What happens if someone dies without a trace? So normally the police or hospital is called and people get a death certificate. If someone disappears with no report, what happens? Is a death certificate ever issued?
Community Service Announcement A person going missing is serious. Many thousands of people disappear every year. In most cases they return or make contact with friends or family after a short while, however, a significant number are never heard from again. It is a MYTH that you need to wait 24 hours before telling the police of a missing person. Alert the police as soon as possible. The quicker the authorities start to look for them the more likely there will be a happy outcome. Presumed death All jurisdictions have rules on when a person can be presumed dead, that is, a death certificate is issued notwithstanding the absence of remains. In the united-states this is a matter for state law unless there is a reason for the Federal government to be involved (e.g. military personnel missing in combat). In most, a court or the registrar can decide that a person is probably dead and issue a death certificate/grant probate. People who are known to have been in the area where a tragedy occurred may be declared dead shortly after that tragedy even though no remains are found. For example, people on the Titanic who were not rescued by the Carpathia, people in the 9-11 attacks, the people on MH17 were all issued death certificates shortly after the respective tragedies. Alternatively, at common law (codified by statute in some jurisdictions) a missing person may be declared dead if: The person has been missing for an extended period, most commonly seven years Their absence must have been continuous and inexplicable (e.g. the person did not say they had found a new job and were moving far away) There must have been no communication from the party with those people most likely to hear from them during the period the person has been missing There must have been a diligent but unsuccessful search for the person and/or diligent but unsuccessful inquiry into their whereabouts. Coming back There are interesting legal implications of a person who has been declared dead coming back but they are outside the scope of this question. Please ask another question if you're interested.
You can’t die “during” a sale The formation of a contract is instantaneous, if the buyer dies they have to die before there was a contract in which case the seller keeps the car or after there was one in which case the buyer’s executor and the seller must do everything necessary to complete the sale (or breach the contract and get sued). This has nothing to do with any administrative obligations that either party owes to a third party like the DMV. Failing to properly transfer title may lead to complications and disputes latter on but it doesn’t directly affect the contract.
Charged? Of course, the police can charge you with anything at any time Could you be convicted? Maybe. Their best shot is charging you with “Manslaughter by an unlawful and dangerous act” also called constructive manslaughter. The Crown must prove your act: was intentional, was unlawful, leads the reasonable person to realise that some other person is at risk of physical harm, and caused the death. The first two are uncontestable: the protesters are deliberately engaging in an illegal act. No 3 would be up to the jury. No 4 is also up to the jury and would turn on the evidence that the delay to the ambulance caused the death.
Wills are governed by state law, but yes you may. Almost anything that can be legally owned/possessed can be bequeathed. When a copyright holder dies their copyrights (intangible property) are transfer to the estate or heirs as proscribed in the will or state law if no will exists.
Every state requires at least two witnesses to a will unless it is entirely written in your own handwriting. A lawyer as a witness is fine. A spouse as a witness is not ideal as she would be an interested party if there was a dispute over whether it was executed. It may not be prohibited, but I would never do that in my practice ever. I discontinued a will signing just last week because we only had a lawyer and a spouse and not other witnesses. I would be somewhat concerned.
First, no, given the wording of the question: &quot;by demanding identity first&quot;. US courts have never held that citizens must immediately comply with non-emergency orders free of back-talk. Let's assume that the refusal is conditional: &quot;I won't comply until you show me your ID&quot;. In most (?) jurisdictions, there is no obligation imposed on police to show ID, though I am excluding home searches. There is a policy requirement in Seattle (§7) that Employees may use a Department-issued business card that contains their name and serial number to satisfy the request for the information. Employees will also show their department identification card and badge (sworn) when specifically requested to do so. Exception: Employees are not required to immediately identify themselves if: An investigation is jeopardized A police function is hindered There is a safety consideration Massachusetts has a law saying that &quot;Such identification card shall be carried on the officer's person and shall be exhibited upon lawful request for purposes of identification&quot;. In the domain of search and seizure law, the court reasoned in Doornbos v. Chicago, regarding a seizure by plainclothes police that Absent reasonable grounds to think that identification would present an unusual danger, it is generally not a reasonable tactic for plainclothes officers to fail to identify themselves when conducting a stop. The tactic provokes panic and hostility from confused civilians who have no way of knowing that the stranger who seeks to detain them is an officer... it is usually unreasonable for a plainclothes officer to fail to identify himself when conducting a stop or frisk As you can see, this identification requirement is tied to constitutional search and seizure limits for which there is voluminous case law regarding what is &quot;reasonable&quot;. The scenario that you propose is fairly far from the kind of case identified in Doornbos: is the order from a uniformed officer in a police vehicle? That seems to be what you're describing. Now we must inquire as to the legality of the order. Picking on Washington state law, RCW 46.61.015 requires that No person shall