Son launches bid to have Lord Lucan declared 'presumed dead'

A new bid to have missing peer Lord Lucan declared "presumed dead" has been launched by his son and heir George Bingham.

The Earl's 47-year-old son, took out a public notice in Friday's West End Extra announcing that he would be launching High Court legal proceedings to have his father officially recorded as deceased.

If Bingham succeeds in his bid it means a death certificate can finally be issued for Lucan - an act which could pave the way for his son to be able to inherit the family title.

When asked by the paper why he had chosen to bring the legal proceedings now, more than 40 years after his father's disappearance, Bingham said he was seeking "closure".

Mystery has surrounded the disappearance of Lord Lucan since he first went missing in 1974 shortly after his children's nanny Sandra Rivett was found bludgeoned to death by a lead pipe in the basement of the family's London home.

Lucan , who would be in his 80s if he was still alive, was seen at a friend’s house in Uckfield, Surrey soon after Rivett’s death but following that was never seen or heard from again.

The Earl's son, who was seven at the time of the murder, told reporters in 2013 that he was "not convinced" his father killed his nanny but he believes he may have committed suicide.

Now 40-years after the family tragedy Bingham has said he will take a case to the Royal Courts of Justice to get his father declared "presumed dead" under the recently instated Presumption of Death Act to further support a declaration of death that was previously granted to settle the Earl's probate.

Objectors to the process have been given 21 days to challenge the presumption of death, according to the notice.