paid at the time a burial is arranged.  This includes a fee for opening and closing any burial property, administration costs and maintenance fees.  See the explanation which shows what this burial fee includes, such as ongoing cemetery maintenance and groundskeeping.

There are other costs related to a burial which will apply to the overall cost of every property and every burial including ongoing cemetery maintenance and groundskeeping, administrative fees, coordination of services with outside professionals, individual requests and or accommodations.

MERCHANDISE
VAULTS ARE REQUIRED.  See Our Outer Container Burial Price List

The law does not require the use of outer burial containers, known as vaults or grave liners.  Typically, vaults surround the casket in concrete or other material. Grave liners cover only the top and sides. Neither prevents the eventual decomposition of human remains.

Ivy Lawn Memorial Park requires use of a vault for every burial to keep the ground from settling after burial.  Costs vary based on materials as well as procedures and equipment used to place it or delivery of a vault.  You do not have to buy the outer container from the cemetery; however, if purchased elsewhere it must meet the cemetery’s size, shape, and material standards.

You must use a vault for every burial.  This is a requirement of this cemetery.  Costs vary based on materials.  See Our Outer Container Burial Price List

MARKERS

You may purchase a marker or monument from this cemetery or another source, but it must meet the cemetery’s standards.  Charges by the cemetery for foundations, setting, or permitting the setting of grave markers or monuments is the same whether you bought the marker or monument from the cemetery or from someone else. Be sure to review the rules and policies of the cemetery before you purchase. This can help avoid misunderstandings and can assist you in making decisions.

 

The Importance of a Last Will and Testament: A Look at California Inheritance Laws

If you are like a surprising number of Californians you may not have prepared a last will and testament. The reality is that there are very few adults in the state of California who should not have a will. In the grand scheme of things, the importance of a will cannot be underestimated.

 

Where Your Property Goes Upon Your Death

 

Even if you have only a small amount of property, you undoubtedly have ideas where you want your assets to go when you pass away. The only way in which you can be certain that your assets are distributed in the manner you desire is to have a will.

 

If you do not have a will prepared, the laws of the state of California dictate how your assets will be distributed upon your death. California law distributes your assets to specific family members upon your death if you lack a will. Technically, this is known as intestate succession.

 

Although you may want your property to go to the family members set forth in California statutes if you lack a will, that may not be the case. For example, you may have friends who you desire to give your property when you die. Without a will, that will not happen.

 

If you have no surviving family members, and no last will and testament, the results of dying without a will are even more significant. Under California law, your property goes to the state.

 

Under California law, this is the manner in which your assets are distributed without a will:

  • If you have children, but no spouse, your children get everything
  • If you have a spouse, but no children, parents, or siblings, your spouse gets everything
  • If you have parents, but no spouse, children, or siblings, your parents get everything
  • If you have siblings, but no spouse, children, or parents, your siblings get everything
  • If you have a spouse and children, your property is divided between them
  • If you have a spouse and parents, your property is divided between them
  • If you have a spouse and siblings, but no parents, your property is divided between them

Person in Charge of Your Estate

 

Another important benefit of having a will is that you are able to designate who you want to oversee the affairs of your estate upon your death. Under the provisions of California law, this individual is called an executor. In the absence of a will, a court appoints someone to do this for you after you die.

 

Certainly, if you are like most people, you want to select the person who will attend your affairs when you pass away. You don’t want someone appointed by the court to undertake this role for you.

 

Funeral and Burial Arrangements

 

Technically, you do not need to have a will to delineate what you want done in the way of a funeral and burial. You can convey your desires to your loved ones in other ways. However, a will places the force of California law behind your funeral and burial wishes.

 

You can include within a will specific details of what you want to have happen to your remains after your passing. The executor appointed in your will is charged with making sure these wishes are carried out for you. Even if one of your family member desires to attempt to alter your wishes, because they are enumerated in your will – and with the assistance of your executor – even a family member cannot sidetrack your desires.

 

Wrongful Death in California

 

Even if you currently do not have much in the way of assets, and think writing a will is unnecessary, you do need one. Every day people in California are killed because of the negligence of someone else. If you ever end up in the unfortunate situation that you die in an accident of some sort caused by another party, what legally is known as a wrongful death lawsuit in California might be brought on behalf of your estate and heirs.

 

Each year in California, settlements are negotiated and judgments are won in wrongful death cases that result in the payment of a considerable amount of money. If your estate ever ends up in that position and you have no will, the laws of the state of California dictate how the proceeds from a wrongful death settlement or lawsuit judgment are distributed. With a last will and testament, you can make certain that any such settlement or judgment will be distributed in the manner you desire.

 

The Importance of Legal Assistance

 

There is a myriad of options available to you through which you can obtain a standard form will. These products are essentially fill in the blank documents. You can find these both in the brick and mortar world and online.

 

The reality is that a good many standard forms end up having defects and issues. Indeed, these standard forms can have problems that end up rendering a will unenforceable. In other words, if you were to utilize a standard form will that had defects, your estate very well may end up in the position of you having made no will before you passed away.

 

You need to keep in mind that all states have their own laws governing wills, estates, and the probate process. In some instances, standard form will may not meet muster as far as California law is concerned.

 

If you lack a will, you should schedule what is known as an initial consultation with a California estate planning attorney. As estate planning lawyer will provide answers to your questions and evaluate your situation. Typically, a California estate planning attorney charges no fee for an initial consultation.

Take a Virtual Tour

If you want to see more of our beautiful grounds but are not in the area, you can take a virtual tour of the Ivy Lawn property right here on our website. Just visit the Virtual Tour page and check out all of the beautiful spaces we have on site.

Find a Loved One

Did you know that you can find the location of your loved one right here on our website, even after hours or when our offices are closed? Just visit our Find a Loved One page and you can search by name, birth year, or year of death to see where your loved one can be found on the Ivy Lawn grounds.

Spring is here at Ivy Lawn!

Even though there are still a few more weeks of winter, spring has arrived at Ivy Lawn! The flowers are blooming and our well-manicured grounds are looking better than ever.

Take a Virtual Tour

You can now take a Virtual Tour of the beautiful Ivy Lawn cemetery grounds from the comfort of your home. Visit our Virtual Tour page to view the cemetery including graves, niches and gardens.

Visit our Historic Chapel

When you are visiting Ivy Lawn Memorial Park please stop in and visit our large historic chapel. We are offering new custom designed glass front niches that incorporate the beauty of our stained glass windows and natural sunlight. The glass design is modern and sleek. Plus you are able to personalize these niches and make them your own.

Veterans’ Day

Veteran’s Day is approaching. As is our custom, we will be presenting the Avenue of Flags. These flags are donated by the families of interred veterans for display along the cemetery’s roads. The Avenue of Flags flies only on days of special ceremonial significance, Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day. They will line both sides of the streets and fly proudly in remembrance of our veterans. We are proud to show our patriotism and proud to show our national pride.