Register needs to be kept
Two major concerns influence this choice of burial:
- Firstly, the body could be exhumed by any new property purchaser, and re-buried in a cemetery. This reason for obtaining an exhumation licence has yet to be tested, neither has the need to obtain consent from the near relatives. There are legal means (restrictive covenant) by which you can ensure the grave remains untouched, but this will involve costs and other uncertainties; and
- Secondly, details of the burial will not be officially recorded, as they would be in a cemetery.
The Registration of Burials Act 1864 requires an appropriate register should be kept for both back garden and farmland burials. The precise burial location would also need to be recorded on the plans of the property and retained with the deeds.
A certificate for burial issued by a Coroner or Registrar of Births and Deaths will also have to be obtained. The detachable section of this is to be completed and returned to the Registrar by the person arranging burial.