Death certificate

A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, as entered in an official register of deaths.

An official death certificate is usually required to be provided when applying for probate or administration of a deceased estate. They are also sought for genealogical research. The government registration office would usually be required to provide details of deaths, without production of a death certificate, to enable government agencies to update their records, such as electoral registers, government benefits paid, passport records, transfer the inheritance, etc. Death certificates typically include a medical certificate of cause of death collecting information for disease prevention and health policy. The recommended international format for this certificate is established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and applies uniformly across member states. The World Health Organization's ICD-11 Reference Guide provides the authoritative specification for its design and completion. Extensive detail is also available in the format of a manual for medical certification.