The Benjamin Order.. Dead? But no body!

[dickiesam]

Until relatively recently a person who had 'disappeared', perhaps at sea, could not be registered as dead without an identifiable body.

When a body was not 'present' the widow or widower would have been in a form of limbo as regards the deceased's estate. Unless death could be proven the spouse was simply 'missing' in the eyes of the law.

The situation was somewhat regularised in 1902 by the introduction of the Benjamin Order. This an English law order made by the court for the distribution of assets on death when it is uncertain whether or not a beneficiary is alive, usually after a 7 year period. The order derives its name from the case of Benjamin in 1902. The order authorizes the personal representatives of the deceased who administers the estate to distribute the property on the basis that the beneficiary is dead or on some other basis. The personal representatives are thus protected from being sued if the beneficiary is in fact still alive.

Up to 1902 a spouse of a missing person could not 'officially' be a widow or widower and would be taking a chance if they remarried. However, bigamy could not be proved unless the missing spouse could be shown to be still alive. A Catch 22 situation!

Following on from the end of WW1 when so many servicemen were 'missing presumed dead', I believe a coroner is allowed to declare a missing person as dead if there is sufficient evidence for him to make that decision, such as in a very recent case where a sub-aqua diver went missing during a dive and never surfaced, nor was his body recovered.

On a personal note...
In the Liverpool May Blitz of 1941 my mother's two brothers on the night of the 3rd. One was found and identified on the 6th. The other brother was never found and identified. His widow waited over 7 years before a coroner declared him as deceased but his name could not be registered in the GRO Index. He is probably one of the many 'Unknown' males in the Index. Just go to FreeBMD, surname Unknown, Lancashire, Jun qtr, 1941. To see the horror in full do a search with All Counties.

DS

[germaine cowell]

Just had a look oh how sad. People forget this sort of thing.
Germaine
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