New Hampshire § 553:19 Presumption of Death

New Hampshire Statutes

§ 553:19 — Presumption of Death

New Hampshire § 553:19

Title LVIPROBATE COURTS AND DECEDENTS' ESTATES

Ch. 553ADMINISTRATORS AND THEIR APPOINTMENT

SubdivisionAdministration of Estate of Person Presumed Dead

This text of New Hampshire § 553:19 (Presumption of Death) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Hampshire primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 553:19 (2026).

Text

In the absence of a death certificate, the fact of death may be established after an evidentiary hearing if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence:

I.That the person is presumed to have been killed as a result of some catastrophic event but his or her body could not be recovered; or

II.That the person has been absent for a continuous period of 4 years, during which time he or she has not been heard of or from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search or inquiry. The individual's death is presumed to have occurred at the end of the period unless there is sufficient evidence for determining that death occurred earlier.

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In the absence of a death certificate, the fact of death may be established after an evidentiary hearing if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence:
I. That the person is presumed to have been killed as a result of some catastrophic event but his or her body could not be recovered; or
II. That the person has been absent for a continuous period of 4 years, during which time he or she has not been heard of or from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search or inquiry. The individual's death is presumed to have occurred at the end of the period unless there is sufficient evidence for determining that death occurred earlier.