Burials

Upon receiving the telephone call or email notifying of an impending burial, the following procedures are to be followed:

• Confirm with Funeral Director the time and date of the burial and whether or not the time give is the time of the church or the cemetery
• Ask the funeral director whether the deceased person will be buried in a coffin or casket (the widths differ therefore the Outside crew need to know which is been used)
• Advise the Funeral Director that the following documents are required prior to the funeral taking place:

Application for Burial Form

(S:Drive,Document Control, Forms, Customer Service, FRM Application for Burial & Instruction for Grave.)

• Advise Mark Jones of the time & date of the intended burial & provide them with a copy of a map highlighting the appropriate gravesite.
• Check also in Synergysoft – Cemetery Maintenance for the reservation by looking up surname or first name of the deceased individual.

Grave No: ………………………………………Section ………………………………………

Funeral Director’s Annual Licence Fee is paid due at the beginning of each financial year. In most cases you wait till the first burial takes place to invoice.

Allocation of Grave

Check with Mark Jones as training as taken place for second internment. Reopening of coffins is different to second burial in plot.

If the grave is a re-opening, Council has a policy that it cannot do the re-opening. It is up the individual funeral directors to do this. Although Council employees do not dig re-openings, they may be required to back-fill the grave and this should be determined as soon as the funeral details have been provided by the Funeral Director.

A copy of the death certificate plus the application form is still required plus payment of the administration fee as set out in the Schedule of Fees & charges – a tax invoice will need to be sent to the appropriate funeral director.

If council staff are to back-fill the grave, the …………………….. needs to be advised of the particulars (grave number, date and time of funeral)

Reserved Grave

If a grave has been reserved, there should be a notation on the actual maps. If not notation can be founds, check with the Funeral Director to ascertain if the family has a Grant Certificate.

It is important that Mark Jones .is advised of the date and time of the funeral as early as possible as quite a few of the reserved graves are “locked-in” due to graves surrounding the designated grave already in use.

New Grave

If a new grave is requested, the Funeral Director will advise which denomination the grave is to be in, then give copy of map of area to Mark Jones, who will go on site and assess the next available spot. At this state the Funeral Director should also advise whether an adjoining grave is to be reserved – a Grant certificate will need to be issued to the family, details of which will be provided by the Funeral Director and the cost added to the Funeral Director’s fee. Refer “General” section.

After Funeral

All cemetery registers, application forms and maps are kept in the safe.

After the funeral has been held the following records need to be updated:

• Details written on “Application for Burial” form (grave no, compartment, section if not completed by funeral director & office use at bottom)
• Deceased details written in Burial Register
• Maps to be updated
• Grant certificate to be issued if applicable and grant register to be updated
• Death certificate, Identification form and Application for Burial form to be stapled together and placed in the appropriate binder
• As the Funeral Director requires a tax invoice for making payment, mail out. Place a copy on cemeteries file. When paid the Customer Service Officers will send a copy of the receipt for filing
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INTERNMENT OF ASHES

Internment of Ashes in Niche Wall 

S:\3. Corporate & Community\4. Customer Service\Cemetery\Forms\New Forms\Application for Interment – Niche Wall.pdf

When family members come into the office to discuss internment of ashes in the Niche Wall please remember the family is still going through the grieving process and should be treated with the utmost care and consideration. Ensure that the business is conducted in privacy, i.e.; not at the front counter.

Enquire as to whether or not the deceased’s partner is to be interned at the appropriate time (if applicable). Once it has been established that either a double or a single plaque is required, provide the family with the appropriate form for completion, including the wording they require on the plaque.At this stage you can also show them a copy of the Niche Wall plan to allocate a space for the deceased, left side & ride side. Link to map is below, there is two tabs for each side so you will need to make sure you are printing both pages. I recommend giving them a copy of the map and form and telling them to go have a look at the niche wall at the cemetery to see where they would like and the other plaques to see how they would like it.

S:\3. Corporate & Community\4. Customer Service\Cemetery\Niche Wall\Niche wall plan.xlsx

The family should be advised that it will take between 3 and 4 weeks for the plaque to arrive.

Ensure you get them to include an email address on the completed form so you can email them a copy of the proof.

Payment is required when they are submitting the paperwork.The fees are in our fees and charges – S:\3. Corporate & Community\4. Customer Service\Cemetery\2021-22\Fees and Charges 2021-22.pdf

Receipt under Misc – Cemetery. Including the name of the indivudals/couple going on the plaque and what location they picked. E.G left hand side # 120

Give the customer a copy of the receipt and also photocopy the second page of the form which is the inscription so they can refer to it when you email them their proof to check.

When the family have vacated the office, You will need to email Geraldton Trophy Centre with a copy of the second page of the form (application for internment) . Ask the trophy centre for a proof of the wording so this can be checked for accuracy.

See below example of the email.

You will need to raise a Requisition – Creditor Code is CGER22 and GL is 2362.2102.

When the plaque has arrived, ask Mark via email if he can organise Bill or Owey to drill the holes for the plaque and organise a time for the internment of ashes, the family may wish to be on site and have a service or prefer for the us to do this.

Internment of Ashes in Grave

On occasions, family members request that the ashes of the deceased be interned with other family members already buried at the cemetery. Ascertain details of the person already buried (full name, approximate year of burial, etc) A copy of the creation certificate is required as well as an application form for the internment of ashes. An application for burial form is to be completed by office staff. Once again, as above, the details are to be recorded in the Burial Register & filed away in the appropriate file.

Reservation of Gravesite Prior to Death

Once a person has selected a gravesite to be reserved, a “Grant of Exclusive Right of Burial” form is to be completed and the cemetery maps marked in pencil with the word “RES” + the surname. A fee ofis payable. The original receipt is given to the person with the “right of burial form” and a copy placed on the cemetery file along with a copy of the receipt.