Burial and Cremation Act 1964

Trustees

23: Appointment and removal of trustees

You could also call this:

"Who can be in charge of a cemetery and how they are appointed or removed"

Illustration for Burial and Cremation Act 1964

You can become a trustee if someone dies or resigns. The Governor-General can appoint a new trustee to replace them. You can find more information about this in section 22. If a trustee is away from New Zealand for more than 6 months, they can be removed. The Governor-General can also remove a trustee at his discretion. He can choose to remove one or more trustees who are in charge of a cemetery. If there are less than 3 trustees for a cemetery, the Governor-General can appoint a local authority to be in charge. This can happen with the consent of the local authority. The local authority will be in charge from a specified date. When a new trustee is appointed, it will be announced in the Gazette. If a cemetery gets bigger, the same trustees will still be in charge without needing a new appointment.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM355480.

This page was last updated on 12 December 2025 — View changes

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22: Application of this Part, or

"This part of the law applies to cemeteries looked after by trustees, not local authorities."

24: Governor-General may delegate powers, or

"The Governor-General can share some of their decision-making powers with local councils for certain cemeteries."

Part 3Trustees

23Appointment and removal of trustees

Subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of section 22, if any trustee dies or resigns or is absent from New Zealand for more than 6 consecutive months or is removed by the Governor-General his office shall become vacant and the Governor-General may appoint a new trustee in his place.
The Governor-General may at his discretion remove 1 or more of the trustees having the control and management of a cemetery.
If the trustees of a cemetery to which this Part applies at any time number less than 3 the Governor-General may, instead of appointing trustees under this section, with the consent of a local authority, appoint that local authority to have the control and management of the cemetery as from a date to be specified, which date may be before or after the date of the making of the appointment.
Notice of every appointment made or effected under this section shall be published in the Gazette.
If the boundaries of a cemetery which is under the control and management of trustees are extended by the setting apart, dedication, reservation, or acquisition for the purposes of a cemetery under the provisions of any other Act of land adjacent to the cemetery the trustees of the cemetery immediately before such extension shall be the trustees of the cemetery as so extended without any further appointment.

Compare

1908 No 19 ss 4(1)–(3), 55