Declaration of death in absentia

 When a person can be declared legally dead by a court:

- if there is no information about the person's place of residence within three years at the person's place of permanent residence; 

- if the person went missing due to circumstances that threatened his life or gave cause to believe he died in an accident, then an application to the court to declare him dead can be made after six months of the person's absence;

- one month after the special commission established in response to man-made and natural emergencies has finished its work, a request may be made to the court if it is possible to consider a natural person as having died as a result of a specific accident or other circumstances as a result of those emergencies.

Which court should you apply to?:

- at the applicant's place of residence;

- at the person's last known location (stay), if that person's whereabouts are unknown.

- or by the location of the property.

What should be stated in the application:

- why the applicant needs to declare a person dead; 

- circumstances that threatened the death of a natural person who went missing, or circumstances that give reason to believe his death was caused by a specific accident.

After the decision to declare a natural person dead enters into force, the court sends the decision independently to:

- the appropriate body of the State Social Security Administration for registration of an individual's death; 

- as well as the notary at the place of inheritance opening. If the settlement lacks a notary, the relevant local self-government body must take steps to protect inherited property.