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The Rules of the St. James Church Columbarium
- PREAMBLE. These Rules are binding upon (a) a person (the "Owner") who has been granted a Certificate of Right of Inurnment in the Columbarium of St. James' Church (the "Certificate") by the Rector, Churchwardens and Vestrymen of St. James' Church in the City of New York (the "Church"), and (b) the surviving spouse, next of kin, and legal representative of the Owner.
- DESIGNATION OF INURNMENT. The Vestry shall have sole discretion as to the persons, other than the Owner(s) and other persons designated on the application, whose cremated remains may be inurned in the Columbarium, and the permission of the Church must in each instance be obtained in writing prior to the placing of such cremated remains in any Vault or Niche within the Columbarium. No right or privilege is conferred on the Owner of any direction as to any person or persons whose remains the Owner may wish to have inurned in a Vault or a Niche. The Owner may designate the cremated remains of such person or persons as the Owner wishes to have inurned in the Vault or Niche(s) referred to in the Certificate, but such designation shall in no way bind the Vestry to accede to such designation. Upon the death of the Owner, if further space is available in the Vault or Niches referred to in the Certificate, the right to request further inurnment shall pass as the Owner may direct in a duly probated will, a copy of which has been delivered to the Columbarium Office of the Church, or, in the absence of a direction by a will delivered to the Columbarium Office of the Church, to the persons believed by the Church to be the heirs at law of the Owner, but the right to inurnment shall continue at all times to be subject to the approval of the Vestry.
- PROPERTY RIGHTS. The Certificate and any payments made in connection therewith do not confer upon the Owner any property rights in the Columbarium, its Vaults, or Niche spaces, referred to in the Certificate or otherwise. The Columbarium and its Vaults and Niches, their use and maintenance are at all times subject to the management of the Vestry of St. James' Church as constituted from time to time, or in its duly authorized committee (the "Vestry"), in whom is vested the sole right to control the maintenance and use thereof. The terms of these Rules may be modified, varied, amended or altered at any time in the sole discretion of the Vestry.
- VAULTS AND NICHES. Space capacity in a Vault is four or eight urns, depending upon the size of the Vault. The space for each urn is a "Niche" in the Vault. A complete Vault may be purchased whether or not all Niches therein are required, or individual Niches may be purchased. If purchasing individual Niches (and not a complete Vault), the Owner agrees that the balance of Niches within the same Vault are available for purchase by unrelated parties, whose urns would then share the Vault.
- PRICING. The price for each Niche is $5,000 payable to St. James' Church prior to issuance of the Certificate. The Rector has the discretion, in cases of special circumstances, to accept payment of this amount in three installments, the first installment of $2,500 being payable to the issuance of the Certificate and the remaining two installment of $1,250 each being payable annually; provided, however, that no cremated remains may be placed in a Niche unless the full purchase price for that Niche has been paid. The Vestry reserves the right in the future to change the price of a Niche.
- URNS. The Church supplies uniformly sized urns for the Columbarium without additional charge. No other urns may be placed in a Niche or a Vault.
- ENGRAVING. Subsequent to an inurnment, names and dates must be engraved on the face-stone of the Vault. The type and size of the lettering and date numbers are subject to the absolute control of the Vestry. The Owner's representative shall be charged with the actual cost of such lettering and is obligated to pay the same upon the rendition of a statement therefor.
- DEFINITION AND DELIVERY OF CREMATED REMAINS. Cremated remains are primarily calcium fragments which are reduced for placement in a small receptacle. Following cremation, remains should be placed in a temporary container for the legal representative of the deceased, and brought or sent to the Church for transfer into a Columbarium urn. In the event the urn capacity is insufficient to accommodate all remains, the Owner/representative releases the Church to dispose of any excess remains in such manner as the Church shall deem proper.
- REMOVAL OF REMAINS. Except as provided in Paragraph 14 below, cremated remains may not be removed from the Vault or the Niche without the written consent of (a) the Vestry and (b) persons believed by the Church to represent the surviving spouse or the next of kin of the deceased.
