Video: Father of Claudia Lawrence hopes for law change on missing

A report from MPs published today has stated a single certificate declaring someone “presumed dead” should be brought in to help families resolve all the affairs of a missing person.

The Commons Justice Select Committee claimed the current law is a “crazy paving” of different provisions which leaves families facing a “confusing, costly and emotionally-exhausting legal process”.

The report comes after families of missing people, including Miss Lawrence’s father, Peter, appealed to MPs to reform the law.

Rachel Elias, the sister of Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richey Edwards who went missing in 1995, claimed families often face “a painful struggle against bureaucracy”.

Mr Lawrence, whose daughter went missing in York in March 2009, stated there was a “great momentum” for a change as the public began to understand the problems many families of missing people faced.

He said: “It is an absolutely crazy situation at the moment, but the report marks something of a landmark. It is vital that new legislation is brought in.

“The Government should not underestimate the effect that trying to deal with finances, insurance policies, bank accounts and mortgages of our loved ones has on families already at their lowest possible ebb.”

Mr Lawrence, 65, a solicitor from York, spoke yesterday as the family prepared to mark his missing daughter’s 38th birthday on Monday.

Miss Lawrence was 35 when she was last seen walking near her Heworth Road home, and North Yorkshire Police detectives have failed to find any trace of her. The missing person inquiry was upgraded to a murder investigation the month after she vanished.

The Commons Justice Select Committee’s chairman, Sir Alan Beith, called for legislation to be brought forward for England and Wales in the next parliamentary session, based upon the Scottish Presumption of Death Act 1977.

A new Presumption of Death Act, based on the Scottish model, would only allow families to apply for a presumption of death order after seven years.

The MPs said the Government should introduce so-called guardianship orders to allow families to maintain the person’s estate during these years by cancelling direct debits, paying off any debts, and providing maintenance for any dependants.

The Ministry of Justice claimed it recognised the “emotional and practical difficulties” faced by relatives of missing people, and will respond after considering the committee’s recommendations.