Bench & Bar September/October 2026

with a “ghostly hobby.” 22 Dr. Lesh showed John a video of Sally’s poltergeist: Sally is desolate and unable to reach the spectral light. 23 John seeks your legal help. You agree to represent John, as the lot owner. You sue Mr. Teague for civil trespass to Sally’s grave, seeking injunctive relief and damages. Regardless of our feelings on poltergeists, as we end this visit to the outskirts of the prop erty law canon we can agree on two things: John would likely prevail in his lawsuit and that victory might also pacify a poltergeist named Sally. 24

ENDNOTES

1 Let us pretend that the land involved in Polter geist (1982) is in Fictional, Kentucky and owned and developed by Mr. Teague, in his personal capacity. Poltergeist , streaming video, Met ro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1982)(1:20:18- 1:20:31). 2 Poltergeist arguably depicts a classic haunting and a poltergeist intrusion. Poltergeist , supra note 1, at 00:51:15- 00:52:05 (Dr. Lesh explains that poltergeists are associated with people and hauntings tied to an area). 3 Poltergeist , supra note 1, at 01:25:45- 01:25:47. 4 Brunton v. Roberts , 97 S.W.2d 413 (1936). 5 Id . 6 Hertle v. Riddell , 106 S.W. 282 (Ky. 1907). 7 See, e.g., Louisville Cemetery Ass’n v. Downs , 45 S.W.2d 5 (Ky. 1931)(trespass can be had for an unwarranted interference with the grave of a deceased, or for the infliction of an injury to a corpse). 8 R. B. Tyler Co. v. Kinser , 346 S.W.2d 306 (Ky. 1961). 9 Louisville Cemetery Ass’n v. Shauntee , 376 S.W.2d 533 (Ky. 1964). 10 Hertle , supra note 6. 11 Louisville Cemetery Ass’n , supra note 7. 12 R. B. Tyler Co. , supra note 8. 13 This comment cursorily discusses the rights of a lot purchaser for their spouse’s grave. Espe cially important, for cases where the decedent is the lot purchaser, the right to burial can be inherited. Fraser v. Tenney , 987 S.W.2d 796 (Ky. App. 1998). Let this be another warning and in vitation to learn about the peculiarities of this region of the property law canon. 14 Fergerson v. Utilities Elkhorn Coal Co. , 313 S.W.2d 395 (Ky. 1958).

15 See, e.g., Hertle , supra note 6. 16 Cemetery owners have a duty to protect burial grounds from desecration. Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 381.697 (WEST). 17 Louisville Cemetery Ass’n , supra note 7. 18 The cemetery name used in this comment re prises the name of Mr. Teague’s suburb, the Cuesta Verde Estates. 19 Poltergeist , supra note 1, at 1:19:55-57 (Teague’s firm owned and developed a 300-acre cemetery into a suburb). 20 Id . at 1:19:55– 1:21:05. (Teague boasts about quietly relocating the Cuesta Verde Cemetery). 21 Id . at 01:57:24- 01:57:38 (Freeling, yelling, as coffins erupt from his front lawn, “[Teague] you moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies, didn’t ya? [Teague], you left the bodies and you only moved the headstones! Why? Why?”). 22 Id . at 01:01:00- 01:01:07 (Dr. Lesh is a self-de scribed “professional psychologist” with a “ghostly hobby”). 23 Id . at 01:13:05- 1:14:06 (video of poltergeist pro cessional); Id . at 01:26:30- 1:27:08 (inside the light is salvation). 24 Relief might include (1) restoration of Sally’s grave or (2) damages for John’s mental anguish and emotional distress at learning how Sally’s grave and remains were (mis)treated and (3) punitive damages for Mr. Teague’s intentional destruction of graves, and the lengths he took to conceal it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

NEALY R. WIL LIAMS serves as the legal director for the Monuments Workshop at the University of Ken

tucky, leveraging her experience supporting clients across both transactional and liti gation practices to help produce solutions to monument conflicts. She also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Kentucky Rosenberg College of Law. Nealy earned her J.D. from the University of Ken tucky and holds a B.A. in sociology from Brown University.

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