What Kind of Cemetery Property Is Right for Me?

Whether you choose in-ground burial, above ground entombment or an option for cremation, cemetery property provides a final resting place for family and friends to visit and reflect on your legacy. Personal wishes, family preferences and cultural traditions should all be considered when choosing cemetery property.

In-ground burial options

There are many in-ground burial options, whether you choose to be buried in a casket or urn.

Individual plots for in-ground casket or urn burial are available in single-depth or double-depth options, depending on the cemetery.

Private estates include gated estates and hedge estates for in-ground casket or urn burial. A gated estate is like a cemetery within a cemetery. More than one person can be buried there, and the property is kept private and gated. Similarly, in a hedge estate, hedgerows indicate the perimeter of the private area.

Lawn crypts have pre-installed outer burial containers, making them an affordable final resting place for both casket and urn burial.

Aboveground burial options

Community mausoleums are usually granite and sometimes very large and stately structures. A garden mausoleum has only outdoor-facing crypts, while an indoor mausoleum is enclosed and climate-controlled. Options can include single spaces, side-by-side spaces and companion configurations.

Private mausoleums are exclusive, custom-built, aboveground spaces usually for a prominent individual, couple or family. These structures are customized with a designer and can include features such as bronze doors or stained-glass windows. These exclusive mausoleums can hold traditional caskets, cremated remains or both.

A columbarium is a room or structure designed to house cremated remains. Columbaria are permanent memorials with banks of cremation niches (similar to cubbyholes, but with secure fronts). A columbarium can be large or small, private or public. Some columbaria have glass-front niches, which allow you to see the cremation urn and personal artifacts stored within it. Other columbaria have granite-front niches, engraved or memorialized with a plaque. Some columbaria have both.

Cremation burial options

In-ground burial of cremated remains is a popular option for those choosing cremation. Your loved one may want be buried in a lovely open lawn or in a private family estate. The site can be personalized with a granite headstone, bronze plaque or granite cremation bench.

Aboveground inurnment in a mausoleum or columbarium is another option for cremation. Specially designed cremation pedestals, boulders, statues or other structures is also an option at some cemeteries.

Scattering gardens are an option at some cemeteries. The cremated remains can be scattered in this dedicated section of the cemetery. The names of the people memorialized there are usually listed on a wall nearby.

These options offer families a permanent place of remembrance, even if some of the cremated remains are to be scattered at a personally meaningful location.

Memorials for aboveground and below-ground burials

No matter how one chooses to be buried, or scattered, a custom-built memorial in granite, stone, bronze or marble is an excellent way to pay tribute. These statuary, monuments, benches and other structures are typically laser-etched with names, dates, mottoes and more, offering a permanent place for future generations to visit and remember.

Plan with Dignity Memorial

These options, and even more, are available at many Dignity Memorial® cemeteries, and our planning professionals are equipped to help you decide what cemetery property is right for you. Contact us today to find our more about the special savings and benefits available to CARP members and their families. Visit CARP.DignityMemorial.com to download our free guide or call 866-668-1841.