Burial advise legal HELP needed

[Pumpkinpie1]

This is a real dilemma
X and y were married over 50 years
x bought burial plot 600 pounds .
Y died first was cremated her ashes put in plot waiting for beloved x
x has just died
Council are now saying they want 1000 to open grave on top of burial costs
x was never notified of changes , if he had y would never have been put in grave , she’d. have waited in an urn at his home

Any thoughts . This represents a fortune to the family

Yes
Yes undertakers were aware (same undertakers ).
The undertakers are shocked that the council is charging an extra £1000 for a plot that will already be open , there’s no extra work just an extra charge that they haven’t encountered before.
Its never been just an ashes plot it was a plot for a burial and was purchased as such.

Undertakers should be used to this and aware of charges. They can liaise between you and explain. £600 would not cover cost of interment in advance.

I'm afraid I still don't really understand this.
They bought exclusive rights to the grave and the urn was interred.
Now there's a 1000 pounds cost to open the grave in addition to the burial fee (which would be around 1000 anyway)?
Makes no sense.

Can you google your local authority's burial and grave fees and that might give you more of an idea of what you are actually being charged for?

Obviously I dont know where you are. Take a look at this 🥰
www.sstaffs.gov.uk/bereavement-services/cemetery-fees-and-charges

Opening for a burial is a lot more work than for ashes. For H&S there should be two men, the grave has to be boarded and dressed then backfilled . There can be difficulties with the geography of the plot and weather.
its the best part of a day for two men,
Saying that I do think £1k is too much.

Sorry for the loss of your loved one, but this is a normal charge.

I wonder if it is classed as an exhumation?

Write to your county councillor and ask to speak to them about this as a matter of urgency. If you have a good councillor they may be able to help you or at least clarify the situation.

I would change the burial to a cremation and get the urn back and scatter the ashes on the same grave. Unless the person only wanted burying.

If they allowed the burial of the urn at the surface for later removal, it should have been explained to the grave owner that the removal is basically an exhumation and a licence would be required.

Just checked the current fees for the cemetery where my parents are buried. It's quoting £897 for 2nd burial in existing grave.

I suppose you could try arguing that, if this is a newly introduced charge then the holder of the grave deed should have been notified. But then what are they going to do, as not burying the deceased there is going against their wishes.

Gosh am I the only one who thinks this is confusing?

Was y's urn interred in the grave, i.e. the grave was opened, and the fee was paid for that at the time? Doesn't matter if it is near the surface or not, if a formal grave opening was done at the time, presumably that incurred a fee.

Now x has died and is to be buried therefore the usual costs apply to the opening of the grave for that. So the grave is opened ready for y, but because x's urn is already in there, another huge fee is incurred? Is that correct? Maybe I am missing something though.

Sorry for your losses, but without sounding flippant or disrespectful, I'd nearly try to retrieve the urn and get the undertaker to put it in the coffin with x. Who'd know?

As I said I may have got it all wrong, and my apologies if so.

Yes there’s a will
x wanted to be buried so can’t cremate as that’s not what he wanted.
Council has admitted that this is a recent change Historically in our area this was not charged but has been amended in line with rest of council area.
So can the council change contract terms without notifying other party ?

Are you sure they didn't?

Suggest you contact your local councillor and ask them to raise this with the cemetery manager ASAP. The council may have discretion to deal with the unexpected charge compassionately.

I suspect, OP, that they shouldn’t be able to change the terms without notifying, but the legal costs of challenging it are likely to be more than £1000. If the funeral directors can’t find a way round it for you, then I think you’re stuffed. The only thing I can think of is to contact the local press and similar to try and shame the council into waiving the extra fee. But it’s a shit thing to happen at a shitty time.

Try contacting the local MP to see if they can help?

If the family can't afford to open the grave for the burial, will they consider cremation, as it was done for x's spouse, and scatter the ashes on the grave, as others have said.

If the family want to bury in the grave, then they're going to have to pay for the burial, on top of a coffin.

If they can't afford it, they'll have to look to get a loan - it is expensive, the cost of death is very high. The alternative is that the council buries them, in a council plot, not a family owned grave.

Will the person now owning the plot also be interred there? If so make undertakers aware to avoid this coming up again.