Legal death
Legal death is the recognition under the law of a particular jurisdiction that a person is no longer alive.[1] In most cases, a doctor's declaration of death (variously called) or the identification of a corpse is a legal requirement for such recognition. A person who has been missing for a sufficiently long period of time (typically at least several years) may be presumed or declared legally dead, usually by a court. When a death has been registered in a civil registry, a death certificate may be issued.[2] Such death certificate may be required in a number of legal situations, such as applying for probate, claiming some benefits, or making an insurance claim.[3]
Medical declaration[edit]
Most legal determinations of death in the developed world are made by medical professionals who pronounce death when specific criteria are met.[4] Two categories of legal death are death determined by irreversible cessation of heartbeat (cardiopulmonary death), and death determined by irreversible cessation of functions of the brain (brain death). In the United States, each state has laws for determining these two categories of death that are modeled after the Uniform Determination of Death Act. States that do not recognize "irreversible cessation of all function of the entire brain, including the brainstem" to be death include Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Texas.[5][1]
Cardiopulmonary criteria for death are met when a physician determines that efforts to restart a stopped heart during cardiac arrest are futile, or that no attempt should be made to restart a stopped heart, such as when there is a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order. In the latter case, irreversible is understood to mean that heartbeat and breathing cannot return on their own and will not be restored by medical intervention.[6][7]
Brain death determinations are made in cases where breathing is supported by machines. Brain death is determined by there being no signs of brain function during neurological examination of a person with a beating heart.[8] Confirmatory tests document either no blood flow to the brain, or no brain electrical activity in absence of factors[9] known to produce reversible loss of brain function.[10] Unlike cardiopulmonary death which sometimes involves a decision not to resuscitate the heart, brain death is a determination that the brain biologically cannot be resuscitated.
If a clinically dead person has suffered injuries so severe that resuscitation is obviously impossible, then in some jurisdictions first responders may make a legal determination of cardiopulmonary death. Such a person is said to be dead on arrival (DOA) or dead at the scene.[11]
Investigation[edit]
Determining manner of death often has important legal implications. Governments elect a coroner or appoint a medical examiner, depending on jurisdiction, to both determine manner and cause of death, and if necessary, identify bodies when their identities are unknown. Manner of death is usually classified as natural, accidental, homicide, suicide, pending or undetermined. A soldier is often listed as killed in action if the death was during military service. There are legal implications to all of the classifications. For example, a homicide may be ruled a justifiable homicide.