How it works
A cemetery has two records jobs: keeping a complete record of every new burial and cremation, and bringing a century of paper, cards and old databases into one place. Cemetery Ledger handles both, and keeps everything permanently under your state’s retention rules.
Current records
Every burial and cremation gets one complete case file.
When a burial is booked or a body arrives for cremation, a case file opens. It gathers everything about that decedent in one place: the permit, the signed authorizations, the interment or the cremation log, the release of remains, and every scanned document.
A checklist shows what’s still missing, item by item: “Permit not scanned”, “No authorization”, “Remains not released, day 34”. Nothing is forgotten in a drawer.
When the checklist is complete, the case is finalized and locked. From then on, corrections are added beside the original with a reason and a second person’s approval, and documents can be added but never removed. If something genuinely can’t be obtained, an administrator records an exception with a written reason that stays with the case.
Burial
- Burial permit recorded
- Permit scan attached
- Name on permit matches the case
- Opening authorized and signed
- Interment recorded
- Owner or right of interment on record
Cremation
- Cremation permit recorded
- Permit scan attached
- Name on permit matches the case
- Medical examiner clearance noted
- Authorization signed
- Cremation recorded
- Remains released, with signature or delivery proof
Cremation, then burial here
- Cremation permit recorded
- Permit scan attached
- Name on permit matches the case
- Medical examiner clearance noted
- Authorization signed
- Cremation recorded
- Opening authorized and signed
- Interment of the cremated remains recorded
Disinterment
- Removal permit recorded
- Permit scan attached
- Name on permit matches the case
- Removal authorized and signed
- Disinterment recorded
The one outside record
The burial permit is captured, scanned and checked.
The burial, transit, cremation or removal permit is the only permanent record that comes from outside the cemetery, so it’s treated as one. The permit number, issuing registrar, date issued, medical examiner clearance and who received it from whom are all recorded, along with a scan of every page.
The name exactly as written on the permit is compared with the case. A mismatch is flagged before the case can be finalized, so spelling differences are resolved while the paperwork is still on the desk.
Interment record, 1924
Linked to Interments Vol. III, page 112
- Retention
- Permanent From the state cemetery law
- Storage
- Write-once Can’t be altered or deleted
- Copies
- Two regions A second copy, kept apart
- Integrity
- Checked quarterly Repaired from the copy if needed
Authorizations and releases
Families sign on screen, or you attach the signed form.
Cremation authorizations, grave-opening orders and releases of cremated remains can be signed on a tablet, phone or computer. The signer sees exactly what they’re agreeing to and consents to signing electronically first.
Each signature is kept with the signer’s name, relationship, the date and time, and the exact statement they signed. The image and the statement are fingerprinted and stored write-once, and the signature appears in the case timeline. Prefer paper? Scan the signed form instead; either one completes the checklist.
Releases record who received the remains, their relationship, how their identity was checked and who released them, or the carrier, tracking number and delivery confirmation when remains are mailed.
New interment
Owner on record for this space. All required fields complete.
Existing records
Bring in what you already have, three ways.
Bound ledgers and books
Scan page by page with the scanner you already have. Each page is fingerprinted and checked for blur, skew and missing pages. Handwriting is read for you; staff confirm each row, and a second person keys it independently before it locks.
Loose papers
Permits, deeds, authorizations and receipts are scanned in batches, one box or folder at a time, so you always know where each original lives. Each document is indexed by type, date and reference number and linked to the right person, grave or case. Matches are suggested by name, even misspelled; staff confirm every link, and permits and deeds get a second check.
Older databases and spreadsheets
Export a CSV from your old system and import it. Every source row is kept exactly as it was beside the new record. Duplicate source IDs are skipped, values that were guessed are flagged “inferred” until someone confirms them, and corrections are layered on top instead of replacing the source.
Watching “Scans” folder
New pages are picked up as the scanner saves them
- p.110 EVG-INT-V03-0110.tif stored
- p.111 EVG-INT-V03-0111.tif stored
- p.112 EVG-INT-V03-0112.tif stored
- p.113 EVG-INT-V03-0113.tif
Permanent storage
Kept for as long as the law says, and no less.
Every image, document and signature is fingerprinted when it’s captured, stored write-once, and copied to a second region. The fingerprints are re-checked on a schedule, and a damaged copy is restored from the other automatically. Each night a full copy of your data is exported into your own storage.
Nothing permanent can be deleted, by anyone. A record entered twice is voided with a reason: it stays on file, out of counts and search. Legal holds freeze any record, person, series or date range. Time-limited records are never destroyed automatically; they need review, two approvals and a certificate of destruction.
When the state asks, one click assembles an inspection pack: the records, the original pages and proof nothing has changed. Families can receive certified copies with a code anyone can check online.
New Jersey retention, built in
| Interments | Permanent |
| Cremains placements | Permanent |
| Spaces | Permanent |
| Ownership events | Permanent |
| Cremations | Permanent |
| Cremation authorizations | Permanent |
| Cremation releases | Permanent |
| Opening authorizations | Permanent |
| Witnessing | Permanent |
| Burial permits | Permanent |
| Monuments and foundations | Permanent |
| Retort maintenance | 7 years from event |
| Disinterments | Permanent |
| Maps | Permanent |
| Rules and regulations | Permanent |
| Trust documents | 7 years from event |
Your counsel can review every rule and citation before you rely on it. You can lengthen any period, never shorten it.
Your other software
Cases can open themselves.
If your office already uses scheduling, a check-in kiosk, a crematory tablet or a funeral home portal, those systems can open cases and add records through a secure API. They follow the same rules as the forms, so the checklist fills in as work happens and staff don’t retype anything. Each connection has its own key, limited to the records you allow, and every request is logged with the records it created.
See it with your own records.
Send us one page and one recent burial. We’ll take them from paper to a finalized, permanent case file on a thirty-minute call.
Questions about security? See how we protect your records.