Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Number of Requests for Death Certificates for Individuals Presumed Dead by the Courts in the Past Five Years

Question:

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs in the past five years (a) how many requests have the Ministry received for a death certificate to be issued for individuals who have been presumed dead by the courts; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider issuing a death certificate to the next-of-kin of such individuals who have been presumed dead and, if not, why not.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:

1. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) does not track the number of requests it receives for death certificates to be issued for persons presumed dead by the courts.

2. ICA does not issue death certificates for such persons. A court order for the presumption of death is generally sufficient for administrative purposes such as estate management.

3. However, the next-of-kin of a person presumed dead can submit the court order for the presumption of death to ICA, for ICA to update the register of deaths accordingly.