Section  6.  (a)  Whenever,  hereafter,  any  person  shall  be  pre-
sumed to  be  dead,  on  account  of  absence  for  seven  or  more  years
from  the  place  of  his  or  her  last  domicile,  whether  the  same  be
within  this  commonwealth,  or  in  any  other  state,  territory  or  pos-
session of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  foreign  country,  any  per-
son entitled  under  the  last  will  and  testament  of  such  presumed
decedent  or  under  the  intestate  laws  to  any  share  in  his  or  her
estate  within  this  commonwealth,  or  the  escheator  for  the  com-
monwealth, may  present  a  petition  to  the  orphans'  court  of  the
county  of  such  person's  last  residence  or,  where  the  presumed
decedent  was  a  non-resident  of  this  commonwealth,  in  the  or-
phans' court  of  the  county  where  the  greater  part  of  his  property
within  this  commonwealth  may  be  situated,  setting  forth  the  facts
which  raise  the  presumption  of  death.    The  said  court,  if  satis-


28o  FIDUCIARIES  ACT— Section  6  (a),   (&)

fied  as  to  the  person  who  would  be  entitled  to  letters  testamentary
or  of  administration  were  the  presumed  decedent  in  fact  dead,
shall  cause  to  be  advertised,  in  a  newspaper  published  in  said
county,  once  a  week  for  four  successive  weeks,  together  with  such
other  advertisement  as  the  court,  according  to  the  circumstances
of  the  case,  shall  deem  expedient  or  advisable,  the  fact  of  such
application,  together  with  notice  that  on  a  day  certain,  whch  shall
be  at  least  two  weeks  after  the  last  appearance  of  said  advertise-
ment, the  court,  or  master  appointed  by  the  court  for  that  pur-
pose, will  hear  evidence  concerning  the  alleged  absence  of  the  pre-
sumed decedent,  and  the  circumstances  and  duration  thereof.
