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Death in absentia is a legal term describing the status of a person who has been declared legally dead. This occurs when an individual disappears but no identifiable remains can be located or recovered.

In most common law and civil code jurisdictions, it is usually necessary to obtain a court order directing the registrar to issue a death certificate in the absence of a physician's certification that an identified individual has died. However, if there is circumstantial evidence which would lead a reasonable person to believe that the individual is deceased on the balance of probabilities, jurisdictions may agree to issue death certificates without any such order. For example, passengers and crew of the Titanic who were not rescued by the RMS Carpathia were declared legally dead soon after the Carpathia's arrival at New York City. More recently, death certificates for those who perished in the September 11, 2001 attacks were issued by the State of New York within days of the tragedy. The same is usually true of soldiers missing after a major battle, especially if the enemy keeps an accurate record of its prisoners of war.

If there is not sufficient evidence that death has taken place, it may take somewhat longer, as simple absence does not necessarily prove death. The requirements for declaring an individual legally dead may vary depending on numerous details, including:

• the jurisdiction in which the individual lived before death;
• the jurisdiction in which he or she is presumed to have died;
• how the individual is thought to have died (murder, suicide, accident, etc.);
• the balance of probabilities making it more likely than not that the individual is dead.

Most countries have a set period of time (seven years in many common law jurisdictions) after which an individual is presumed to be dead if there is no evidence to the contrary. However, if the missing individual is the owner of a significant estate, the court may delay ordering a death certificate to be issued if there has been no real effort to locate the missing person. If the death is thought to have taken place in international waters or in a location without a centralized and reliable police force and/or vital statistics registration system, other laws may be in effect.

Missing persons have on rare occasions been found after being declared legally dead. Prisoners of war, people with mental illnesses who become homeless, and in extremely rare circumstances kidnapping victims may be located years after their disappearance. Fugitives from justice often disappear and may be declared dead in absentia; John List disappeared from Westfield, New Jersey in 1971 and was located in 1989^{[citation needed]}.

Many such cases are included in List of premature obituaries.

There are numerous examples of celebrities and notable persons who have disappeared. Several of the best-known are British Lord Lucan, New York judge Joseph Crater, U.S. labor leader Jimmy Hoffa, famed pilot Amelia Earhart, hijacker D. B. Cooper, American NBA Basketballer John Brisker, Australian anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay, Manic Street Preachers' guitarist/songwriter Richey Edwards, Indian political Leader Subhash Chandra Bose and Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.

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