THE PRESERVE AT SPRING VALE COVENANTS

2580 SCHUYLER AVE.

LAFAYETTE, IN 47905

Rules and Regulations for The Preserves at Spring Vale

August 2008

Note that: “Spring Vale”, “We”, “Our”, and “Us” refer to Spring Vale Cemetery Association.  “You” or “Your” refers to lot owners and their heirs and assignees.  (“You” or “Your” may also refer to visitors where specified.)  “Visitors” refers to anyone (including lot owners, heirs, and assignees) who visits The Preserve at Spring Vale as part of a funeral party, or simply to walk around and enjoy the property.  A “lot” is a burial area intended for the burial of one person.

1.     All lots in The Preserve at Spring Vale are sold in accordance with the provisions of the laws of the State of Indiana and shall not be used for any other purposes than as a burial place for deceased human beings.

2.     In order to schedule a burial with us, you must purchase a lot for the deceased unless the deceased has already purchased one.  You must also provide us with:

1.     The name of deceased

2.     Age of deceased including birth date, if known

3.     Place of birth of deceased, if known

4.     Date of death

5.     Time and date of interment

6.     If the deceased is not an adult, the names of his or her parent(s) or legal guardian(s)

3.     Each lot is restricted to one body; one body and one cremated remains; or two cremated remains.  There will be a second right of interment fee of $250 for the additional cremated remains on each lot.  Cremated remains may also be scattered in the areas reserved for them.  Please ask us for details.

4.     When a married or partnered couple purchases two lots, The Preserve at Spring Vale will assign each lot by deed to each member of the couple, as the lot’s owner.  When an individual, family or group purchases more than two lots, The Preserve at Spring Vale will assign one lot to each individual identified by the purchaser(s).

 5.     You may transfer your lot to another person – but see (5) and (6).  If you purchase a lot for yourself but, upon death, are buried elsewhere, then your lot passes to those named in your will.  If none are named, it passes to your descendants, then to your surviving spouse.  (If you inherit burial rights, you must let us know.  Concerning permission to bury those not specified with The Preserve at Spring Vale, refer to Section 1512 of the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law.)

6.     You are prohibited from allowing someone to inter a body on your lot in exchange for money, goods, or services.

7.     If you decide you want to sell your lot, we will buy it back at the price you paid at the discretion of the Board of Trustees.

8.     You must pay the full purchase price with cash or personal check before a deed will be given or burial allowed on a lot.

9.     We do allow pets as the second right of interment at a fee.  Many families live in urban areas, or places where pet burial is prohibited, and almost all “pet cemeteries” are areas apart from the human cemetery.  Here at the Preserve, when you are assigned a family plot, pet burials in the same plot are guaranteed and welcomed.  Assistance with the burial is available at very little cost.  Stock or made-to-order caskets are also available but not required.

10. You may not place embellishments or effigies (for example, statuettes) on gravesites.  We reserve the right to remove any embellishment on the lot, or effigy or inscription with 30 days notice by certified mail.

11. We require 48 hours notice. Funerals must be completed at The Preserve by 4 p.m. so that we have sufficient time to properly close the grave and remove the equipment before 6 p.m.  Funeral parties may help close the grave if they wish.

12. All funerals, processions and vehicles will be under the control of our superintendent while in The Preserve.  Discharging firearms is permitted at military funerals and prohibited at all other times.

13. No cut, machined, or polished markers or monuments of any kind are permitted.  You may have engraved natural, flat rocks set flush with the ground and encompassing no more that approximately 12 X 18 square inches, placed as markers over the grave.  Please check our display.

14. Our workers and contractors may enter or cross over any cemetery lot at The Preserve to perform normal cemetery operations.

 15. Trails and lanes (and the visitors and staff who walk on them, or the equipment driven on them) may traverse a corner of you lot, though no trail or lane will traverse the site of your actual burial.  (See also 13.)

16. All work done at The Preserve, including but not limited to landscaping and care of lots, shall be done by The Preserve employees or under the control and with the permission of our superintendent or Board of Trustees.

17. Visitors may visit The Preserves during daylight hours, observing our rules and the propriety due to us.  Your pets must be on a leash and under your control at all times.  Motorcycles and other loud vehicles, except for trucks and equipment necessary for our operation, are prohibited.  Disinterment will be allowed on regular business days between

9 a.m. and 5 p.m. in accordance with the Cemetery Laws of Indiana.

18. We are open for burial seven days a week unless severe weather conditions preclude burial on any given day.  We are closed on New Years Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  If you need to arrange a burial on a holiday, you must get in touch with us by 9 a.m. and we will let you know by 10:30 a.m. if we are able to accommodate you.

19. Concrete or steel vaults and grave liners will not be permitted.

20. Bodies or cremains may be interred only in natural biodegradable materials such as, but not limited to, wood or a shroud.  Ask us or your funeral director for guidance.  Metal, concrete, plastic, or other synthetic materials and stone may not be used for interment at The Preserves.

21. Deceased bodies that are embalmed or otherwise chemically preserved may not be interred at The Preserve unless our superintendent or Board of Trustees approves it in writing.

22. Each lot in the cemetery will be suitably marked by the Corporation with a concrete (containing an embedded ceramic magnet) or iron post, placed on each lot corner and set level with the adjacent ground.

23. Graves may take several years to settle back to the original ground level.  Note that sometimes graves settle unevenly, even from one day to the next.  If you visit a grave and find uneven settling, please be assured that our caretaker will attend to it soon.

24. The Preserve at Spring Vale and its trustees, officers, employees and agents assume no liability for damage, mental anguish, or loss caused by vandalism or other acts beyond its reasonable control.

25. Our Trustees may amend these rules and regulations, but the amendments will not be effective until approved by the Indiana State Cemetery Board.