Burial and Cremation Act 1964

Closing of cemeteries and burial grounds

45C: Vesting of title in reopened cemeteries and burial grounds

You could also call this:

"Who owns a cemetery or burial ground when it reopens"

Illustration for Burial and Cremation Act 1964

When a cemetery is reopened, a notice is published in the Gazette. This notice says who is in charge of the cemetery. It also means that the person or group in charge now owns the land, unless the notice says otherwise. You can find more information about this process in the Land Transfer Act 2017. If a burial ground is reopened, a notice is published in the Gazette. This notice says who is in charge of the burial ground. It also means that the person or group in charge now owns the land, unless the notice says otherwise. When a copy of the notice is given to the Registrar-General of Land, they must register the notice and may give a record of title to the person or group in charge of the land.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM355837.

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

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Housing and property > Land useGovernment and voting > Government departments

45B: Control and management of reopened cemeteries and burial grounds, or

"Who's in charge of reopened cemeteries and burial grounds?"

45D: Crematoria situated within reopened cemeteries or burial grounds, or

"Reopening a crematorium in a cemetery or burial ground that is being reopened"

Part 6Closing of cemeteries and burial grounds

45CVesting of title in reopened cemeteries and burial grounds

A notice in the Gazette vesting in any individual, body corporate, or local authority the control or management of a reopened cemetery has the effect of vesting the land comprising the reopened cemetery in that individual, body corporate, or local authority unless the notice provides otherwise.
A notice in the Gazette vesting in any individual or body corporate the control or management of a reopened burial ground has the effect of vesting the land comprising the reopened burial ground in that individual or body corporate unless the notice provides otherwise.
On the production of a copy of a vesting notice, the Registrar-General of Land must register the notice under the Land Transfer Act 2017 and, if the case so requires, must issue a record of title under that Act in the name of the individual, body corporate, or local authority for the land so vested.

Notes

Section 45C: inserted, on 15 November 2000, by section 3 of the Burial and Cremation Amendment Act 2000 (2000 No 55).
Section 45C(3): amended, on 12 November 2018, by section 250 of the Land Transfer Act 2017 (2017 No 30).