Frequently Asked Questions

Grave – rights and obligations

Under which laws and regulations do cemeteries in Croatia fall under?
Natural or legal persons that manage the grave must act under the Cemeteries Act (the Official Gazette No. 19/1998 and dddd.) Zagreb Holding Ltd. – a subsidiary of the City cemetery company, acts according to the Cemeteries Act (the Official Gazette, number 19 from 1998) and the Decision on cemeteries (the Official Herald of Zagreb, number 16 from 1998).

Who is the owner of the tomb?
The owner of the plot of the burial site is the City of Zagreb. Natural persons may use the graves and own a tombstone (the headstone and the cover plate).

The difference between the rights of use and rights to a burial?
The rights of use fall into a wider category than the rights to a burial and they include the right to a burial, the right to use the grave and the right to decorate it. The user can relinquish the grave and sell the headstone device, cede the right to a burial to a third party and make all the decisions regarding the decoration of the grave. Also, without special authorisation from the user of the grave (if burial is not strictly forbidden), the spouse of the user, the parents of the user and all of their descendants and their spouses are buried in the grave.
The right to a burial can be individual or familial. The individual right to a burial means that the only person that can be buried in the grave is the person with valid documentation that grants him or her the right to a burial. The right to a burial with the family means that the family members of the user of the right to a burial can also be buried in the grave.

How can I cede the right to use the grave from the deceased person who has died recently to myself?
The right to use the grave is inherited in the probate proceeding after the person that is registered in the records as the user of the grave. If the probate proceeding is conducted and it is subsequently determined that the testator is the holder of the right to use the grave that was not stated during the proceedings, the right to use the grave is handled by a subsequent passing on and granting of the probate for that grave as subsequently obtained assets.

How can the grave be relinquished?
The right to use the grave is transferred by an agreement on the relinquishment of the rights of use. If there are more co-users and if this is not about the relinquishing of the rights of use between co-users, the transfer requires the consent of all co-users. The user can transfer the grave to a person that does not have the right to use another grave (or he or she does have it but it is full) in the City of Zagreb. The user can transfer the right to use the grave if he or she has another grave available for use on one of the cemeteries in the City of Zagreb, if multiple users (co-users) have the right to use the grave that is being cededd or if the user does not have a permanent residence in the City of Zagreb.

How many places are there in a grave?
In the cassettes, tombs for urns and tombs, there are as many places as is anticipated by the building permit. Common graves have three places, that is depths for the burial. With graves and tombs, it is possible to shift the deceased, which frees additional space for the burial. Urns that are buried in a grave or tomb are not considered to take up the overall space.

Who maintains and decorates the grave?
Maintaining and decorating the grave is the right and duty of the user. The grave fee is paid for the care of the common parts of the cemetery.

What does it mean for a grave to be abandoned?
The grave is considered abandoned if the grave fee has not been paid in 10 years. Upon the expiration of that period, the right of use and all the rights that are registered in the grave records are terminated. The fact that the grave was decorated, maintained and/or attended does not affect the termination of the rights of use.

What is the annual grave fee, the fee for the care of the grave?
The amount of the fee is determined by the Cemeteries Maintenance Department. The grave fee is paid annually for the care of the grave, which includes landscaping and care (not for individual graves), garbage collection, maintenance of roads and trails, water and sewage networks and the maintenance of facilities at the cemetery.