The Presumption of Death Act 2013 in practice

The Presumption of Death Act 2013 (the 2013 Act) is an important tool which empowers the court to impose legal certainty on inherently uncertain and distressing circumstances for those involved. Although not frequently called upon, the 2013 Act raises important practical and procedural considerations for practitioners and has recently generated two short but helpful reported decisions: Re Irish [2019] EWHC 2508 (Ch) and Re AB [2019] EWHC 2785 (Ch). This article focuses on the latter.