State Supreme Court Ponders Burial Property Rights

How much freedom do you have on your own property? The Connecticut Supreme Court is hearing a case on whether someone can be buried on their private land. 

Depending on how the court rules, an 82-year-old woman may have to dig up the remains of her husband, who died eight years ago.

According to the Associated Press, Elise Piquet was in a bind in 2004. Her husband had just passed away and the cemeteries in Chester, a small town in Middlesex County, were full.  So she had her husband buried on her 11-acre property.

The Associated Press said the town’s zoning board issued a cease and desist letter because there was no local law permitting a burial on one’s property. She refused to comply with the town's order.