Have you ever thought how you would cope financially without your partner? Marriage brings the security of your partner’s assets passing directly to you upon their death. (Unless otherwise stated in a Will) But what happens to a loved one's affairs if that person goes missing?
Currently, The Presumption of Death Act 2013 requires you to wait seven years, or provide proof that the person has died before you can apply for the declaration of presumed death.
Although seven years is long enough to ascertain that someone really has left their life behind them, it has been criticised as being too long for the families left dealing with the deceased’s affairs.
Furthermore, if a person has an appointed power of attorney, this becomes void as nobody has the legal authority to manage a missing person's affairs.
As this is a very serious matter, the courts will only grant the declaration of presumed death with solid evidence, but once they have, it allows for a grant of probate, and even dissolution of marriages.
In order to apply for this, you must:
- Provide details of both the applicant, and the missing person,
- Provide details surrounding how they disappeared,
- What efforts you've made to find them,
- Details of their estate,
- Details of anyone else who may be interested.
You must also advertise the event in at least one newspaper local to the missing person's last known address.
This will then be put up for a Court hearing, where the next steps will be advised. Eg. Further proof.
The decision will be made by taking into account the balance of probabilities; the civil standard of proof.
The declaration may be opposed by anyone by submitting a notice of intervention, or, if the missing person returns. In this instance, the missing person would apply for the declaration to be revoked by the High Court.
In April 2017, the Guardianship (Missing Persons) Act 2017 was passed which has been designed to work alongside the current Act.
It will allow a guardian to be appointed to handle the missing person's affairs for a renewable period of up to four years.
It also takes into account the lengthy seven year wait and, allows the applicants to apply for a Guardianship Order, this means they will only have to wait at least 90 days before they can assume control.
Although the Presumption of Death Act 2013 made way for people to eventually deal with a missing person's affairs, the new act allows the management of this whilst waiting the seven years to finalise the estate.
