Expiry Of Grants On Gravesites
The Perth Chevra Kadisha wishes to bring to the attention of the community that grants on gravesites that were issued prior to 1 July, 1987 are due to expire on 2 July, 2012.
Under the 1897 Cemeteries Act, Cemetery authorities were able to issue Grants with a tenure period of 25, 50 or 99 years, with little consistency either throughout the State or within individual cemeteries.
In 1986 the Cemeteries Act was revised, which resulted in a new stipulated tenure of Grants of 25 years with an automatic option for Grant holders to purchase an additional 25 years either initially or at any time during the first 25 years. The discretion of all cemetery authorities in Western Australia to issue 50 or 99 year Grants was revoked.
Under the 1986 Act, the maximum guaranteed tenure on any given plot is 50 years, although this is able to be extended for further 25 year periods at the discretion of the managing cemetery authority. Extensions can only be in 25 year increments.
To set a uniform expiry date for all Grants issued under the 1897 Act and provide Cemetery authorities with the ability to both manage their land holdings and have a known consistency of Grant expiry dates across their cemeteries, Parliament endorsed legislation stipulating that Grants of Rights of Burial issued prior to 1 July, 1987 that had not expired by 2 July, 2012 would, collectively, expire on 2 July, 2012.
Only grants issued prior to 1 July, 1987 are affected.
n the Jewish section of Karrakatta Cemetery, approximately 45 grants are due to expire on 2 July, 2012.
What You Need To Do
If you do not come in to the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board office prior to 2 July, 2012 to renew a grant, there is no need to be concerned. No action will be taken on any of these expired grants in the immediate future.
If you own or are unsure if you own a grant without any interments, please review your personal paperwork to see if you or your family have a pre-purchased grant. If you have a grant that may expire on 2 July 2012, please contact the staff at the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board, who will be happy to assist in explaining your options. You may wish to renew the grant prior to expiry (for a further 25 years) or, if you contact the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board after 2 July, 2012, you may wish to take out a new grant (which will be for 25 years, plus you will then have an option for an additional 25 years).
f you are unsure as to whether you or your family has a grant, please just contact the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board on 1300 793 109 or come into any of their offices and they will be happy to provide you with advice relating to your personal circumstances. Alternatively, e-mail enquiries can be directed to 2012expiry@mcb.wa.gov.au
Where there has been an interment, one can obtain a summary of record information, including the name of the person interred, his/her age at and date of death, the suburb in which he/she last lived and details of the grave and grant by visiting the Metropolitan Cemeteries Board website:
- Go to www.mcb.wa.gov.au
- At the bottom of the page under “Quick Links” click on “Search by Name”. This takes you to the search page.
- Under “Search” click on “Click here to start your search”.
- Enter the last name of the person you are searching for and click “Submit”. This will bring up a list of names.
- Click on the last name of that person and it will take you to the publically available information of that person.