Death certificate

A death certificate is a document issued by an official, such as a government registar, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death. The authorities usually require a certificate from a doctor or coroner to validate the cause of death.

In the United Kingdom, in 2000, the mass-murderer Doctor Harold Shipman was found to have issued false death certificates for his victims. Following the public enquiry into that case, all death certificates must now be validated by an independent medical examiner.

See also: Birth certificate