EA v NA

Under the Presumption of Death Act 2013, the High Court may make a declaration of presumed death where a missing person is thought to have died or has not been known to be alive for at least seven years. A spouse may establish jurisdiction by showing that the applicant is domiciled in England and Wales, or has been habitually resident there for the requisite period. Where death itself is not established but the seven-year absence condition is met, the presumed date of death is the end of the seven-year period beginning on the day after the person was last known to be alive.

The claimant, EA, applied for a declaration that her husband, NA, was presumed dead. She last saw or heard from him in December 2009 after he returned to Iraq. She received an unverified report that he had died, but no reliable details of the date or circumstances of death.

The claimant was domiciled in England and Wales and had been habitually resident there for the relevant period. She also complied with the advertising requirement under Part 57 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. The central issue was whether the statutory conditions for a declaration of presumed death were satisfied.

1. The court was satisfied that the claimant was the missing person's spouse, was domiciled in England and Wales when the application was issued, and had been habitually resident there throughout the preceding year. The jurisdictional requirement in section 1(4) of the Presumption of Death Act 2013 was therefore met.
2. The information that NA had died was insufficient to establish the fact or date of death. The report was anonymous and contained no details of where or when he had died.
3. The court was nevertheless satisfied under section 2(4) of the Presumption of Death Act 2013 that NA had not been known to be alive for at least seven years. The relevant period ran from 31 December 2009.
4. Where the seven-year absence condition is met but death is not otherwise established, the statute requires the presumed death to be dated at the end of the seven-year period beginning on the day after the person was last known to be alive. The court therefore declared NA presumed to have died on 1 January 2017.
5. The declaration sought by the claimant was granted.

First-instance decision. No prior or appellate decision is stated in the judgment.