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UNITED KINGDOM
Tsunami families in 'legal limbo'
Photo: Notices about the missing are plastered across walls in
the city hall.
Hundreds of Britons are missing, feared dead, so that death certificates cannot be issued and their assets are frozen. Several government departments are looking at whether "criteria necessary for proof of death" must be changed, the Foreign Office says. But insurers say life policies could still pay out without certificates. The relatives of some of the missing Britons are calling for a change in the law to allow interim death certificates to be issued. Without them, they say they will not be able to inherit their loved ones' assets or sell property belonging to them. However, insurers say life assurance policies can be still be paid out without certificates. Among those calling for a change is Kath Lloyd-Jones, 56, of Warwickshire. Her husband Barry, 68, has not been seen since the tsunami hit as the couple were having breakfast on a beach in Thailand on Boxing Day morning. She told BBC News: "It's hard coming to terms with the actuality of these events, particularly when you feel it's unnecessary. "The hardship of day-to-day living, the hardship of finances being tied up, the prospect of 'My God, am I going to die before all this is resolved?' - I call that pretty hard."
Photo: Barry Lloyd-Jones has not been seen since Boxing Day.
The seven-year rule is intended to stop people who deliberately go missing being absolved of their financial and legal responsibilities. It is possible for bereaved families to apply to have their relatives declared officially dead before the seven years have lapsed but each case would have to be considered individually by the probate court. The Foreign Office has confirmed the government is urgently looking into whether special arrangements could be made for the families of missing Britons, because of "exceptional circumstances" surrounding the disaster. |
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Government
officials are looking into the plight of Britons left in financial
and legal limbo after their relatives went missing in the Asian
tsunami. 
Officials
are examining the "criteria necessary for proof of death", a spokesman
said. The Home Office later issued a statement saying it was working
to establish "the quickest possible process" to enable the Foreign
Office register deaths overseas without a formal identification
process. It added that a key issue was to insure police could
"complete their investigations and establish whether, on the balance
of probabilities, an individual is dead". Meanwhile, insurance
companies have spoken out to dispel fears that bereaved families might
have problems claiming on their loved-ones' insurance policies without
death certificates. The Association of British Insurers, which has 400
members, said life assurance companies would not automatically require
a death certificate. Spokesman Malcolm Tarling said it was standard
practice to deal with claims, even without a body. He said: "They are
not going to say 'No death certificate, no claim.' "Where there is
reasonable evidence to suggest that the person is missing, presumed
dead, for example, someone was booked into a hotel which was badly
affected, then insurers will deal with the claim. 
"We
are keen to reassure people that whatever other problems there may be,
there should not be a problem with life insurance being paid." So far
51 Britons have been confirmed dead in the disaster, which struck
south-east Asia on Boxing Day. Of those still missing, 349 are people
who are known to have been in the areas struck by the tsunami, and
who, it is considered, would have made contact by now had they
survived. Another 568, many of them backpackers, are thought to have
been in the vicinity and have not been heard from since the disaster.
It is feared the bodies of many of those killed may never be found.
Others may eventually be identified by DNA testing among the thousands
of bodies of various nationalities left in the wake of the tsunami but
this is likely to take at least a year, officials have warned.
