Dealing with the loss of a loved one
can be one of the worst things any of us have to face. The emotional
trauma is often made worse by the legal complexities that you have to deal
with.
All of this is aggravated when a
person goes missing, particularly in England and Wales. Under the law as it stands a person’s family has to wait
years before they can be presumed dead by the courts.
This means that there
cannot even begin to be closure until many years have passed. It also means
that all sorts of other issues from finances to new relationships are
effectively in no man's land. Mortgages linked to life policies cannot be paid
off.
Today’s Guardian highlights the case
of Manic Street Preachers’ Richey Edwards who went missing in 1995 but was not
declared dead by the court until 2008 –
His is a high profile case but many
family members have to go through a similarly painful and drawn out
process.
This is a law that has been crying
out for reform for decades. The proposals follow a report earlier this year
from a parliamentary committee which said –
"The evidence we
have heard from families faced with the problems of resolving these affairs is
overwhelming. The law needs to be changed.”
It is encouraging therefore that the
government has announced plans to introduce legislation which will make things
simpler. The plan is that it will be possible to obtain a Certificate of
Presumption of Death far earlier. The announcement does not actually say how
much earlier. In Scotland
it is possible to obtain such a certificate after seven years. Even this seems
to be too long and four years would probably suffice
This will not in any way ease the
pain and uncertainty suffered by loved ones but it will at least ease the
added burden of bureaucracy and uncertainty.
The fear is that matters will become
complicated if a person re-appears. But there should be a balance here. In
reality it is an extremely rare occurrence – in Scotland there has been one
re-appearance in over 30 years. If this is balanced against the hardship
suffered by families the case is really overwhelming.
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