Frequently Asked Questions & Terminolgy

Burial – Placement of human remains into a grave in the ground, either in a casket or urn

Burial Permit – A required document that allows human remains to be buried or cremated. CA State Law requires a VS-9 Burial Permit, typically furnished by a licensed funeral home. See also: Permit for Disposition

Casket – A container to hold human remains for full body interment

Columbarium – A structure with niches (spaces) for placement of cremated remains in urns or other approved containers. It may be outdoors or part of a mausoleum.
See also: Niche

Crypt – A space in a mausoleum to hold a casket with human remains

Decedent – A person who has died.

Disposition – The placement of human remains in their final resting place.

Endowment Care Fund – Money collected from cemetery property purchases and placed into trust for the maintenance and upkeep of the cemetery.

Entombment – Interment of human remains into a crypt

Family Plot – A private, in-ground area in a cemetery purchased by a single family, reserved for the burial of that family, typically consisting of 2 or more graves.

Family (Private) Mausoleum – A private, above-ground structure built to entomb multiple members of a family.

Grave – A space in the ground within a cemetery for the burial of human remains.
See also: Plot

Grave Liner – A container for a casket or cremation burials meant to minimize the settling or collapsing of a grave. See also: Outer Burial Container, Vault

Grave Marker – A flat, decorative plaque, typically made of stone or metal that sits at the head of a grave to memorialize the deceased.
See also: Marker

Graveside Service – A service conducted at the interment location to commemorate the deceased

Headstone – A decorative, upright grave marker, typically made of stone with the deceased’s name, dates, etc.
See also: Monument

Interment – Any type of burial, such as burial in the ground, entombment in a mausoleum, inurnment in a niche, or scattering in a designated area of a cemetery.
See also: Opening/Closing

Interment Rights – The right to be buried in a specific location in a cemetery plot, crypt, or niche.

Inurnment – Interment of cremated remains in a niche or columbarium.

Marker – A flat, decorative plaque, typically made of stone or metal that sits at the head of a grave to memorialize the deceased. See also: Grave Marker

Mausoleum – A building in which human remains are interred.

Memorial Service – A ceremony commemorating the deceased at a time other than interment

Monument – A decorative, upright grave marker, typically made of stone that sits at the head of a grave to memorialize the deceased.
See also: Headstone

Niche – A space in a columbarium, mausoleum, or niche wall to hold an urn. See also: Columbarium

Opening/Closing – A service performed by cemetery staff that involves the preparation and completion of a grave, crypt, or niche, whether by back-filling a grave or replacing the shutter of a crypt or niche.

Outer Burial Container - A container for casket or cremation burials that is meant to minimize settling or collapsing of a grave. See also: Grave Liner, Vault

Permit for Disposition – A required document that allows human remains to be buried or cremated. CA State Law requires a VS-9 Burial Permit. See also: Burial Permit

Plot - Grave – A space in the ground within a cemetery for burial of human remains.
See also: Grave

Shutter – The outer front of a crypt or niche, typically made of stone or glass, and used to memorialize the deceased.

Urn – A container to hold cremated remains. Urns may be placed in a columbarium, niche, or may also be buried in the ground.

Vault – A grave liner that completed encloses a casket.
See also: Grave Liner, Outer Burial Container