Presumption of Death Act 2013

Presumption of Death Act 2013

2013 CHAPTER 13

Commentary on Sections

Schedule 1 Register of Presumed Deaths

Searches and certified copies (paragraph 3) and Proof of death (paragraph 4)

62. Paragraph 3(1) extends the right to search the index of registers of deaths to include the entries made in it in relation to presumed deaths in accordance with paragraph 1(2)(b). Paragraph 3(2) confers a general entitlement to a certified copy of an entry in the Register of Presumed Deaths, but the Registrar General can (other than in circumstances prescribed in regulations made by the Secretary of State) refuse to provide a certified copy until the prescribed fee is paid (paragraph 6(2) and (3)). Paragraph 3(3) and (4) ensure that certified copies must be sealed or stamped with the seal of the General Register Office and that they will otherwise have no force or effect. If they purport to be so sealed or stamped they are to be accepted as proof of death (paragraph 4).

63. Paragraph 3(5) applies section 34(5) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 in relation to a copy of an entry in the Register of Presumed Deaths as it applies in relation to a copy of an entry in a register made under the 1953 Act. Section 34(5) of the 1953 Act provides that:

“(5) A certified copy of an entry in a register or in a certified copy of a register shall be deemed to be a true copy notwithstanding that it is made on a form different from that on which the original entry was made if any differences in the column headings under which the particulars appear in the original entry and the copy respectively are differences of form only and not of substance.”