Without it, next of kin are powerless to get into victims' checking accounts, transfer title on property, collect insurance or execute wills. At the same time, the bills keep coming. For some relatives, financial devastation is added to psychological trauma. . . . But without positively identified remains, medical examiners say, their hands are tied. Laws aimed at preventing fraud help make issuing death certificates a painstaking process, they said.
Obstacles multiply when a crash occurs in international waters.
Judicial Relief Is Sole Alternative Judicial relief, such as that sought by the Rhode Island attorney general two weeks after the EgyptAir crash, is generally the only method available to overcome legal impediments in disasters in which few bodies are recovered. The Alaska Airlines crash highlights the need for federal legislation, the Crows said. Assistant Ventura County Counsel Don Hurley said documents will be filed within two weeks seeking the declaration of death for Alaska Airlines victims whose remains have not been found or identified. Michael Crow and others say it's taking too long. No family should be put through that type of misery.