How do we write an HOA policy for memorial benches, trees and other donated items?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 30, 2026

How to write an HOA memorial bench and tree donation policy: what to accept, placement, plaques, who pays for upkeep, digging rules and when items come out.

Part of the HOA board handbook: running the board.

Write the policy before the first request arrives

Memorial requests come at the worst time. A longtime owner dies, the family asks for a bench by the pond, and five directors have to decide on the spot while everyone is grieving. Say yes without terms and you have made a promise nobody wrote down. Say no and you look heartless. A one-page policy adopted by board resolution solves this. It lists what the association will accept, where items can go, who pays for what, what a plaque may say, and what happens when the bench rots or the tree dies. Then the answer to the family is the same answer every family got, and the board's job is to check the application against the policy. This guide covers the policy itself. Our guide on whether an HOA can accept donations or run a fundraiser covers where the money goes, the tax return and why the gift is not deductible for the donor. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, so read this as general education, not legal advice.

Decide what you accept and where it can go

Start with a short approved list. Most boards take benches, trees and small plaques on existing features, and send anything bigger, such as a gazebo, a fountain, a flagpole or playground equipment, to a separate board decision. Pick one bench model and one finish so the common area does not end up with six styles. For trees, pick a few species from the list your landscaper or an arborist recommends for your soil and climate. Then walk the property and mark the allowed spots on a site map. Keep them off sidewalks and accessible routes, out of mowing and irrigation lines, clear of drainage swales, and away from corners where a trunk will block drivers' sight lines in ten years. Cap the number. A fixed set of locations stops the path around the pond from turning into a cemetery row. Check the declaration before you adopt the list. In a Florida condominium, section 718.113(2)(a) of the Florida Statutes requires approval by 75 percent of the total voting interests for material alterations or substantial additions to the common elements when the declaration does not set its own procedure. A bench on an existing slab usually is not a material alteration. A new pavilion might be. HOA declarations often have their own limits on improvements, and the board should know them before it promises anything.

Who pays, and what the gift has to cover

The donor pays the full installed cost: the item, delivery, the footing or planting, the plaque and the contractor's labor. Set the price each year from your vendor's quote for the standard bench and the standard tree, and publish it with the application so nobody has to negotiate with a grieving family. The association then owns the item, insures it and maintains it with ordinary operating money. Some boards also ask for a maintenance contribution on top of the installed price. That is reasonable for anything with a real upkeep cost, such as a wood bench that needs refinishing, but say plainly in the policy that the contribution goes into the general budget and does not create a separate fund the donor controls. Every accepted item adds a small permanent line to the budget, so add it to the maintenance schedule and tell your reserve study provider at the next update. If a tree is part of the program, fold new plantings into the care plan in our guide on planning a tree maintenance program.

Nobody digs until the utility lines are marked

A bench footing or a tree hole on common area is the association's excavation, and the state one-call law usually reaches it. In Texas, Utilities Code section 251.151 requires notice to the notification center at least 48 hours before excavation begins, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. Texas defines excavation in section 251.002 as mechanized digging to a depth of 16 inches or more, which covers an auger or a mini excavator but not a crew with shovels. In Florida, section 556.105 requires notice through Sunshine 811 at least 2 full business days before excavation. The homeowner exemption in section 556.108 covers only the owner of a single-family residential property digging to 10 inches, so it does not cover the association's common area. In Colorado, section 9-1.5-103 requires notice at least two business days before excavating, not counting the day of notice, and section 9-1.5-102 counts postholing and digging with any tools. Its exclusion for routine maintenance of existing planted landscapes does not cover a new tree. The policy should say that only the association's contractor installs donated items, after the locate request, and that donors and volunteers do not dig on common area.

Plaques, wording and ashes

Standardize the plaque: one size, one material, one font, mounted on the bench back or on a small ground marker at the tree. Limit the text to a name, years and one short line, and make the board's approval of the wording part of the application. That keeps out inside jokes, business names and messages aimed at neighbors, and it means the board applies one rule instead of judging each family's taste. Put the term in writing. A plaque stays as long as the item it is attached to, not forever. Families also ask about scattering ashes under the memorial tree. Decide the answer in the policy so a director is not improvising at the door. State law on scattering varies. California's Health and Safety Code section 7116 requires the written permission of the property owner or governing agency before remains are scattered on private property, and on common area the association is that owner. Many boards say no to scattering and burial on common area, because the ground may be dug up later for a pipe or a new path.

Plan for the end of the bench's life

This is the clause most policies leave out and every board eventually needs. Benches split, trees die in a drought, vandals pry off plaques, and a future board may regrade the pond path. Say that the association may repair, move or remove any donated item when it is damaged, unsafe, dead or in the way of a common area project. Say that it will try to notify the donor at the last contact information on file and offer the plaque back. Say that the association has no duty to replace the item at its own cost, and that the donor may pay for a replacement at the current price. For trees, name a warranty window: if the tree dies in its first year, check whether the nursery or landscaper warranty covers a replacement before the association spends anything. Keep a simple inventory with the item, location, install date, donor contact and plaque text so a board ten years from now knows what it inherited.

Language the board can adopt

Motion: 'I move that the board adopt the Memorial and Donated Items Policy as presented, effective [date], and that the manager or secretary publish the application, the site map and the current installed prices to all owners.' Policy paragraph: 'The association accepts donated benches and trees only from the approved list and only at locations shown on the site map. The donor pays the full installed price set by the board each year. On installation, the item becomes association property, and the association maintains it. The association may repair, relocate or remove a donated item that is damaged, unsafe, dead or in the way of a common area project. It will try to notify the donor and return any plaque, and it has no obligation to replace the item.' Reply to a request: 'Thank you for asking. The association has a standard memorial program. The attached application lists the available locations, the installed price and the plaque format. The board reviews complete applications at its next regular meeting.'

A sample request timeline and the mistakes to avoid

Day 1: the family submits the application with the plaque text and a preferred location. By the next regular meeting, usually within 30 days, the board approves or offers a different spot, and the approval goes in the minutes. After payment, the contractor orders the bench or tree and files the locate request. Installation follows once the lines are marked, and the secretary adds the item to the inventory the same week. Trees go in during your planting season, so a request in July may wait until fall. The common mistakes are predictable. A director says yes at the funeral reception before the board has voted. The board accepts a bench but never budgets to maintain it. A volunteer plants a tree without a locate request and hits an irrigation line or worse. The plaque promises 'in perpetuity' and a later board has to break that promise in public. And one popular family gets a spot the policy does not allow, which every later family will cite. Adopt the policy, apply it the same way each time, and a sad conversation stays a short one.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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