Marriage, consensual union, civil partnership

Applying for a missing spouse to be declared dead

After the requirements have been met, a court may declare a missing spouse dead at the request of the other spouse

Notwithstanding the form of the marriage, any marriage is dissolved if a marital spouse dies or if a missing spouse is declared dead.

The municipal court in the territory of which the missing person last had permanent residence has jurisdiction to declare the missing person dead.

Requirements

A court will declare a person dead if:
  • There has been no information about the missing person in the period of five years from the application to the court, and the person was born 60 years ago
  • There has been no information about the missing person in the last five years and it is likely that they are no longer alive
  • They went missing in a shipwreck, aircraft or other traffic accident, fire, flood, avalanche, earthquake or another immediate situation of mortal danger, and there has been no information about the missing person for six months from the date when the danger passed
  • They went missing during a war in a situation related to the war, and there has been no information about the missing person for one year from the date when the conflict ended 

Procedure

Anyone with a legal interest can apply for a missing person to be declared dead—the missing person’s marital spouse, their children who want to divide the parent’s assets, their business partner who wants to separate their part of the assets from the missing person’s assets, etc.

For a missing person to be declared dead, you first need to draw up an application and provide facts and evidence on which you base your application.

You should then file this application with the municipal court, which will then check whether the missing person was appointed a receiver. If not, it will ask the competent authority to appoint a receiver.

Once the legal requirements have been met, the court will then publish a notification asking the missing person or any person in possession of any information about the missing person to step forward. Upon the expiry of the notification and after hearing the applicant and the receiver, the court will deliver its final decision on declaring the missing person dead to the competent registrar for the purpose of entry in the register of deaths.

Marriage dissolution

If the missing spouse is declared dead, the marriage is dissolved on the date which is determined as the date of death of the missing spouse in the final court decision.