question: How do cemetery plots (or mausoleums ) work? Do you get the spot forever? Do they recycle the plots? What happens when the cemetery is full?
comment: At the cemetery where my mom was laid to rest two years ago, we paid outright for the plot. Actually she and dad paid for it when she was diagnosed and bought a double. I think it was $6k each? Yes, its a one time payment. Think of it like this: obviously a hole in the ground isn't worth $6k. And the coffin and the concrete bunker it sits in, the labour to dig the hole and fill it back in are all paid separately (in our case to the funeral home). So that $6k goes into the cemetary's fund where it earns interest. The interest from your and everyone else's one time payments are used to pay for landscaping and upkeep. No, you can't recycle the plots; there are crazy rules around exhuming people, getting permission from the kin etc., and really old bodies might not have any living kin left, so who do you ask? When the cemetery is full, its full. Time for a new cemetery.
passages: Originally graves in this cemetery were sold in lots of 16. The LDS Church charged $20 for 16 graves. That price was later increased to $50 per grave. In the 1980s cemetery management began selling graves one at a time instead of in lots of 16. In the 1990s the price of graves was increased to $425. In 2012 the price was $500.
  
  It is estimated by the cemetery that there are approximately 17,000 grave sites, of which 1,400 are currently occupied.
  
  Section::::Nonprofit.
   In 1935 Mexican artist Dionicio Rodriguez was hired to beautify the park with sculptures. "Annie Laurie’s Wishing Chair", "Broken Tree Bench, Abrahams Oak", "Pool of Hebron" and "Cave of Machpelah" are some of the most important sculptures that can be found in different locations throughout the cemetery.
   Section::::Discoveries.
  
  Section::::Discoveries.:Burials.
   BULLET::::- Cemeteries sometimes have a limited number of plots in which to bury the dead. Once all plots are full, older remains may be moved to an ossuary to accommodate more bodies, in accordance with burial contracts, religious and local burial laws. In Hong Kong where real estate is at a premium, burials in government-run cemeteries are disinterred after six years under exhumation order. Remains are either collected privately for cremation or reburied in an urn or niche. Unclaimed burials are exhumed and cremated by the government. Permanent burial in privately run cemeteries is allowed.
   Several graves from the old City Cemetery, originally located in what is now Lincoln Park were relocated to Rosehill. Some of the gravestones and monuments were also moved to Rosehill Cemetery and can be seen.
  
  Section::::Landmarks.
  
  Section::::Landmarks.:Rosehill Mausoleum.
   The headstones in the newer areas lie flat (technically known as "lawn level markers") to facilitate mowing and groundskeeping. It is possible to have upright markers for family plots, but this requires purchasing multiple gravesites and using a single, larger marker. The older areas have upright headstones that run the gamut from typical markers to fanciful and artistic. There are mausoleums for above-ground interments. 
  
  Section of family plots
  
  Section::::History.
   Section::::Contemporary management.:Burial registers.
  
  Usually there is a legal requirement to maintain records regarding the burials (or interment of ashes) within a cemetery. These "burial registers" usually contain (at a minimum) the name of the person buried, the date of burial and the location of the burial plots within the cemetery, although some contain far more detail. The Arlington National Cemetery, one of the United States' largest military cemeteries, has a registry, "The ANC Explorer", which contains details such as photographs of the front and back of the tombstones. Burial registers are an important resource for genealogy.
  
  Section::::Contemporary management.:Land use.
   As of 2014—coinciding with conflict against ISIL—it has been reported that burial plots are running out, resulting in many being stolen, illegally resold or improvised. According to one gravedigger: “I’ve never had it so busy. Not even after 2003 or 2006 [the height of Iraq’s civil war].”
  
  Section::::Holy Sites.
  
  BULLET::::- Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr – his mausoleum is possibly the most visited in the cemetery.
  
  BULLET::::- Grave of Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr
   BULLET::::- Encanto Mausoleum - The Encanto Mausoleum is divided into The sections are called "Gardenia", "Palms", "Roses", "Evergreen", "Acacia", "Lillies", "Camellia", "Original Mausoleum" and 'Veranda".
  
  BULLET::::- Memory Mausoleum
  
  BULLET::::- Serenity Mausoleum - On the grounds of the Serenity Mausoleum there is a chapel, The Mausoleum is divided into three sections. The sections are called "Faith", "Hope" and "Peace"
  
  Section::::Notable interments.
   Section::::Closure.:Final removals and sale.
   BULLET::::- Tyler Drumheller (April 12, 1952 – August 2, 2015) CIA officer
  
  BULLET::::- Warren Fales Draper (August 9, 1883 – March 19, 1970) was Assistant Surgeon General and later Deputy Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service.
  
