Westminster Coroner’s Office

Horseferry Road

London

SW1P 2ED

Westminster Coroner’s Office

RE: Death in Absentia

Dear Mr James,

Thank you for your enquiry. To clarify, death in absentia, or presumption of death, is a legal declaration that a person is deceased in the absence of remains attributable to that person. This declaration is typically made when a person has been missing for an extended period of time without any evidence that the person is still alive, or when the circumstances surrounding a person’s disappearance overwhelmingly support the belief that the person has died.

In most common law and civil code jurisdictions, it is usually necessary to obtain a court order directing the registrar to issue a death certificate in the absence of a physician’s certification that an identified individual has died. However, if there is circumstantial evidence that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the individual is deceased on the balance of probabilities, jurisdictions may agree to issue death certificates without any such order.

If there is not sufficient evidence that death has taken place, it may take somewhat longer, as absence does not necessarily prove death. In England and Wales, if it is believed that there should be an inquest, a local coroner, such as Westminster Coroner’s Office for instance, will file a report. This may be done to help a family receive a death certificate that will bring some closure. It can also bring any suspicious circumstances into light. The coroner will then apply to the Secretary of State for Justice, under the Coroner’s Act 1988 Section 15, for an inquest with no body. The seven years rule will only apply in the High Court of Justice on the settlement of an estate. Without a body an inquest relies mostly on evidence provided by the police and whether the senior officers believe the missing person is dead.

If there is not sufficient evidence that death has taken place, it may take somewhat longer, as absence does not necessarily prove death. In England and Wales, if it is believed that there should be an inquest, a local coroner, such as Westminster Coroner’s Office for instance, will file a report. This may be done to help a family receive a death certificate that will bring some closure. This will bring any suspicious circumstances into light. The coroner will then XXxxxxxxxxxxXX77

Notes

77. Note to reader: For legal reasons, including xxxx xxx xxxxxx the remainder of this letter has been redacted – Anonymous.