- COLUMBARIUM FILE. The Church will maintain on its premises a Columbarium File, into which duplicate originals of all Contracts and Certificates, and such other documents as may be generated by the operation of the Columbarium, will be placed.
- TRANSFER OF RIGHT TO INURN. Transfer, bequest or change of the Right to Inurn must be in writing, and shall not be made without the approval of the Vestry in its discretion and shall not be effective until the relevant document is placed in the Columbarium File. An approved transferee shall have all the rights of the original Owner and shall be bound by all the terms and conditions of these Rules.
- ACTIONS OF CO-OWNERS. Where the Owner of a Right to Inurn may take an action under these Rules and the Right to Inurn has Co-Owners, the Church may rely upon the action of a Co-Owner, which shall be binding upon the other Co-Owner(s), unless the Church has received written direction to the contrary from such other co-Owner(s).
- LIABILITY. The Church will endeavor to exercise reasonable care in the maintenance of the Columbarium. However, neither the Church nor its officers, vestry members, employees or agents shall have any liability of any kind or character whatsoever for the maintenance of preservation of the cremated remains of any person interred in the Columbarium or for any loss or damage to the urns or cremated remains of such deceased persons, nor for any manner or thing relating to the Columbarium, its use or subsequent maintenance.
- TERMINATION OF COLUMBARIUM. The right to inurn shall continue only so long as the present Church edifice stands and is owned by the Church. In the event of the demolition of said edifice or of its sale by the Church, such right shall cease. The Church will endeavor to give written notice of such impending sale or demolition, at the last known addresses in the Church's records, to the surviving spouse or next of kin of the person(s) whose cremated remains are contained in the Vault or Niche(s). The surviving spouse or next of kin shall have the right to remove the cremated remains. If no one of such persons removes the remains within ninety (90) days after the Church has sent such written notification of such impending demolition or sale, the Owner, or if he/she be deceased, his/her designee in accordance with the last sentence of Paragraph 2, may do so. If no one of such persons shall remove the cremated remains within a reasonable time, the Church shall have the right to remove and dispose of the same in such manner as the Vestry shall deem proper.
- RECONFIGURATION OF THE COLUMBARIUM. The Church reserves the right to enlarge or remodel the Columbarium, or to remove the same and build a new Columbarium in a new location. If any such event affects the Vault and Niche(s) referred to in the Certificate, the Church shall substitute for the Vault and Niche(s) others of substantially like size and character, in which event the Owner shall have the same rights in such substituted Vault and Niche(s) as are granted by the Certificate and these Rules.
- VOLUNTARY SURRENDER OR RIGHT TO INURN. The right to inurn in a Vault or a Niche may be voluntarily surrendered in any of the following ways:
- By the Owner during his/her lifetime and before any cremated remains have been inurned in the Vault or Niche, by written notice to the Church.
- By the Owner during his/her lifetime and after any cremated remains have been inurned in the Vault or Niche, by written notice to the Church.
- After the Owner's death, the removal of any cremated remains as provided in Paragraph 9 will be deemed to be a voluntary surrender.
- After the Owner's death, if the person designated by the Owner for inurnment notifies the Church in writing that he/she does not intend to be inurned in the Niche, such notice will be deemed a voluntary surrender.
- After the Owner's death, if the person designated by the Owner for inurnment dies or has died and is interred elsewhere, such interment will be deemed to be a voluntary surrender unless the person designated in accordance with the last sentence of Paragraph 2, prior to such interment elsewhere, designates another person for inurnment and such designation is approved by the Vestry.
A voluntary surrender described in sub-Paragraph 16(a) entitles the Owner to reimbursement of his/her payment for columbarium space without interest. No other ways of voluntary surrender carry with them a right of reimbursement to the Owner or to his/her estate.
- PROCEDURES FOR INURNMENT.
- At the time of death or subsequently, the Owner's surviving spouse, next of kin, or legal representative notifies the Church in writing requesting inurnment. Upon mutual agreement, a date and time will be reserved on the Church calendar. With the approval of the Rector, memorial services preceding an inurnment may be held at the Church, or a simple committal may take place after services elsewhere.
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