Nepal, Sept. 16 -- As of Wednesday, the confirmed death toll from the devastating Bhotekoshi flood stood at 1,399, while 5,179 people remained missing-more than three times the number confirmed dead. With little hope of finding their loved ones alive, several families of the missing have already performed funeral rites, using effigies made of kush, a sacred grass. Many others are waiting for government relief before they can perform the final rites for loved ones they believe they have lost forever.

Yet even when families accept that their loved ones are no more, Nepal's existing laws do not. As a result, those whose loved ones remain missing are ineligible for government support. Without a body, they cannot obtain a death certificate. W...