After a three-year period, the owner or manager of the cemetery may file a verified petition in the office of the county clerk, setting forth the facts relating to the abandonment. The petition may ask for an order of the superior court for abandonment.

At the time of filing the petition, the cemetery authority shall request a hearing of the petition. The superior court will fix the time for the hearing. Not less than sixty days before the time fixed for the hearing of the petition, notice and nature of the hearing shall be given to the owner of such unoccupied space.