French Civil Code

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…

The marriage of the absent person remains dissolved, even if the judgment declaring the absence has been annulled.