| Apollo Justice |
| Yeah, it's called "death in absentia." He's declared missing... permanently. |
Death in absentia is a legal status imposed on an individual who has been missing for at least seven years. A person imposed with death in absentia is considered legally deceased, and his or her worldly possessions are passed on to others as such.
Seven years after he disappeared from his own trial, Zak Gramarye came out of hiding and appeared to his lawyer Phoenix Wright to legitimize a will passing on the rights to the Gramarye Magic, which he had received from Magnifi Gramarye, to his daughter Trucy. A notary was also present to legitimize the will, but the time of the event would be left unconfirmed, and once Zak's trial was seven years past, the inheritance would be made official.
In Kurain Village[]
| Morgan Fey |
| A person who has been away from the village for over twenty years is considered dead... |
Kurain Village has its own version of the death in absentia law in its traditions. Anyone who has been away from Kurain Village for twenty years is considered dead by the Fey clan. This also applies to the Master of Kurain, at which point a new Master is appointed as if the old Master had died.
This custom meant that Maya Fey would become Master around 2022 if her mother Misty Fey did not return to the village after she disappeared following the DL-6 Incident. However, Misty was killed in 2019.
In real life[]
In most common law jurisdictions, after a seven year period, an individual is presumed to be dead if there is no evidence to the contrary.