GUIDANCE FOR FAMILIES & FUNERAL PROVIDERS
Burial arrangements & responsibilities
We understand the care and planning involved in honoring a loved one. To help families and funeral providers prepare with confidence, the following explains Laurel Grove Cemetery’s role and the services that must be arranged independently.
In this notice, “Laurel Grove” refers to the cemetery’s ownership and management. Independent funeral providers and other service providers are responsible for their own work.
Laurel Grove’s role
Laurel Grove provides the cemetery property, handles burial plot sales, issues the applicable deeds or interment-right documents, and handles the marking and flagging of burial sites. All other funeral, burial, and memorial services are the responsibility of independent providers.
Limited grounds maintenance is offered by volunteers as an act of care for the community and in honor of those interred. This volunteer assistance is not a contracted or guaranteed maintenance service. Laurel Grove Cemetery is not a perpetual care cemetery.
Prior arrangements are required for every interment
No interment, including the interment of cremated remains, may take place without prior arrangements with Laurel Grove Cemetery for site marking and proper record keeping. Please contact Laurel Grove before scheduling an interment so the site can be properly identified and the cemetery’s records kept accurate. This requirement applies to families, funeral directors, and all other burial organizers.
Services to arrange independently
Apart from site marking, flagging, and cemetery record keeping, Laurel Grove does not manage, direct, supervise, or perform funeral, burial, or interment services. Families and those arranging a burial must arrange all other services separately with their funeral director or other appropriate independent providers, including:
- Grave digging and filling;
- Receiving and placing headstones or other memorials; and
- Other preparations, services on the day of burial, and work afterward, excluding Laurel Grove’s responsibilities described above.
Responsibilities of funeral providers and burial parties
The funeral director, service providers, and individuals or organizations arranging or carrying out a burial are responsible for coordinating and completing the work they undertake, including all arrangements outside Laurel Grove’s role described above. Please confirm who will handle each task before work begins.
Past assistance, customary practices, or informal arrangements should not be taken as a commitment that Laurel Grove will provide services beyond its responsibilities described above. Prior arrangements with Laurel Grove remain required for every interment. Work on the grounds remains subject to cemetery requirements and applicable law.
Approval required before planting
No trees, shrubs, flowers, or other vegetation may be planted on cemetery grounds without prior approval from Laurel Grove Cemetery. Please contact the cemetery before making any planting plans.
Independent services & responsibility
Independent providers and people using the grounds are responsible for their own actions and work. To the extent permitted by applicable law, Laurel Grove does not accept responsibility for injury, loss, damage, errors, or omissions arising from services or activities carried out by independent funeral providers, burial parties, visitors, or other third parties.
This notice explains the division of responsibilities. It does not waive any right or exclude any duty or liability that cannot lawfully be waived or excluded, or replace the terms of an applicable written agreement.
Questions before making arrangements?
For plot purchases, documents, site marking and flagging, or required arrangements before an interment, call 360.553.1191 or email laurelgrovept@gmail.com.
For volunteer cleanup, mowing, and maintenance, contact Patrick Wright, caretaker, at 715-209-2395. Patrick provides work party schedules and equipment policies.