Cemeteries

To arrange an interment in the Exeter Public Cemetery, the following documentation is required:

• Original burial permit or original cremation certificate 
• Completed interment order 
• Payment of any outstanding fees 

For an interment in the Exeter Public Cemetery to take place, consent is required from the interment rights holder. Interment rights refer to the right to bury human remains (including cremated remains) in a grave/niche. If you are named on the interment rights certificate, you are the interment rights holder and acquire the right to request a burial or disinterment, place a decoration, have a marker or monument installed, have an inscription added to the monument, as long as you follow the cemetery’s by-laws. Note: Ownership of all cemetery land remains the property of the cemetery owner (Municipality of South Huron). 

At least 16 business hours notice is required before each interment. Further authorization may be required prior to any interment taking place. A municipal staff member will be in touch to confirm receipt of the interment order, provide a map of the interment location, and advise of any outstanding fees and/or whether additional authorization is required prior to the interment.

Interments at the cemetery can  occur on the following days/times: 

• Monday to Friday between 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
• Saturday between 9:00 am to 12:00 noon
• No interments take place on Sundays or Statutory Holidays

Please note that additional fees apply to any interments taking place past 4pm during the week, and on Saturdays. Further, an additional fee applies to any traditional (casket) burials that occur during the winter months (December 1 - May 1). Please see the cemetery price list for a breakdown of fees. 

There are many family plots in the Exeter Cemetery and have been in the family for generations.  The greater the generational gap between the original “rights holders” and those wishing to be buried in the plot, the more complicated obtaining proper permission can become.  It is not unusual to require ten to twenty signatures in order to permit a burial. 

Who has the legal authority to make the decision of who can be buried in a family grave?

Here is a partial list of who may act as the legal representative:

1. Estate trustee, also called an executor or executrix, who is named in the will (or an administrator appointed by the court)
2. Spouse
3. Adult children (18 and over). 

Ontario has statutes and common law to determine who may act as the legal representative(s) when a person passes away without a valid will. The ultimate decision maker will be specific to the circumstances of each case but will generally default to a court-appointed Estate Administrator or the deceased’s next of kin. 

You can see section 2.8 of our Cemetery By-Law for more information.

• Each traditional grave in the cemetery has the capacity for 4 individuals, being 1 traditional burial with 3 cremations on top (unless otherwise indicated in the contract).
• Double depth burials are prohibited except where authorization has been previously granted in writing.
• Cremation lots have the capacity for 2 individuals’ cremated remains.
• A Niche in a Columbarium has the capacity for 2 individuals’ cremated remains. 

The interment rights holders are able to reserve a spot in a grave for a specific individual. Please contact the clerk's department for further details.

See our Cemetery Rates above for reference.

The interment fee covers the cost of opening and closing of the gravesite for a burial or the opening and closing of a Niche in the Columbarium.

The Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act requires that every cemetery operator who sells, assigns or transfers interment rights or scattering rights or who permits the interment of human remains or the scattering of cremated remains in the cemetery have a care and maintenance fund.

Care and Maintenance, formerly known as Perpetual Care, contributions became mandatory in Ontario in 1955. A percentage of Interment Rights purchased is put into the Care & Maintenance Trust Fund. The Cemetery can use the interest off this fund to help maintain the Cemetery forever. Regular Care & Maintenance activities include: cutting grass, leveling graves, planting and caring for trees, snow removal, and maintenance of water supply systems, roads and drainage.

For graves, markers and monuments sold prior to 1955, if no contributions for Care and Maintenance were collected, Care and Maintenance may be charged at the current price list rate.

There are many different divisions in the Exeter Public Cemetery available. Certain divisions are set up so that multiple graves next to each other must be purchased at the same time, whether it’s 2, 3 or 4 side by side. 

The number of monuments permitted depends on the location in the Cemetery.

In a single grave section, each grave is permitted one (1) monument (headstone).

Divisions in the cemetery that have multi-grave plots, one (1) monument (headstone) is permitted for the plot (ex. in 2 grave divisions (10 or 11), one monument would be centered over the two graves within the plot.

Plots in 3 and 4 grave sections the monument is placed off center to allow for a monument for the plot on the back side of the row).

Each grave is permitted one (1) flat marker which is installed at the foot of the grave.

Contact the clerk’s department to confirm same.

Vaults are mandatory for every full burial with the exception of burials in the No Vault Section in Division 2. Burials in the No Vault section are interred at the discretion of the Cemetery Operator in the consecutive order of the graves/lots.  

Foundations are required for any marker that measures over 173 square inches.  All Monuments must have a foundation.

Monuments are upright and located at the head of the grave. Markers (also known as footstones) are flat and placed 84” from the top of the grave.

• Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm
• Saturday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
• No interments take place on Sundays or Statutory Holidays

Animal remains, including cremated remains are not allowed to be placed in a niche, buried or scattered on cemetery grounds.

Cremated remains are not permitted to be scattered in the Cemetery.

See the arranging a burial (interment) section for details.