At what age should someone purchase a burial plot?

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  • #618843
    Joseph
    Participant

    When getting married, before marriage, 30, 40, 50?

    #1199996
    popa_bar_abba
    Participant

    Never. It’s the one place in the world you know you’re entitled to forever–why would you pay for it?

    #1199997
    Ex-CTLawyer
    Participant

    Never buy before marriage (if you expect to marry at some point). You may find that your future spouse may come from a family that has plots, or has a strong desire to eventually be buried near his/her family.

    My great grandfather bought 360 plots for a family cemetery back in 1919. My wife’s father had bought plots for his immediate family here in CT, but didn’t have the foresight to provide for sons-in law or grandchildren. We’ve told my eldest SIl that she can have Mrs’ CTL’s plot for her husband if needed, Mrs. CTL will be in our family in Queens after 120 years.

    As to the age 30, 40, 50, etc. It depends upon when you have settled in a community and expect to remain there long term (for those not choose to ship remains to EY for internment). OOT, shul’s generally own the cemeteries and the plot may be free with membership. My maternal grandmother convinced my aunt and uncle to buy plots in Beth David (Elmont) when Opa died. Oma is buried there, but my aunt and uncle ended up making their permanent home in Florida, when he was niftar, she bought plots there as she would not be traveling to NY to bury him or visit his grave, their children and grandchildren are in Florida. Eventually the plots in NY will become abandoned property and be used for those unable to afford plots.

    #1199998
    iacisrmma
    Participant

    As CTLAWYER’s family did, my paternal grandparents bought burial plots in the 1940’s and we added to those in the 1980’s. My maternal grandparents and most of their siblings bought plots in Old Montefiore Cemetery in the 1930’s through Adas Yisroel of the Lower East Side (aka United Hebrew Communities). My grandparents even bought their tachrichim while they were in their thirties.

    There is no official time, but if one first waits to buy one when someone needs to be buried, the family will be paying a “premium price” for a grave(s).

    #1199999
    Meno
    Participant

    “There is no official time, but if one first waits to buy one when someone needs to be buried, the family will be paying a “premium price” for a grave(s).”

    Why is that?

    #1200000
    Lightbrite
    Participant

    Working off a need. Less opportunity to shop around. Short time window to purchase. Pressure to buy. Emotional customers. Business

    #1200001
    Ex-CTLawyer
    Participant

    Meno………..

    Why you pay more if you wait to buy a plot when someone dies:

    #1 you are at the most vulnerable point in your life. dealing with grief and overwhelmed with making plans.

    If you need it fast you may be charged a premium for quick turn around, legal fees for deed, etc.

    #2 An organization may hold you hostage for x number of years of membership dues, prepaid maintenance or perpetual care.

    #3 You may not be prepared to lay out the required funds to by adjoining plots for other family members.

    #4 Some cemeteries or associations allow plot owners to sell unwanted plots to the general public. These plots are often offered at prices well below what the cemetery’s current retail price. Chances are the owners (or their ancestors bought the plots years ago for a fraction of the going rate).

    I posted above about the empty plots next to my maternal grandparents in Beth David..Elmont, LI, NY. My uncle is buried in Florida and my aunt will be interred next to him when the time comes. They have no descendants left in NY. The plots were purchased in 1967 for $500 each. If you try to buy direct from the cemetery today you pay more than $3000. Every year or so, my aunt runs a classified advt in a LI Anglo-Jewish paper offering the plots at her cost. Eventually, someone will decide that the price is a bargain, even if the plots are in a section for a Verein composed of Jews with roots in Bavaria. For you eastern European Jews…Verein is the Yekkische equivalent of a landsmannschaft

    #1200002
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    “Why you pay more if you wait to buy a plot when someone dies:”

    If I’m dead, I won’t have to pay anything.

    #1200003
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Why waste money on something you won’t need anyhow?

    #1200004
    mommamia22
    Participant

    Hijacking this thread for a related question.

