§ 102800 Death Certificate Completion

• •The attending doctor must complete the death certificate within 15 hours after the person dies.
• •If a coroner does the exam, they have up to three days after looking at the body to finish the certificate.
• •The finished certificate must be left at the place of death or given to the funeral director.

A grandma passes away at her home. The family calls her family doctor, who must fill out the death certificate within 15 hours and leave it at the house or hand it to the funeral home that will take care of the burial.

Because the doctor is the attending physician, the law requires him to finish the certificate quickly—within 15 hours—and then drop it off at the home or give it to the funeral director, so the funeral can be arranged without delay.