  BULLET::::- Jerome Karle (June 18, 1918 – June 6, 2013) Shared the 1985 Nobel Prize in chemistry for discovering a way to determine the structure of molecules.
   Section::::Characters.
  
  Rebekkah Barrow, Byron Montgomery, William Montgomery, Elaine, Amity Blue, Cecilia "Cissy" Barrow, Troy, Daisha, Maylene Barrow, Chris the Sheriff, Bonnie Jean Blue, Nicolas Whittaker, Mr. D or Charlie or Charles, Alicia Barrow, Ward
  
  Section::::Reception.
   BULLET::::- Planting. Trees or shrubs, particularly roses, may be planted, especially to mark the location of ashes. This may be accompanied by a small inscribed metal or wooden marker.
  
  Section::::Inscriptions.
   During the 1980s and 1990s the headstones that were manufactured were concrete crosses. These crosses only have prison ID numbers and dates of death. There are other headstones which also include the names of the prisoners and the dates of birth. Headstones of death row prisoners have prison numbers with the beginning “999”, a state designation for a death row inmate, or they have the letters "EX" or "X". Because of soil shifts, some graves have collapsed.
   The majority of standing Necropolis Headstones at Everton Cemetery are in the centre of Section GEN6; however, there are a few of these headstones placed in other religious denomination sections of the Cemetery. Older 'dropped' headstones and remains, from Churches within the City, long gone, are buried in the outer boundary sections of Everton Cemetery (CE32-38).
  
  Section::::War Graves.
   Many of the headstones in Everton Cemetery date back much longer than the opening. Whenever work was undertaken in the city, like widening of roads or dock gates, if this work cut into the city's graveyards, the bodies would be exhumed, and moved to Everton, along with the headstones, and in fact sections of Everton Cemetery contain many of these graves, from the likes of St.Nicholas's, St.George's and St. Anne's to name but a few. 
   Section::::Contemporary management.:Grave digging.
   Section::::Howard ownership.:Closure and limited reopening.
   There are no traditional cemetery trees here. The largest tree is a conifer and this is outside the fencing and there are three more conifers inside the fence. There are two Jacarandas, three natives trees and three other small trees.
   McPherson Cemetery has regulations on the amount of items that can be placed around gravestones, and where these items can be placed. No more than three items are allowed to be donated to a gravestone, unless they are not placed on the grass. Cemetery staff encourage people to keep items away from the lawn as much as possible to prevent damage to lawnmowing equipment and to the donated items.
  
  Section::::Incidents.
  
  Section::::Incidents.:Vandalism.
   Mount Auburn Cemetery (founded in 1831) is known as "America's first garden cemetery." American cemeteries created since are distinctive for their park-like setting. Rows of graves are covered by lawns and are interspersed with trees and flowers. Headstones, mausoleums, statuary or simple plaques typically mark off the individual graves. Cremation is another common practice in the United States, though it is frowned upon by various religions. The ashes of the deceased are usually placed in an urn, which may be kept in a private house, or they are interred. Sometimes the ashes are released into the atmosphere. The "sprinkling" or "scattering" of the ashes may be part of an informal ceremony, often taking place at a scenic natural feature (a cliff, lake or mountain) that was favored by the deceased.
   Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks &amp; Mortuaries
   There are a number of different styles of cemetery in use. Many cemeteries have areas based on different styles, reflecting the diversity of cultural practices around death and how it changes over time.
  
  Section::::Types.:Urban.
   Section::::Locations.
  
  Section::::Locations.:Where to bury.
  
  Apart from sanitary and other practical considerations, the site of burial can be determined by religious and socio-cultural considerations.
  
  Thus in some traditions, especially with an animistic logic, the remains of the dead are "banished" for fear their spirits would harm the living if too close; others keep remains close to help surviving generations.
   In Western countries, and many others, visitors to graves commonly leave cut flowers, especially during major holidays and on birthdays or relevant anniversaries. Cemeteries usually dispose of these flowers after a few weeks in order to keep the space maintained. Some companies offer perpetual flower services, to ensure a grave is always decorated with fresh flowers. Flowers may often be planted on the grave as well, usually immediately in front of the gravestone. For this purpose roses are highly common.
  
  Section::::Customs and practices.:Stones.
  