Declaration of death in absentia

1. When can a court declare a person dead?

• If there is no information about the person's whereabouts at the place of permanent residence for 3 years.
• If a person has gone missing under circumstances that threatened his or her death or give grounds to assume his or her death as a result of a certain accident, an application may be filed with the court 6 months after the date of disappearance.
• If the person could have died as a result of an emergency of a man-made or natural nature, the application can be filed 1 month after the completion of the work of the special commission that investigated these circumstances.

2. Where to submit the application?

• An application for declaring a person dead is filed with a court:
• at the applicant's place of residence;
• at the last known place of residence or stay of the missing person;
• at the location of the person's property.

3. What should be indicated in the application?

• The purpose of declaring the person dead (e.g., inheritance, termination of obligations, receipt of a pension by dependents).
• Circumstances that threatened the person's life or give grounds to assume his or her death (e.g., military operations, disasters, accidents, terrorist acts, accidents, etc.)

4. What happens after a court decision is made?

• After the court decision enters into force, the court sends the decision independently
• to the civil registry office - to register the death of the person and issue a death certificate;
• to the notary at the place of opening the inheritance - for registration of inheritance rights;
• to a local government body (if there is no notary in the locality) - to take measures to protect the inherited property.

Important! If a person who has been declared dead appears, he or she has the right to apply to the court to cancel the decision and return the property that has not been alienated to other persons on a paid basis.