Does a person exist without an address?

[Pantherphil]

In my state, if an heir or devisee is missing and cannot be located, the Court will require that the Estate undertake a diligent search and submit an affidavit of the various steps taken to identify the whereabouts of the missing person. This will include submitting a report from a private investigator to be paid for from the estate. The Court will most likely require publication of notice in the county where the court is located and also in other areas where the missing person might be found. When the time comes for making distribution, if the heir can still not be located, there are a variety of alternatives: (1) there may be the possibility of obtaining a judicial declaration that the missing person should be deemed to have died based on the statutory presumption that a person who has been missing for 5 years or more may be presumed to have died intestate; (2) the Court may authorize a "conservator" to preserve the assets for the missing person and the personal representative may turn the funds over to the conservator for continuing administration; (3) the Court may appoint a "receiver" to preserve the assets for the missing person for a period of 8 years, and, if unclaimed, the individual may be presumed to have died intestate and the property distributed on that assumption; or (4) the property may be turned over to the Treasurer of State as abandoned property under the State's abandoned property act. In this case, where the individual is believed to be alive but cannot be located, the general 5 year presumption of death would not apply and the alternatives of a conservator, receiver, or abandoned property surrender would be the appropriate remedies. I have known Personal Representatives to take the approach recommended above of simply holding the funds in the estate account until such time as the missing heir shows up to claim them, but, as noted, keeping the estate open does require continuing administration and, if the funds are generating income, annual income tax returns. At some point, surrendering the property to the Treasurer of State as abandoned property does permit the case to be wound up and the personal representative discharged from his duties.