Enoch Arden Laws 

A law that provides presumption of death and permission for a spouse's remarriage after one has been inexplicably absent for a set period of years, usually seven.

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote in 1864 a poem called 'Enoch Arden' (once required reading in many literature classes) concerning a sailor whose shipwreck kept him from his wife and children for ten years; on his return, he found that his wife, presuming him dead, had married his best friend. Many states and nations now have what speakers of English call Enoch Arden laws.

Enoch Arden Laws by Ludd July 17, 2015