Presumed Dead
You might presume that all the officials in the Department of Finance and Personnel are number crunchers but some of them have to wrestle with problems which require more than a pocket calculator to resolve.
Today DFP officials briefed the Finance Committee on the Presumption of Death Bill, which is at an advanced stage of drafting. The bill follows representations from the families of those who disappeared during the troubles who have not been able to get death certificates for their loved ones leaving them in a state of legal limbo.
Following the precedent of a 30 year old Scottish law the officials are now preparing a bill which will not just provide the families of the disappeared with some solace but should also apply to cases of other missing people in the future.
In cases where there is compelling evidence to suggest someone has died, or the missing person has not been heard from for seven years, family members will be able to ask a court to declare the person to be presumed dead.
But what if someone comes back from the dead? The officials told the committee that in Scotland, where four or five declarations are made each year, that has only happened once in thirty years.
There are a few potential dilemmas. What happens if one family member wants someone declared dead but others are clinging on to the hope that they will return? And what happens to the property which has been passed on to your nearest and dearest if you resurface?
As things stand it's proposed the missing person will forfeit their estate if they don't reappear within five years of being declared dead. But then if you have just achieved resurrection it may be that you won't be too worried about what happened to your old record collection.
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In India, for all sorts of reasons that don't apply here, there is actually a serious issue about people being declared dead by the courts (usually someone richer and with access to lawyers wants to get their hands on the land of someone poor and illiterate), and then having to prove they're really alive. Apparently it is the ultimate Kafka novel nightmare if you get declared legally dead.