    Is it “better” to be buried in E’Y even if no one will come to daven at the kever or better in chutz l’aretz if some will daven at the kever?

    #1200005
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    Ask a Rabbi. Off-hand, I would think EY, but I don’t know.

    #1200006
    yehudayona
    Participant

    When Moshiach comes, we’ll all be whisked to E”Y, correct? So isn’t buying a plot in Chutz L’aretz tantamount to saying you don’t think Moshiach will come in your lifetime?

    #1200007
    Abba_S
    Participant

    I do know that you will pay a premium if you wait until you actually need it. Shortly after marrying I joined a Chevra Kadisha, United Community down on the lower Eastside, I never needed their services and paid the annual dues, $20.00 per year. This is suppose to cover burial expenses plus a plot for me my wife and my dependents. My parents recently died. My father paid $1,000.0 for each plot in Bais Shemesh over 20 years ago. It cost me $10,000 to bury him in Eretz Yisroel not including the plot. I known there are Chevra Kadisha & others that have plots and who don’t need them and I am looking to buy The problem is that I have heard horror stories of people buying plots and finding out when they need them someone is already buried there.

    #1200008
    Ex-CTLawyer
    Participant

    mommamia22…………….

    Better for whom? The deceased or the survivors left behind chutz l’aretz?

    Visiting and davening at the kever can bring comfort and closure to the surviving family members.

    Each person should make his/her desires known to the family, as well as make financial preparations to carry out those wishes.

    DO NOT rely on funeral/burial instructions in a will. Jews bury too quickly for a will to be probated and an executor appointed to carry out the instructions in the will.

    My family does not send bodies for burial in EY. I can say that it is very comforting to visit 5 generations of our family in the family cemetery in Queens. When my children were pre-adolescents a visit to the family plots help to explain who we are and who we came from. It brought the family tree to life. Seeing the kever and praying at the kever of one for which you are named is a powerful and empowering thing.

    You attempted to hijack the thread for a related question, the answer is that it is all about the relatives and their desires….

    There is no one answer: better or worse.

    #1200009
    ☕ DaasYochid ☕
    Participant

    When Moshiach comes, we’ll all be whisked to E”Y, correct? So isn’t buying a plot in Chutz L’aretz tantamount to saying you don’t think Moshiach will come in your lifetime?

    You could say that about any long term preparation. If you buy a house (which you won’t move into for a month) you could be accused of saying you don’t think Moshiach will come for a month. If you buy chicken for tomorrow night’s supper, you can be accused of saying you don’t think Moshiach will come today.

    In fact, though, you’re not saying Moshiach is definitely not coming today, this month, or in your lifetime ch”v; you’re just preparing in case.

    #1200010
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    “When Moshiach comes, we’ll all be whisked to E”Y, correct? So isn’t buying a plot in Chutz L’aretz tantamount to saying you don’t think Moshiach will come in your lifetime?”

    Actually, I would think that buying a plot anywhere is tantamount to saying that you don’t think he will come in his lifetime, hence my above

    post:

    http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/at-what-age-should-someone-purchase-a-burial-plot#post-638450

    #1200011
    Ex-CTLawyer
    Participant

    Lilmod…….

    You are correct that if you are dead, you personally do not pay for the plot. However, the cost will most likely come from your estate (if you have any worth) or your relatives.

    Standard language in American wills is that first the decedent directs that all his/her burial expenses be paid before any other disbursements are made. So, even though you may be dead, you still pay from your funds.

    #1200012
    mommamia22
    Participant

    Thanks for your replies.

    I still don’t understand, though.

    Does the merit of being buried in E’Y supersede in importance the merit of having tefilos recited at one’s kever (for the niftar)(acharei meah v’esrim shana)?

    Does the impact on family and our need to daven at a loved one’s kever supersede the merit of burial in E’Y? Meaning, is meeting the needs of the surviving family and having tefilos recited at one’s kever more valuable than being buried in E’Y from a Torah perspective?

    Sorry if I missed the response. I’m just not clear still.

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