The Absentee Act

The Absentee Act sets out the procedures to have a missing person declared absent and provides for the appointment of a property guardian to administer the estate of the absentee.

The Act contains specific directions respecting how the absentee’s assets are to be dealt with.

An absentee is a person:

• who has disappeared;
• whose whereabouts remain unknown despite all reasonable efforts to locate him or her; and
• about whom there is no knowledge as to whether he or she is alive or dead.

A judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench may declare the person to be an absentee on application of:

• the Attorney General;
• next-of-kin of the person alleged to be an absentee;
  a creditor;
• anyone interested in the affairs of the person alleged to be an absentee; or
• the Public Guardian and Trustee.

The court order may appoint a person to manage the absentee’s property. The court may also authorize the sale, lease or other disposition of the property where the judge believes it to be in the interests of the absentee or his or her family. The powers and duties of the person appointed are the same as those of a property guardian under The Adult Guardianship and Co-decision-making Act.

The order declaring the person to be an absentee may be set aside by the Court of Queen's Bench on an application by any of the persons authorized to apply for the order declaring a person to be an absentee, or by the person declared to be an absentee.