When you make arrangements with a Provider, you may want to bring someone you trust along with you. Making arrangements can be stressful. You may welcome the help and support of a family member or friend. Once you choose the services and supplies you want, you will be asked to sign a contract with the Provider.
Before you sign a contract
- Make sure you are dealing with a licensed Provider by asking to see their licence
- Review the Provider’s price list to make choices you can afford
- Review the cemetery’s or crematorium’s by-laws
Make sure the contract sets out the things you have agreed to buy or rent, such as:
- Services, facilities and vehicles
- Casket, urn, vault, grave, crypt or niche and monument
- Any other payments (for newspaper notices, police escorts, honorarium for religious officials, etc.
The contract should also include taxes to be paid and tell you if the Provider is receiving any commission or benefit from other parties for recommending them to you.
At the time of purchase, the Provider must disclose to you that if, at the time of need, the supplies and services you have contracted for are not available, then supplies and services of equivalent value will be provided without additional cost.
Cancelling a contract
By law, you may cancel your contract at any time before the services or supplies have been provided.
Here is the cancellation process in most cases:
- You must give written notice to the Provider that you want to cancel the contract
- Within 30 days of providing written notice, the Provider will give you your money back for anything that you have paid for but not yet received
- The amount of your refund will depend on when you cancel and whether the Provider has incurred costs.
Cancelling a contract for interment or scattering rights
You may cancel contracts for interment and scattering rights and receive a full refund of the amount paid within 30 days if you have not used the rights. After 30 days, you will get a refund of the amount paid, less the amount paid into the cemetery’s care and maintenance trust fund.
Your contract checklist
The Provider will give you a copy of the contract. Make sure the contract includes:
- The name of the person who is paying for the contract (the purchaser)
- The name of the person for whom the services or supplies are to be provided (the recipient)
- The name of the company you are dealing with (the Provider)
- A description of the services and supplies you have chosen and a description of when, under what circumstances and in what manner they are to be provided
- The price of each supply or service, taxes and the total price
- All payment, cancellation and refund policies, including the right to change your mind and cancel the contract
- For interment rights, make sure the contract also includes the location and description of the grave, crypt or niche
- For scattering rights, make sure the contract also includes the location and description of where the scattering may occur
- A copy of the cemetery’s or crematorium’s by-laws
- A certificate of interment rights or scattering rights once these rights are paid in full.
Note: The certificate must include the name of the person who can legally authorize an interment or scattering.
