Title IV: Absentees

When ten years have elapsed since the judgment which established the presumption of absence, either in accordance with the procedures set out in Article 112, or during one of the legal proceedings provided for in articles 217 and 219, 1426 and 1429, absence may be declared by the court at the request of any interested party or the public prosecutor. The same will apply when, in the absence of such…

Extracts of the application for a declaration of absence, after having been endorsed by the public prosecutor, shall be published in two newspapers circulated in the department or, where applicable, in the country of the domicile or last residence of the person who has remained without giving any news. The court to which the application is referred may also order any other publicity measure in any place where it deems…

As soon as the extracts have been published, the request is forwarded, via the public prosecutor, to the court, which rules on the basis of the exhibits and documents produced and having regard to the conditions of the disappearance, as well as the circumstances that may explain the lack of news. The court may order any additional measures of information and, if necessary, prescribe that an investigation be carried out…

The application initiating proceedings may be made as early as one year before the expiry of the time limits provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 122. The declaration of absence is made at least one year after publication of the extracts from this application. It establishes that the person presumed absent has not reappeared during the periods referred to in article 122.

The application for a declaration of absence is considered null and void if the absent person reappears or the date of his death is established, prior to the pronouncement of the judgment.

When the declaration of absence judgment is given, extracts from it are published in accordance with the procedures set out in Article 123, within the time limit set by the court. The decision is deemed null and void if it has not been published within this time limit. When the judgment has the force of res judicata, its operative part is transcribed at the request of the public prosecutor into…

The judgment declaring absence carries with it, from the time of transcription, all the effects that the established death of the absent person would have had. The measures taken for the administration of the property of the absent person, in accordance with Chapter I of this Title cease, unless otherwise decided by the court or, failing that, by the judge who ordered them. The spouse of the absent person may…

If the absent person reappears or if his existence is proven subsequent to the judgment declaring his absence, the annulment of this judgment may be pursued, at the request of the public prosecutor or any interested party. However, if the interested party intends to be represented, it may only do so by a lawyer regularly registered with the bar. The operative part of the annulment judgment shall be published without…

An absent person whose existence is judicially established recovers his property and that which he should have received during his absence in the state in which it is, the price of that which would have been alienated or property acquired by use of capital or income accruing to his benefit.

Any interested party who has caused a declaration of absence to be made by fraud shall be required to restore to the absent person whose existence is judicially established the income from the property of which he or she has had the enjoyment and to pay him or her the legal interest from the day of collection, without prejudice, where applicable, to additional damages. If the fraud is attributable to…