8 Things Florida Cemeteries Can Remove From a Grave Without Telling the Family

Visiting a loved one’s grave often means bringing something that reminds you of them.

But Florida cemeteries set rules about what can stay, and families may not hear about them until something is gone.

Here’s what a few Florida cemeteries allow, and what they may remove without calling you first.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice, and cemetery rules are subject to change, so confirm the current rules with your cemetery’s office.

1. Shells and Decorative Rock

A seashell you carry from the beach is on the banned list in Lake Mary’s cemetery ordinance, along with rocks, stones and pebbles.

The ordinance says anything on that list placed on a grave site shall be removed at no risk to the city.

It also says decorations go on a grave site at the owner’s risk, and the city isn’t responsible for losing them.

It calls for no notice of violation before removal.

Oak Ridge Cemetery in Inverness doesn’t let you leave shells or crushed or decorative rock on interment spaces.

The city may remove any object in violation of its rules without notice.

2. Glass, Ceramic and Plastic Objects

Lake Mary’s cemetery ordinance says a glass, ceramic or plastic object left on a grave site shall be removed.

The same list covers toys, dolls and stuffed animals you might bring.

It also covers metal designs, frames and hangers, except on a temporary basis, and wood or metal boxes and cases.

Tampa’s cemetery rules prohibit items made of glass, tin or wood.

3. Chairs and Benches

Oak Ridge Cemetery in Inverness lists chairs among the decorative objects that can’t remain on interment spaces.

If you bring a chair to sit with a loved one, the city may remove it, no notice needed.

Lake Mary’s ordinance lists the chairs, settees, benches and tables you might place on a grave site among the items it orders removed.

4. Old and Discolored Flowers

Tampa’s cemetery department can remove flowers you leave on a grave at any time once they turn unsightly.

The city’s rules count removing old, dead or discolored flowers from grave spaces as part of its general care of the cemetery.

That covers artificial flowers too.

If you leave fresh flowers, Tampa’s rules set a five-day limit.

They call for removing and disposing of fresh flowers, and any arrangement not in the attached unit vase, five days after placement.

Lake Mary’s parks and recreation director removes flowers once, in the director’s judgment, they turn unsightly, dangerous, detrimental or diseased.

Florida National Cemetery is a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) cemetery in Sumter County.

The VA’s page for the cemetery says flowers will be removed when they become unsightly or when cemetery operations such as mowing make it necessary.

5. Unsightly or Dangerous Balloons

If you leave balloons on a grave in a Tampa city cemetery, the department's rules list them among the decorations it has authority to remove.

It can act as soon as, in its judgment, a decoration you leave has become unsightly, dangerous or diseased.

The rules also say the city isn't liable when the elements, thieves, vandals, maintenance operations or other causes beyond its control damage or remove decorations on a grave space.

6. Holiday Decorations

Lake Mary's cemetery ordinance lets you place decorations on a grave for a birthday, an anniversary, Easter, Memorial Day or Christmas up to seven days before the date.

It gives you seven days after the date to take them down.

After that, cemetery personnel remove what's left and dispose of it without notice.

If you leave a wreath up past New Year's Day, you've passed the window for Christmas.

Oak Ridge Cemetery in Inverness allows 30 days for seasonal and holiday decorations.

After that, its rules say, the city may remove them, or sooner because of condition or placement.

7. Fences and Borders

You can't fence in a lot at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Inverness.

Its rules allow no enclosures or barriers of any kind, including fencing, coping, scrollwork and hedges, live or artificial.

The city may remove any article in violation.

If you want to mark off a plot in Lake Mary, the ordinance prohibits fences, hedges, pipe, chains and raised enclosures on grave sites.

It doesn't permit curbs, coping or walls around a space either, so mowers and other equipment can pass freely.

Tampa's cemetery rules let the department remove and dispose of coping once it turns unsightly, dilapidated or a menace to safety.

8. Flags Past Seven Days

Lake Mary's cemetery ordinance allows one American flag, no larger than 13 by 8 inches, on a veteran's grave site on Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day.

Cemetery staff in Lake Mary remove any flag that remains on a grave site past seven days.

The ordinance says they don't need to give notice.

Small American flags, no larger than 6 by 4 inches, can go into floral arrangements you bring, all year.

The ordinance calls for destroying a faded or damaged flag in a dignified manner, under the federal law on respect for the flag.

What State Law Says

The city cemeteries in Lake Mary, Inverness and Tampa and the VA's Florida National Cemetery are examples, not every cemetery in the state.

Florida's funeral and cemetery law lets a cemetery company adopt bylaws regulating the activities conducted within its boundaries.

The state's licensing authority has to approve those bylaws before they take effect.

It can't approve any bylaw that unreasonably restricts the use of interment or burial rights.

Municipal cemeteries are exempt from the chapter's cemetery provisions, apart from a short list of sections.