N.Y. EPT Law § 2-1.7

§ 2-1.7 Presumption of death from absence; effect of exposure to\n specific peril\n (a) A person who is absent for a continuous period of three years,\nduring which, after diligent search, he or she has not been seen or\nheard of or from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained\nshall be presumed, in any action or proceeding involving any property of\nsuch person, contractual or property rights contingent upon his or her\ndeath or the administration of his or her estate, to have died three\nyears after the date such unexplained absence commenced, or on such\nearlier date as clear and convincing evidence establishes is the most\nprobable date of death.\n (b) The fact that such person was exposed to a specific peril of death\nmay be a sufficient basis for determining at any time after such\nexposure that he or she died less than three years after the date his or\nher absence commenced.\n (c) The three-year period provided herein shall not apply in any case\nin which a different period has been prescribed by statute.\n