Such a trustee is particuarly to be appointed when the absentee took precautions but due to circumstances the precautions were invalidated. The same goes for  an absentee, location Disappearance of humans justifies the declaration of death: the refutable assumption that the missing person died at the time determined by the death certificate (§ 9 Abs.1 VerschollenheitsG).

If a person was declared dead or who died after the declaration of death as determined by the Verschollenheitsgesetz then the said person may launch a claim for restitution of his assets from the supposed beneficiaries (§ 2031 BGB ).