Chapter CBTM12090
| Published date | 10 April 2016 |
| Record Number | CBTM12090 |
| Court | HM Revenue & Customs |
| Issuer | HM Revenue & Customs |
Only one parent need be dead if the claimant can show that
- at the date of death the whereabouts of the other parent was unknown
and
- all reasonable efforts to discover the whereabouts of the other parent have failed, or
- the other parent is in prison
“Parent” includes an adoptive parent
There is no legal definition of “whereabouts” or “reasonable efforts”. The terms should be given their normal everyday meaning.
WhereaboutsThis should be taken to mean knowledge of a person’s residence, employment, or place of attendance by habit (such as a public house).
ResidenceKnowledge of a person’s residence will always mean residential address, whichcould include temporary accommodation (hostel or caravan), or a street or block of flats where the number is not known, but the claimant is aware of the person’s physical appearance.
EmploymentKnowledge of a person’s employment would include any precise place of employment,such as a particular factory, shop, office or market stall.
General knowledge of a person’s employment may also demonstrate knowledge of a missing person’s whereabouts. If the person works for the armed forces, or a particular travel company, the claimant could reasonably expect to make contact with them.
Knowledge only of a person’s skill, for example bricklayer, market trader, oil rigworker, would not in itself demonstrate knowledge of a person’s whereabouts.
Place of attendance by habitKnowledge of this should be taken to mean that if the claimant knows that the missing person will be in a particular place, at regular intervals, when contact could reasonably be made, this would constitute knowledge of whereabouts.
The place of attendance should be somewhere that person to person contact can reasonably be made. It would not include places where it would be difficult to contact one person in a large crowd.
“Attendance by habit” implies that a person must be in such a place at regular, relatively short intervals. Where intervals of more than 5 weeks occur, this would not constitute attendance by habit.
Knowledge that a person attended a certain team’s football matches, shopped at a certain shopping centre, or had holidays in the same resort each year would not be sufficient to demonstrate knowledge of whereabouts.
If the claimant knows that a missing person visits a specific person at the same address...
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