Legal Question in Consumer Law in Pennsylvania

How to ge headstone made correctly

Dad died in 1972; Mom died last year. We are now ordering a double headstone to be erected over their graves.

Dad's flat marker had an incorrect year. During Mom's entire life she fought to have her first name, Ramona, spelled right. We made sure the funeral home had the correct spelling, but it was wrong in 1 out of 3 newspaper obits. It was also incorrect on the tall gold marker from the funeral home.

We want to be absolutely sure the granite company does this right. I have the contract in hand, plus a proposed drawing of the memorial; all the info is correct.

At the bottom of the contract is a statement that there will be a charge for any lettering done after the memorial has been erected in the cemetery. There is nothing that says if they make the mistake, they will pay for the correction.

With this long history of mistakes, is there anything we should or could do to protect ourselves beforehand?

Thanks for your time, and any help!


Asked on 8/13/08, 11:01 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
William Marvin Cohen, Placitella & Roth, P.C.

Re: How to ge headstone made correctly

Your concern is understandable. Here's the thing about printed contracts: they're not carved in stone. You can write in your conditions to say that the granite company will be responsible to fix any errors if the stone doesn't match the drawing. You and the salesman initial that. Before you put the money down, you have lots of leverage.

But the best protection in any situation like this is if you don't pay until you've approved the work. Or at least hold back part of the cost.

Headstone companies may want all or most of the money before they do the work -- they've probably been burned too often.

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Answered on 8/13/08, 11:41 am


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