The sentence death certificate may refer to a document issued by a medical practitioner stating the state of the deceased or, in a popular manner, for documents issued by a person such as a vital statistic registrar stating the date, location and cause of death of a person then included in the official list of deaths.
Video Death certificate
Certificate properties
Each government jurisdiction regulates the form of the document to be used in its preview and the procedures necessary to produce it lawfully. One of the purposes of this certificate is to review the cause of death to determine whether a crime occurred because it could override an accidental death or murder that occurred with the findings and decisions of a medical examiner. It may also be necessary to arrange a funeral or cremation to provide prima facie evidence of the fact of death, which can be used to prove one's will or to claim one's life insurance. Lastly, death certificates are used in public health to collect data on the main causes of death among other statistics (See: Descriptive statistics)
Before issuing death certificates, the authorities usually require a certificate from a doctor or coroner to validate the cause of death and identity of the deceased. In cases where it is not entirely clear that a person is dead (usually because his body is supported by life support), a neurologist is often called upon to verify brain death and to fill in appropriate documentation. The failure of a doctor to immediately submit the required forms to the government (to trigger the issuance of death certificates) is often a crime and leads to the loss of a person's license to practice. This is because of a past scandal in which the dead continue to receive public benefits or vote in elections. A death certificate may also be issued in accordance with a court order or an executive order in the case of an individual who has been declared dead in absentia. Disappeared persons and victims of mass disasters (such as the sinking of RMS Lusitania) may issue death certificates in any of these behaviors.
In some jurisdictions, a police officer or paramedic may be allowed to sign a death certificate under certain circumstances. This is usually when the cause of death is apparent and there is no suspected cheating, such as in extreme old age. In such cases, autopsy is rarely performed. This varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; in some areas police officers may sign death certificates for SIDS victims, but in others all deaths of persons under the age of 18 should be certified by a doctor. Accidental deaths where there is no chance of survival (beheading, for example) can be certified by police or paramedics, but autopsies are still common if there is a possibility that alcohol or other drugs play a role in the accident.
The full explanation of the cause of death includes four items:
- the immediate cause of death, as the heart stops,
- the cause between, which triggers a direct cause, such as myocardial infarction,
- the underlying cause, which triggers a chain of events leading to death, such as atherosclerosis, and
- diseases and other disorders that the person has at death, even though they do not directly cause death.
Maps Death certificate
Public documents
In most parts of the United States, death certificates are considered public domain documents and can therefore be obtained for any individual regardless of the relationship of the requester with the deceased. Other jurisdictions take different views, and limit certificate issues. For example, in the State of New York, death certificates can only be obtained by close relatives, including spouses, parents, children or siblings of the deceased, and others who have rights or legal claims, documented medical needs, or Orders The New York District Court.
History
In Europe and North America, death records are kept by local churches, along with baptisms and marriage records. In what would become the United States, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was the first to have a secular court that kept these records, in 1639. By the end of the 19th century, European countries pursued a centralized system to record death.
In the United States, the standard model death certificate was developed around 1910. This increased the uniformity and consistency in the recording.
Specific jurisdiction
United States
In the United States, certificates issued to the general public for deaths after 1990 may be in some countries edited to remove specific causes of death (in cases where deaths come from natural causes) to comply with HIV confidentiality rules. In New York State, for example, the cause of death on a general death certificate is determined only if death is an accident, murder, suicide, or otherwise absent; all other deaths are simply referred to as natural. However, all countries have provisions, where closest family members, law enforcement agencies, and government authorities (such as occupational health and safety groups) can obtain death certificates that contain the cause of death completely, even in natural death cases.
In some cases, such as the death of a minor or infant, the certificate may be kept secret from the public as required by the legal guardian and therefore can not be obtained by the general public but through direct family members.
United Kingdom
Registration in the UK is set separately in the jurisdiction of constituents. The death list contains information provided by the informant, currently usually containing and repeating information provided in the Medical Death Certificate provided by a medical practitioner who claims that life is extinct, this being a "death certificate" that is in fact different from the "death registration" in the list. More information may be added after the first registration if death is the subject of the examination (Northern Ireland or England and Wales) or Fatal Accident Inquiry (Scotland); this may result in a copy of death registration that provides further details about the cause of death or related circumstances.
England and Wales
In England and Wales, the registration of national deaths must begin in 1837. Initially the death registration is listed when and where a person dies, their names and surnames, parents or parents (if the deceased is a child), gender, age, occupation , the cause of death, description and residence of the informant, when the death is registered and the signature of the recorder. Further details have been recorded including the date and place of birth of the deceased, the surname of the girl and the former surname of the woman who has been divorced.
Beginning in 1879, a doctor's certificate is required for the issuance of a death certificate (before that, no cause of death needs to be given).
Northern Ireland
Form of indexing and page layout registers generally follow from England and Wales.
Scotland
National registration began in 1855; registration is somewhat more detailed than in England and Wales. In the first year of enrollment, more details than in subsequent years are recorded including late children with their age, the birthplace of the deceased and how long they lived in the district where they died. Burial sites were recorded from 1855 to 1860. The standard details to date include the name of the deceased, age, marital status, spouse (if any), details of both parents, cause of death and description of informant. The current registration (2011) indicates the date of birth. The specified form is part of the secondary legislation and which over the last few years can be viewed online in the Statute Law Database.
Unlike England and Wales, information is not limited to be given in the form of official copies; The original register pages (or images filmed) can be seen directly in the local registration office or at the General Register Office in Edinburgh, online (fees apply) on the website The Scots or on microfilm (1855-1875, 1881, 1891) are available in the center - the family history center operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
dependencies Kingdom of Great Britain and Regional Affairs of the UK United Kingdom
This jurisdiction does not form part of the United Kingdom and each has its own registration system. Their old records tend to follow the layout used in England and Wales.
Stillbirths
England and Wales
Stillbirths (beyond 24 weeks' gestation) has been registered since 1927 in a closed list of public access. Registration of one birth of birth replaces birth registration and death for a stillborn infant. Prior to 1960, such certificates did not cause death.
A baby's birth certificate can only be ordered by the mother or father of the deceased who contacted the General Register Office by telephone or mail. In the event that the parents are both dead, adult siblings can order certificates if they can provide a date of death for both parents.
Scotland
Birth registration begins in 1939. The register is not open to the public and extracts are only published "under exceptional circumstances".
United States
A 2007 article in People magazine revealed that in the case of stillbirth it is not standard practice to issue birth certificates and death certificates. Most countries even issue "birth certificates resulting in stillbirth".
See also
- Birth certificate
- Ghosting (identity theft)
- Wedding license
- Marriage certificate
- Mortality Medical Data System (MMDS)
References
External links
- Mortality Data from the US National Vital Statistics System - See Method - Data collection - for a copy of death certificate and how to fill it.
- Magrane BP, Gilliland MGF, and King DE. Death Certification by Family Doctor. American Family Physician 1997 Oct 1; 56 (5): 1433-8. PMID 9337765
- Swain GR, Ward GK, Hartlaub PP. Certificate of death: Let's do it right. American Family Physician February 15, 2005 PMIDÃ, 15742904
- Find Free Death Note provides details on how to file death records in each state.
- The Online Death and Notes Index lists some mortality certificate indexes
- The Writing Place for Vital Recordings (including the Death Certificate) from the National Center for Health Statistics
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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