Title to burial plots reverts after sixty years - Procedure - Abandonment
N.D. Cent. Code § 23-06-21.1
in effect23-06-21.1. Title to burial plots reverts after sixty years - Procedure - Abandonment
Any entity owning, conducting, or maintaining a cemetery or plot for the burial of dead
human bodies may use the procedures in this section to reinvest itself with the title to a portion
of a cemetery which was conveyed by deed to a person but which has not been used for
purposes of burial for more than sixty years.
1. The entity owning, conducting, or maintaining a cemetery may pass a resolution
demanding that the owner of a portion of a cemetery which has been unused for more
than sixty years express an interest in the cemetery plot. The entity shall personally
serve a copy of its resolution on the owner in the same manner as personal service of
process in a civil action. The resolution must notify the owner that the owner must,
within sixty days after service of the resolution on the owner, express an interest in
retaining the unused cemetery plot.
2. If the owner of the unused plot cannot personally be served with a copy of the
resolution of the entity because the owner cannot be found in this state or for any other
valid reason, the entity shall publish its resolution for three consecutive weeks in the
official newspaper of the county where the cemetery is located and shall mail a copy of
the resolution within fourteen days after the third publication to the owner's last-known
address.
3. If within sixty days after personal service or after publication of the board's resolution is
completed, the owner or person with a legal interest in the cemetery plot fails to
express an interest in retaining the unused cemetery plot, the owner's rights are
terminated and title to that person's plot reverts to the entity owning, conducting, or
maintaining the cemetery.
4. It is a conclusive presumption that an owner has abandoned a cemetery plot if for a
period of more than sixty years the owner has not used any portion of the lot for
purposes of burial and has not made provision for care of the lot beyond that provided
uniformly to all lots within the cemetery and if the owner has failed to express an
interest in retaining the cemetery plot after notice provided in this section.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t23c06.pdf#nameddest=23-06-21p1Fetched: 10/16/2026