Relatives of those who go missing should be given extra powers to prevent their financial affairs running out of control, according to the justice minister, Lord Faulks QC.
Although the government has run out of time to deliver the reforms before the election, the Ministry of Justice is promising to support legislation in the next parliament to help families cope with the uncertainty and confusion caused by disappearances.
The powers envisaged would enable relatives to intervene and safeguard their loved ones’ assets by, for example, suspending direct debits for mobile phone or utility bills and making mortgage payments so that homes are not forfeited.
Faulks said: “When someone suddenly disappears, their affairs can be thrown into disarray, adding to the distress and emotional heartbreak experienced by family members.
“[These] measures will give legal powers to families, allowing them to take charge of their missing family member’s property and financial affairs.”
The proposals were developed by the MoJ with the help of the charity Missing People. Susannah Drury, the director of policy for Missing People, said: “These families have been powerless to stop the lives that they hope their missing loved ones will return to from falling apart.
“Imagine the heartache you’d feel if someone you loved went missing. Now imagine watching the life you hope they will return to fall apart and being powerless to help. We’re thrilled that this first step has been taken to avoid families being put in this terrible position in the future.”
Peter Lawrence, whose daughter Claudia is missing and who has campaigned for a change in the law, said: “I am pleased that the government supports the role of guardian and will now start to prepare legislation to introduce it. I trust that the next parliament will prioritise this new legislation so that families who have been waiting for so long for this new law will be able to look after their missing loved ones’ financial and practical affairs.”
The measures will enable a guardian to be appointed by a court on application by a person with a sufficient interest in the property and affairs of the missing person. Any guardian will be required to act in the best interests of the missing person and will be subject to duties similar to those of a trustee.
Certificates of presumed death, equivalent to death certificates – which allow families to resolve a loved one’s affairs when he or she is thought have died – were introduced last October.
