A mix-up at a Newfoundland cemetery has a woman seeking legal action to have a casket removed from the plot where she was set to be buried next to her husband.

I did it their way, so now I figured I'd do it my way. - Florence Chaffey

Florence Chaffey's husband died a year and a half ago at the age of 66, and was buried in a two-person plot in the Milton-George's Brook All Denomination Cemetery.

Last June, Chaffey had a headstone installed over the grave, but later learned through chatting with friends that someone else had been buried right below the portion of the marker where she planned to be laid to rest next to her late husband.

"Someone noticed that another guy that passed away was also buried in my plot," she told the St. John's Morning Show.

Maurice Chaffey was buried in this plot in 2016, and his wife Florence was supposed to be buried next to him. But now she's fighting to have another man's casket removed from her spot. (Submitted by the Chaffey family)

Chaffey immediately called the cemetery committee, which confirmed someone else was indeed buried in Chaffey's spot, and the committee told her they would sort it out within a few months.

They didn't know where they had to dig to, so I guess they just took a guess at it. - Florence Chaffey

After several months and no action, Chaffey finally got a meeting with the funeral home and the son of the deceased man that's lying in her plot.

It was during that meeting that Chaffey was given a photo of the grave site, which showed the pegs marking out her plot had been moved and that's why another man was buried there.

"I heard after that the guys that came to dig this guy's grave knocked all the pegs down before the dug the grave, and they never put them back up," she said.

"They didn't know where they had to dig to, so I guess they just took a guess at it and dug where they thought was the right place."

Grave mistake

Now 10 months later, the man's casket is still in Chaffey's plot and no one seems to be offering a solution.

David Tilley, the treasurer of the cemetery committee, said the issue with getting the body moved is with the family of the man who was mistakenly buried in Chaffey's plot.

Less than two years since her husband's funeral, Florence Chaffey is fighting to get another man's body out of the plot that was reserved for her. (CBC File)

Tilley said Fewer's Funeral Home was willing to exhume the body and put it in the right place, free of charge, but the family of the man wouldn't cooperate.

"All of this could have been avoided if they had just signed the paper," he said.

"But the family didn't agree to that. Therefore the other woman, who's the victim in all of this, she wants to be buried next to her husband and can't be because this other gentleman is there."

Not giving up

With no resolution, Chaffey is looking into legal action. She doesn't understand why the family won't just give the funeral home clearance to move the body to the place it's supposed to be buried.

"I always thought that the first one buried in a plot stayed there and if they buried anyone else there they would have to bring them back up," she said.