12.02.090 Evidence as to Death

In order to distribute an estate, the death of the estate owner must be proved as part of any proceeding. The Tribal Court may accept the following evidence to confirm proof of death:

(a) Death Certificate. A certified or authenticated copy of a death certificate issued by an official or agency with the authority to issue a death certificate at the place where the death purportedly occurred is proof of the fact, place, date and time of death and the identity of the deceased.

(b) Record. A certified or authenticated copy of any record or report of a governmental agency, domestic or foreign, that a person is missing, detained, dead or alive, is proof of the status and of the dates, circumstances and places disclosed by the record or report.

(c) Other Evidence. The person seeking to establish the death has the burden of producing the required documentation. The Court shall accept a Funeral Director's Certificate of Death. The Court may also, in its discretion, consider other evidence including an affidavit of next of kin of the deceased which sets forth the date and circumstances of the death, any supporting documentation, and the reason no government records are available.

(d) Absence. A person who is absent for a continuous period of five (5) years, during which he/she has not been heard from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search or inquiry is presumed to be dead. His/her death is presumed to have occurred at the end of the period unless there is sufficient evidence for determining that death occurred earlier.