157.125 Trustees for the care of cemeteries or cemetery lots.
(1) If a trust is created for the care of a burial place or grave but no trustee is named in the will to administer the trust, the circuit court having jurisdiction may name the county treasurer of the county in which the burial place or grave is situated as trustee, except as provided in sub. (2). If not contrary to the terms of the trust, the county treasurer may contract with the person in charge of the burial place or grave for its care and pay to that person the income from the trust property or the part of the income that may be necessary for that purpose. If there is no person in charge of the burial place or grave, then the income shall be paid to the city, village, or town, in which the burial place or grave is situated, and for the purposes of this subsection, the governing body of that municipality has the duty of caring for the burial place or grave to the extent of money received for that purpose. The county treasurer shall annually render an account to the circuit court as provided in ch. 701 and the person or municipality receiving money for such care shall also render an annual accounting to the circuit court and the cemetery board as provided in s. 157.62 (2) (b) 3. to 7.
(2) If the burial place or grave is located in a cemetery owned and operated by, or affiliated with, a religious association, the court shall name the religious association as the trustee unless the religious association petitions the court to name the county treasurer as the trustee.
History: 1971 c. 41 s. 11; 1979 c. 175 s. 50; 1989 a. 307; 2015 a. 237.
Structure Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 157 - Disposition of human remains.
157.01 - Rules for preparation, transportation and disposition.
157.02 - Disposal of unclaimed corpses.
157.055 - Disposal of human remains during state of emergency relating to public health.
157.062 - Cemetery associations; creation; powers and duties.
157.064 - Cemetery associations and religious associations; holding property; change of ownership.
157.065 - Location and ownership of cemeteries.
157.067 - Connection with funeral establishment prohibited.
157.10 - Alienation, disposition, and use of cemetery lots and mausoleum spaces.
157.11 - Improvement and care of cemetery lots and grounds.
157.111 - Opening and closing of burial places.
157.112 - Reburial of human remains by a cemetery authority.
157.113 - Permission to place cremated human remains in a cemetery.
157.114 - Duty to provide for burials.
157.115 - Abandonment of cemeteries and cemetery lots.
157.123 - Columbaria maintained by religious associations.
157.125 - Trustees for the care of cemeteries or cemetery lots.
157.128 - Minimum acreage requirement for cemetery established on or after November 1, 1991.
157.129 - Minimum acreage of cemeteries; local ordinance.
157.19 - Deposit and investment of care funds and preneed trust funds.
157.50 - Municipal cemeteries.
157.60 - Public easement in cemetery.
157.62 - Reporting; record keeping; audits.