Before beginning, browse the rest of the Cemlist resources for buying, selling, and transfer guidance.
The cemetery gets the first option
New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law Section 1513 gives the cemetery corporation a right of first refusal before a lot can be resold to anyone else. The owner has to offer the lot back to the cemetery in writing, by registered or certified mail, at the original purchase price plus 4% simple annual interest for the time the owner held it. The cemetery then has 30 days to accept that offer. If it declines, or the 30 days pass without an answer, the owner is free to sell to an outside buyer. A cemetery is allowed to voluntarily offer more than the statutory price-plus-interest formula, but it isn't required to buy the lot back at all.
Only vacant lots qualify
This resale path only applies to a vacant lot. Under the New York Department of State's Division of Cemeteries guidance, a lot is not vacant if there is even one interment on it - that holds even for a multi-grave lot that still has open space for additional burials. If your lot has any existing interment, this statute doesn't apply, and you'll need to ask the cemetery directly what your options are.
The state no longer reviews the sale
Before 2015, resale applications went through the state Cemetery Board for review. That requirement was removed, and the Division of Cemeteries' 2018 bulletin confirms cemeteries should not file lot transfer applications with the state anymore. The transaction is handled directly between the owner and the cemetery corporation, which is required to record the transfer in its own books.
Reselling for profit is restricted
New York law also makes it unlawful for a person, firm, or corporation to buy or sell a cemetery lot for the purpose of resale, with an exception for membership or religious corporations selling to their own members. This is a narrower allowance than the general resale market in states like California or Texas - New York's framework is built around an owner selling a lot they actually hold, offered to the cemetery first, not around open resale as an investment.
If you own a plot in New York
Confirm the lot is vacant, then send the cemetery a written offer at your purchase price plus 4% simple annual interest by registered or certified mail. Keep proof of that mailing - it's your evidence the right-of-first-refusal step was satisfied if the cemetery later disputes the sale. If the cemetery doesn't accept within 30 days, you can move forward with an outside buyer. For the general process, see how to sell a cemetery plot.
If you are buying in New York
Ask the seller for proof that the lot was properly offered to the cemetery first and that the cemetery either declined or let the 30-day window lapse. Confirm the lot is vacant - a lot with an existing interment doesn't qualify for this resale path at all, regardless of what a private seller tells you. For the general process, see how to buy a cemetery plot.
For how transfers generally work outside New York's specific rules, see cemetery plot transfer rules.