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Matrimonial Causes Act 1973

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This is the original version (as it was originally enacted).

19Presumption of death and dissolution of marriage

(1)Any married person who alleges that reasonable grounds exist for supposing that the other party to the marriage is dead may, subject to subsection (2) below, present a petition to the court to have it presumed that the other party is dead and to have the marriage dissolved, and the court may, if satisfied that such reasonable grounds exist, grant a decree of presumption of death and dissolution of the marriage.

(2)A petition may be presented in pursuance of subsection (1) above—

(a)in any case, if the petitioner is domiciled in England and Wales; and

(b)in the case of a petition presented by a wife, if she is resident in England and Wales and has been ordinarily resident there for a period of three years immediately preceding the commencement of the proceedings.

(3)In any proceedings under this section the fact that for a period of seven years or more the other party to the marriage has been continually absent from the petitioner and the petitioner has no reason to believe that the other party has been living within that time shall be evidence that the other party is dead until the contrary is proved.

(4)Sections 1(5), 8 and 9 above shall apply to a petition and a decree under this section as they apply to a petition for divorce and a decree of divorce respectively.

(5)In determining for the purposes of this section whether a woman is domiciled in England and Wales, her husband shall be treated as having died immediately after the last occasion on which she knew or had reason to believe him to be living; and in any proceedings brought in pursuance of subsection (2)(b) above the issues shall be determined in accordance with the law which would be applicable thereto if both parties to the marriage were domiciled in England and Wales at the time of the proceedings.

(6)It is hereby declared that neither collusion nor any other conduct on the part of the petitioner which has at any time been a bar to relief in matrimonial proceedings constitutes a bar to the grant of a decree under this section.

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