This is for a story I’m in the middle of writing, but I was wondering if any dopers had real legal expertise to lend to a thorny question.
One of the characters apparently died. I’m not going to go into the fantastic details of how the death was faked or by whom, except that a very good replica for his corpse was substituted, that would probably even fool a medical examiner, though I’m not certain if one would have been called under the circumstances of the ‘death’ (a fairly routine, if tragic car crash.)
This character has now returned home to his friends and family, claiming amnesia for at least part of the time period surrounding his death and funeral. His coffin turns out to have been ‘mysteriously’ stolen from the cemetary.
My question is: When would the death ceremony be revoked/reversed/whatever, and would there be any legal formalities to it?? I would think that, given a large number of witnesses who would testify that “yes, I am certain that this individual is X and could not possibly be an impostor,” a relatively cursory medical exam (to establish for the record that the guy satisfies the medical requirements of being alive, and probably also to check for any obvious medical evidence that he isn’t who he claims to be,) would be the only requirement. Any continuing inquiry into HOW he was alive and the circumstances of his apparent death might take longer, but shouldn’t obstruct the legal formalities of declaring him alive.
But that’s just a WAG really. Anybody here with more actual experience than me? Would the formalities vary at all by jurisdiction? (The story takes place in new mexico.)
PS: Writing this, I was suddenly reminded of Homer storming off to city hall, in the first episode where he meets his mother. Somehow I suspect there’s a little more red tape than portrayed there. (Or, for that matter, that there wouldn’t have been time for an official death certificate to be completed under the circumstances there. No funeral or anything either.)
This doesn’t match your circumstances, but the one live person I know who has a death certificate, it was never revoked. It still exists.
This is a relative by marriage of mine. He was stillborn, medical measures were taken, no dice, he was pronounced dead, cleaned up a bit and set aside. Some time later, it was noticed that he was breathing and moving, and alive. So, he has a death certificate and a birth certificate issued after his death certificate. Needless to say, his parents always treated him as a “miracle child.” BTW. no brain damage, learning disabiities, no negative impact at all.
Now, to your question: call your local health department or records office. They might just know what the procedure is.
Thanks for the question, but I’m not certain if I can explain myself enough to talk to authorities and not have them think that I’m planning to fake my own death or do something weird like that.
Also, as I said, ‘local’ procedure is not precisely what I’m after. I live in southern ontario, the strory takes place in Roswell New Mexico.
Well, if the answer is so obscure that the dope can’t come up with it, I may just stay with my own guesses. Accuracy is not 100% guaranteed, I just didn’t want to be caught out in a fairly obvious flub. If almost nobody knows what proper procedure would be, then my mistakes would be at least much less obvious
hehe. It’s fanfic based on the ‘roswell’ tv show, yes. The character who didn’t die is NOT alien, but aliens are involved in the story of how his death was faked.
(And yes, the fact that it’s fan fiction probably has something to do with why I’m hesitant to actually talk to genuine authorities about the relevant protocols and procedures.)
Meh. You’re probably not the only person who’s ever asked the question. (Okay, you’re probably the first person to have this involve aliens, but my point still stands.)
Just tell the nice clerk that you’re researching a fictional story and you’d like to get this right. They’ll appreciate that.
Hmm… well maybe. The other thing is that I’m a little stingy and not wild about making the long-distance call to Roswell.
Maybe I’ll forget about being completely accurate for New Mexico and go call a vital records office closer to home, just to get a general idea. Thanks for the advice anyway!
Well, I did have a friend who didn’t have a birth certificate. Not that she was ever declared dead, but as far as the government was concerned she didn’t exist. I don’t remember all the nitty gritty details.
She had to get several witnesses from her home town to sign affadavits that she was who she was. A pain in the butt process that took some time.
IANAL, and presumably only a lawyer familiar with the specific jurisdiction could answer. Laws would vary. Almost certainly, the person would need to go to court and prove to the judge that he was really alive. Presumably it would be easy if rock solid medical evidence could be provided. Say, he had seen a dentist, and using his dental records (X-rays and such), this could prove he was who he claimed he was. The burden of proof would be on the guy. Surely the medical examiner wouldn’t be eager to admit he declared the wrong person dead.
