Exhumation

Where burials or interments are concerned, there is a presumption of permanence. A faculty is required for the exhumation of human remains from consecrated ground and a good case will have to be made out to show why there should be a departure from the presumption of permanence. Every application will be carefully considered on its own particular facts and merits.

The church considers burial/interment as final and permanent. It follows that some fairly exceptional circumstances will be required to justify an exhumation - for example where a person has been buried in a grave which already reserved for another. In the 2019 case of Re St Andrew, Ham, the Southwark Consistory Court held that exceptional circumstances existed where a four month old child had died and the parents had subsequently moved to Tasmania in 1987.

The consistory courts have recently spoken of there being a "high hurdle" set for petitioners in order to demonstrate the exceptionality which would be required to justify an order for exhumation - see Re SMF (deceased) (2019).