EDUCATION: Who Can Sign off on a Death Certificate in Florida?

By definition, a death certificate is an official government issued document that declares the known data of a deceased person at their time of death. A death certificate is a legal record of death. This can include but is not limited to, the identifying statistics of the decedent along with the specific information of the death in question such as the time of death, exact location of death, and cause of death. According to the Florida Statutes (FS § 382.008), the death certificate is to be signed within 72 hours by the appropriate party. The typical certifier of the death certificate is the medical practitioner in charge of the decedent’s care for the illness or disorder which resulted in the death of the decedent. The death certificate may also be signed by the medical physician that was attending to the decedent at the time of death or immediately after death. In the instance of a natural death, it is expected that the medical practitioner that was caring for the decedent (within the previous 3 months) will sign the death certificate. At times there will be no specific illness or conditional circumstances which resulted in the death of the decedent. The signing medical practitioner or medical examiner will declare the cause of death to the best of his or her knowledge and belief. It is common to use terminology such as “probable” and “likely” for a decedent whose cause of death is not certain. It is up to the medical practitioner to use their best medical opinion at the time of signing the death certificate. Web: www.JonesHealthLaw.com Phone: (305)877-5054 Instagram: @JonesHealthLaw Facebook: @JonesHealthLaw Youtube: @JonesHealthLaw