Civil Code (Cap. 16), article 208

208. The testamentary heirs of the absentee or their heirs, or where the will does not contain any institution of heir, such p ersons as would have been the heirs-at- law of the absentee, if he had died on the day he was last heard of, or their heirs, may make a dem and to the competent court in the island in which the absentee last resided, that they be vested with the provisional possession of the property. or in default of secret or public will.