willfully fail or refuse to comply with any lawful order or direction of any duly authorized flagger or any police officer or firefighter invested by law with authority to direct, control, or regulate traffic. RCW 46.61.021 requires a person driving to stop for a LEO, and to identify himself: failure to comply is a misdemeanor. There is no statutory provision that a person can refuse to obey these (or similar sections in the motor vehicle title) until the officer provides ID. A police officer (in Washington: and I suspect any other state) does not have unrestricted authority to give people orders, there are specific statutory circumstances giving police the power to order people to do things. Obstructing a police officer is a crime, but obstructing an officer is where one &quot;willfully hinders, delays, or obstructs any law enforcement officer in the discharge of his or her official powers or duties&quot;, and not &quot;doesn't cooperate&quot;. There is a provision, RCW 9a.76.030 where A person is guilty of refusing to summon aid for a peace officer if, upon request by a person he or she knows to be a peace officer, he or she unreasonably refuses or fails to summon aid for such peace officer and the &quot;knows to be a peace officer&quot; clause implies either that the officer is uniformed, or has provided identification. Finally, we have &quot;failure to disperse&quot; when a person congregates with a group of three or more other persons and there are acts of conduct within that group which create a substantial risk of causing injury to any person, or substantial harm to property; and (b) He or she refuses or fails to disperse when ordered to do so by a peace officer or other public servant engaged in enforcing or executing the law. These laws are attuned to emergency needs, thus outside the penumbra of your scenario. In short, the primary question must be, when can police lawfully give you an order that you must obey, which narrows the matter down to traffic-related matters. The seizure must be reasonable: it is reasonable to require a person to stop for a uniformed officer. Reasonability does not entail that all officers must produce ID when effecting a seizure, but this may be the case with plain-clothes officers. Even when in Seattle with a departmental policy requiring officers to identify themselves, an officer's failure to identify does not render the seizure illegal.
Name and date of birth are not sufficiently unique to identify a person. While name, date of birth, and place of birth do not have to be unique, either, it reduces the number of false positives. Also, date of birth is somewhat better known than place of birth for most people. Motorist: &quot;Sorry, officer, I seem to have lost my wallet. Everything was in there, ID, license, ...&quot; Cop: &quot;Tell me your name, date and place of birth, and I'll run a query if you do have a license.&quot;
Florida law (§922.11) does provide that The body of the executed person shall be delivered to the medical examiner for an autopsy. After completion of the autopsy, the body shall be prepared for burial and, if requested, released to relatives of the deceased. If a coffin has not been provided by relatives, the body shall be delivered in a plain coffin. If the body is not claimed by relatives, it shall be given to physicians who have requested it for dissection or to be disposed of in the same manner as are bodies of prisoners dying in the state prison. Tennessee, on the other hand, is reported to have honored requests to not autopsy and autopsied only 1 of 6 executed prisoners. The Tennessee law (38-7-106) says that A county medical examiner may perform or order an autopsy on the body of any person in a case involving a homicide, suspected homicide, a suicide, a violent, unnatural or suspicious death, an unexpected apparent natural death in an adult, sudden unexpected infant and child deaths, deaths believed to represent a threat to public health or safety, and executed prisoners. When the county medical examiner decides to order an autopsy, the county medical examiner shall notify the district attorney general and the chief medical examiner. The chief medical examiner or the district attorney general may order an autopsy in such cases on the body of a person in the absence of the county medical examiner or if the county medical examiner has not ordered an autopsy. The district attorney general may order an autopsy in such cases on the body of a person in the absence of the county medical examiner or the failure of the county medical examiner to act. The authority ordering the autopsy shall notify the next of kin about the impending autopsy if the next of kin is known or reasonably ascertainable. The sheriff or other law enforcement agency of the jurisdiction shall serve process containing such notice and return such process within twenty-four (24) hours. The medical examiner has discretion (autopsy is not an obligation). Louisiana law is a little unclear at the statutory level, because The coroner shall either view the body or make an investigation into the cause and manner of death in all cases involving the following... (2) Sudden or violent deaths...(9) Deaths due to drowning, hanging, burns, electrocution, gunshot wounds, stabs or cutting, lightning, starvation, radiation, exposure, alcoholism, addiction, tetanus, strangulation, suffocation, or smothering... (12) Deaths in prison or while serving a sentence. The coroner can discharge that obligation by non-invasive means. Lousiana has a religious-objection provision: If the family of the deceased objects to an autopsy on religious grounds, the autopsy shall not be performed unless the coroner finds that the facts surrounding the death require that an autopsy be performed in the interest of the public safety, public health, or public welfare. In such cases the coroner shall provide the family his written reasons for the necessity of the autopsy. It's hard to see how there could be a public interest reason compelling an autopsy in the case of a governmental execution, but this is fiction. Some states have a law providing for religious exceptions to autopsy. You can make a request in S. Carolina, and here is the law in California (moot for the moment since there are no executions in California). You could try &quot;forum shopping&quot; (changing the state so that you don't get a mandatory autopsy law), but a search of all 50 states is really impractical.