Short answer. Under Civil Code Article 385, four groups may file a petition for declaration of absence: the present spouse, heirs named in a will, relatives who stand to inherit by intestate succession, and persons whose rights over the absentee's property depend on the absentee's death.
What the law says
The following may ask for the declaration of absence: (1) The spouse present; (2) The heirs instituted in a will, who may present an authentic copy of the same; (3) The relatives who may succeed by the law of intestacy; (4) Those who may have over the property of the absentee some right subordinated to the condition of his death.
Civil Code, Article 385 — Who May Ask for Declaration. Read the full provision →
The four categories who may file
Article 385 lists the persons who have legal standing to petition a court for a declaration of absence. The list is closed: only those who fall into one of the four categories may do so. A neighbour, a creditor, or a casual acquaintance — however well-intentioned — does not have standing. The law limits standing to people with a direct stake in the absentee's civil status: the surviving spouse, named heirs, intestate relatives, and those with contingent rights tied to the absentee's death.
The present spouse
The spouse present is the first category. If you are married to someone who has gone missing, you are the most directly affected by their absence. Property, obligations, and family decisions all turn on whether a missing spouse is legally recognised as absent. The present spouse has an obvious and immediate interest in having that status formalised — not for purposes of remarriage, which requires a separate proceeding under the Family Code, but for managing shared property and other civil affairs while the absence continues.
Testamentary and intestate heirs
The second and third categories cover heirs. Heirs instituted in a will — those explicitly named in the missing person's testament — may petition if they can present an authentic copy of the will. Relatives who may succeed by the law of intestacy — parents, children, siblings, and others who would inherit in the absence of a will — also have standing. Both categories share a common interest: if the absentee has property and the question of succession will eventually arise, these heirs have a stake in the formal recognition of the absentee's status.
Those with conditional rights over the absentee's property
The fourth category is broader: persons who have some right over the absentee's property that depends on the condition of the absentee's death. This covers, for example, someone who stands to receive a legacy contingent on the absentee predeceasing a third party, or a fideicommissary heir whose interest vests only at the absentee's death. Their stake in the declaration is that without a formal legal determination of absence — a step toward the eventual presumption of death — they cannot advance their own rights. Article 385 gives them standing to initiate the process.