Missing and Presumed Dead

[jann]

Hi,

It is possible, now, to have a person legally declared dead if he/she has not been seen or heard from for a specified number of years. 

Was that possible in 18th and 19th century England ?  If so, what was the process ?and the time frame?

Jann

[carol8353]

I don't know what the rules are now?

But certainly during WW1 if a man did not return home after 7 years he could be legally declared dead and the wife could remarry.

[CaroleW]

As far as I am aware - it was and still is 7 years unless there is a major disaster involved

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090310024541AARsKGg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_in_absentia

http://www.diyspy.co.uk/whenisamissingpersonpresumeddead.html

[jann]

Thank you for the links.  Very interesting reading.

Jann

[Pamela.Ebrey]

I had an interesting conversation with a coroner once who had just returned from a trip where had had to officially declare someone as being actually dead. The interesting bit was that the person in question was just a pile of bones that had been found during some construction work and they had evidently been there a very long time. He still had to make it official though by taking a look and saying, "yep... They're dead"!

[GrahamSimons]

Relevant link: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/justice-committee/news/publication-of-presumption-of-death-report/

I have info on a Scottish case of 1907 where the family had to distribute an intestate estate and two cousins had disappeared, one in Australia and one in Canada/US. There needed to be evidence presented to the Court of Session that efforts had been made to locate the missing men, including newspaper ads: attached.

Current Scottish law: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/27/contents

[GaylePJ]

I have a question about the other side of this issue as it pertains to English law in the 1800's. What if the presumed dead person shows up some years after they supposedly drowned and were declared dead after a coroner's inquest? I know that "death" has made them no longer married to their spouse and that the spouse is able to remarry. If the "dead" person (who is now not dead) can be declared alive, does that restore the former marriage? Does the reappearance of the first spouse negate the second marriage? I've been looking all over the internet for something to answer the question and have only found information about the law as it pertains to declaring someone dead, but not what happens if they show up years later and want to reclaim their former life. Where would the law have stood on this?