§ 64.1-111. Grant of order; effect
A. If the evidence at the hearing required by § 64.1-110 shows the length of absence to be 10 years or more or if within the period of two weeks after publication of the order on the hearing aforesaid evidence satisfactory to the court of the continuance in life of the supposed decedent shall not be forthcoming, the court shall enter its order determining that the supposed decedent is in fact dead and proceed to admit any will to probate or issue letters of administration to the party entitled thereto or order that the claim of the heirs at law, devisees, next of kin, legatees, beneficiaries, survivors, or other successors in interest of the person presumed dead be established, as the case may be, and until the order is revoked, all acts done in pursuance thereof and in reliance thereon, shall be as valid as if the supposed decedent were really dead.
B. The court's order determining a person to be dead shall state the person's date of death to be:
1. The date of the expiration of the seven-year period in a proceeding governed by subsection A of § 64.1-105, except that in a proceeding governed by clause (iii) of subsection A of § 64.1-105 it shall be the date of the Department of State's issuance of a report of presumptive death unless the evidence shows the likelihood of death at an earlier date;
2. The date of the person's exposure to the specific peril of death in a proceeding governed by subsection B of § 64.1-105; or
3. The date of the person's disappearance in a proceeding governed by subsection C of § 64.1-105.
C. A certified copy of the court's order determining that the supposed decedent is in fact dead shall be accepted as proof of death in all situations in which a certificate of death issued by the State Registrar of Vital Records of the Virginia Department of Health would have been accepted as such proof.
(Code 1950, § 64-107; 1968, c. 656; 2006, c. 351.)
Sections: Previous 64.1-105 64.1-105.1 64.1-106 64.1-106.1 64.1-107 64.1-108 64.1-109 64.1-110 64.1-111 64.1-112 64.1-113 64.1-114 64.1-115 NextLast modified: April 16, 2009