Legal death  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:
navigation, search  Legal death is a government's official
recognition that a person has died. Normally this is done by
issuing a death certificate. In most cases, such a certificate
is only issued either by a doctor's declaration of death or by
an identified corpse.  Medical declaration[edit]  In hospitals
or other care facilities, a doctor or other qualified person
legally declares a person dead. Medical advances have made death
more difficult to define.  Presumption of death[edit]  In some
cases, a person will be declared dead even without any remains
or doctor's declaration. This is under one of two circumstances.
First, if a person was known to be in mortal peril when last
seen, they can often be declared dead shortly after. Examples
would be the passengers of the Titanic that were not rescued
after the ship sank. Second, if a person has not been seen for a
certain period of time and there has been no evidence that they
are alive. The amount of