Parochial Fees Order 1991

Made (Sealed by the Church Commissioners): 18th July 1991

Laid before the General Synod in draft

Laid before Parliament: 26th July 1991

Coming into force: 1st January 1992

The Church Commissioners for England, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 1 of the Ecclesiastical Fees Measure 1986[^f00001], hereby make the following Order, a draft of which has been approved by the General Synod in accordance with section 2(1) of the said Measure:–

1

The table of Parochial Fees set forth in the Schedule to this Order is hereby established and contains particulars of the parochial fees which, subject to the provisions of section 3 of the said Measure, are to be payable to the persons therein named in relation to the respective matters therein specified.

2

In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires –

• “burial” includes burial in a vault and the interment or deposit of cremated remains;

• “chancellor” means the judge of the consistory or commissary court of the bishop or archbishop of the diocese;

• “incumbent” means the incumbent of any benefice as defined by the Interpretation Measure 1925[^f00002];

• “churchyard” includes the curtilage of a church and a burial ground of a church whether or not immediately adjoining such church;

• “cemetery” means a burial ground maintained by a Burial Authority;

• “monument” includes headstones, crosses, kerbs, borders, vases, chains, railings, tablets, flatstones, tombstones or monuments or tombs of any other kind.

3

The Parochial Fees Order 1990[^f00003] is hereby revoked.

4

This Order may be cited as the Parochial Fees Order 1991, and shall come into operation on the 1st of January 1992.

SCHEDULE — TABLE OF PAROCHIAL FEES

PART I

BAPTISMS

Certificate issued at time of baptism

MARRIAGES

FUNERALS AND BURIALS

MONUMENTS IN CHURCHYARDS

SEARCHES IN CHURCH REGISTERS, ETC

PART II

Burial of still-born infant

1

No fee is payable in respect of the burial of a still-born infant, or for the funeral or burial of an infant dying within the neo-natal period of 28 days after birth.

Cremated remains in churches or closed churchyards

2

Where cremated remains are buried in or under a church or in a closed churchyard, the fees payable to the incumbent and the parochial church council are:

• (i) where burial is authorised by a general faculty, the same as those laid down in Part I of this table for burial in a churchyard;

• (ii) where burial is authorised by a particular faculty, such sums as may be determined by the chancellor.

Monuments in churchyards

3

The fees marked[^f00005] include fees for the original inscription. Where a monument in a churchyard is erected or an additional inscription on a monument is made under the authority of a particular faculty the fees payable to the incumbent and the parochial church council or either of them shall be such sums as may be determined by the chancellor who shall specify the persons entitled to receive them.

Monuments in churches

4

Where a faculty is granted in connection with the erection of a monument or tablet in a church or any additional inscription thereon, the fees payable to the incumbent and the parochial church council or either of them shall be determined by the chancellor who shall specify the persons entitled to receive them.

The incumbent’s fees

5

Unless the incumbent has signed a Deed of Assignment in favour of the Diocesan Board of Finance he may direct either generally or in particular cases that all or part of any fee which would otherwise be payable to him shall be payable to the minister performing the service or duty.

Reservation of grave space: vaults

6

Payment of any of the fees prescribed by this table does not confer any right to construct a new vault or an exclusive right to a grave or vault. Where a faculty is granted conferring rights for a period specified in the faculty, the fees payable to the incumbent and the parochial church council or either of them shall be determined by the chancellor who shall specify the persons entitled to receive them.

Searches in Church registers, etc

7

The search fee relates to a `particular search' where the approximate date of the baptism, marriage or burial is known. The fee for a more general search of a church register would be negotiable with the incumbent and the parochial church council.

Signed

P. J. C. Mawer — Secretary General

The COMMON SEAL of the Church Commissioners was hereunto affixed this 18th day July 1991

J. E. Shelley — Secretary

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Article 1 and the Schedule establish a new table of fees payable for certain matters in connection with baptisms, marriages and burials, for the erection of monuments in churchyards and for other miscellaneous matters. The fees are in substitution for fees prescribed by the Parochial Fees Order 1990.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 1986 No. 2.

[^f00002]: 1925 No. 1 (15 &16 Geo. 5.)

[^f00003]: S.I. 1990/1441.

[^f00004]: 1961 No. 2 (9 & 10 Eliz. 2).

[^f00005]: See PART II para. 3.

[^f00006]: 1836 c. 71.