These regulations provide that, under title II of the Social Security Act (the Act), a presumption of death arises when the claimant establishes that an individual has been absent from his or her residence and not heard from for 7 years. Once the presumption is made, the burden then shifts to us to rebut the presumption either by presenting evidence that the missing individual is still alive or by providing an explanation to account for the individual's absence in a manner consistent with continued life rather than death.