Cremated Remains Can Be Moved After Church Sale, MA Supreme Court Rules

WAYLAND, MA — The Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that churches can move human remains from church burial grounds without necessarily getting the approval of relatives, the result of a case involving a former Wayland church that closed years ago.

When the former Church of the Holy Spirit along Rice Road closed in 2016, the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts sold the grounds, including a yard where cremated remains were buried, to a Coptic Orthodox church. Because cremation is against Coptic beliefs, the new owner asked the Church of the Holy Spirit to remove the cremated remains as a condition of the sale.

The Church of the Holy Spirit moved ahead with a plan to move the remains, citing the broad power in "burial certificates" sold to parishioners who wanted to keep their relatives' remains in the churchyard.

"The one-page certificates each granted the purchaser a right to one or more interments that were 'subject to the regulations of the Churchyard now or hereafter in force,'" the SJC noted in a Tuesday opinion.

The remains of 49 people were kept at the church, and relatives of 12 of those people objected to the disinterment of the cremated remains during the sale to the Coptic church. In response, the church updated the burial certificates to include a clause stating that remains could in fact be moved if the church was sold — a clause upheld by a probate court judge.

The families sought relief in the Superior Court, but a judge ruled that their rights ended when the church closed the burial area, according to the SJC opinion.

The SJC cited the limited case law on family burial rights, as well as the broad power granted to the church by the burial certificates sold to parishioners in upholding the Superior Court ruling — although the court acknowledged the sensitive nature of the case.

"Although we resolve this case by applying long-standing legal principles, we, of course, recognize the human element involved. We also reiterate that in other circumstances a different result might obtain. Disinterring the remains of one's ancestors will forever be a sensitive, difficult prospect," the ruling concluded.