# Legal Question Re: Unattended Death **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-re-unattended-death/244284 "2004-05-09T12:38:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-re-unattended-death/244284/1 "2004-05-09T12:38:06Z")
Say you live in the State of New York. Say further that a family member is found dead in his bed by his wife when she comes home from work on a sunny Friday afternoon in May. I assumed that an autopsy would be required, because people rarely just turn up dead. In this particular case that’s not so. His mother pitched a blue fit and nobody asked his wife (who was hysterical anyway), so the coroner and his primary-care physician signed off on “heart failure” and that was that. What does the law say in this state? As a related question, if you win a settlement and all the papers are signed and the judgement is awarded, but you die before you get the money, what happens? Does the widow get the money automatically, does she have to take some affirmative legal action, or is the settlement agreement voided? I know: “get a lawyer.” I don’t have that kind of control over the situation; I’m just sort of advising when asked. ---
**Author:** ![Cillasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-re-unattended-death/244284/2 "2004-05-09T17:42:45Z")
Unattended death is loosely interpreted. If a person is under medical care, dying alone at home does not automatically trigger an autopsy. Current technologies provide many ways to confirm manner of death without the invasiveness of an autopsy. From [http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/7635.html](http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/7635.html) > [@](#): > > There are few things in life more traumatic than the death of a family member. The need to investigate and understand the cause of death, particularly when it occurs under unusual, confusing, or ambiguous circumstances is almost universal. The use of autopsy, however, has declined steeply over the past fifty years ago. Currently, autopsies are performed in only about 6 per cent of non-forensic hospital deaths, and even less among deaths in the community. > > There are several reasons why autopsies are no longer routine. Most health insurers, including Medicare, do not pay for non-forensic autopsies. Grieving families rarely think to request them, and doctors sometimes avoid asking for fear of malpractice claims, or the belief that due to the high technology of imaging and diagnostic testing there are no significant questions left unanswered at death. Pathology personnel also fear potential biohazard risks. > > It has been repeatedly shown, however, that discrepancies between clinical diagnosis in the living and true cause of death or post-mortem diagnosis exist in as many as 30% of cases. As a definitive method of establishing the cause of death, therefore the autopsy remains unique and valuable. As far as payment of settlement monies go, most personal injury lawsuits are filed on behalf of both spouses so the spouse would get the settlement. In general, if a case is in final judgment, the award goes to the estate of the deceased. Any settlement agreement will take into account the age, earnings capacity and health (when diminished by reasons other than the cause of action) of the claimant. Even if a lawsuit is not settled at the time of a claimant’s death, the claimant’s estate can continue the lawsuit on their behalf. Case in point: Two sisters (friends of mine) were allowed to continue their mother’s personal injury negligence lawsuit for a broken hip incurred by falling out of bed in hospital. They accepted a settlement on the advice of counsel, and the amount of the award was determined by the degree of hospital negligence, mitigated by the woman’s age (75), earnings capacity (zero), state of health (she had terminal cancer), pain and suffering (not sure if anything was awarded for this as claimant had died) and quality of life (she was in the end stages of the disease). ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-re-unattended-death/244284/3 "2004-05-09T18:44:33Z")
New York [Public Health Law Sec. 4143](http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=91&a=193) provides, in relevant part: > [@](#): > > Deaths without medical attendance; registration. 1. In case of any death occurring without medical attendance, it shall be the duty of the funeral director, undertaker or any other person to whose knowledge the death may come, to give notice of such death to the coroner of the county, or if there be more than one, to a coroner having jurisdiction, or to the medical examiner. > 2. When notified of any death occurring without medical attendance, the coroner or medical examiner shall immediately investigate as provided by law and shall certify as provided in subdivision three. > 3. The coroner or medical examiner whose duty it is to investigate the death and to execute the certificate of death, shall state in such certificate the name of the disease causing death, or if from external causes, the means of death; whether probably accidental, suicidal or homicidal; and shall, in any case, furnish such information as may be required by the commissioner in order to classify the death. However, [Public Health Law Sec. 4210-c](http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=91&a=200) provides, in relevant part: > [@](#): > > Limitations to dissection or autopsy. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the absence of a compelling public necessity, no dissection or autopsy shall be performed over the objection of a surviving relative or friend of the deceased that such procedure is contrary to the religious belief of the decedent, or, if there is otherwise reason to believe that a dissection or autopsy is contrary to the decedent`s religious beliefs. > 2. For the purposes of this section: (a) “compelling public necessity” shall mean: > (i) that the dissection or autopsy is essential to the conduct of a criminal investigation of a homicide, as defined in section 125.00 of the penal law, of which the decedent is the victim, or > (ii) that discovery of the cause of death is necessary to meet an immediate and substantial threat to the public health and that a dissection or autopsy is essential to ascertain the cause of death, or > (iii) that the need for a dissection or autopsy is established in accordance with subdivision five of this section [permitting autopsy by court order]. . . . As to your second question, if a person dies before a legal claim has settled, it almost always would go to the estate of the decedent, and the Surrogate’s Court (the probate court in New York) would have to appoint an executor or adminstrator to administer the estate and distribute funds according to the will or intestacy laws. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-re-unattended-death/244284/4 "2004-05-09T22:15:48Z")
Minor aside: I’ve had a number of patients end up found dead at home. Sometimes days after death. The local ME would call me, ask if I could reasonably conclude a cause of death based on their medical histories, and ask if I felt an autopsy was needed. In the case of little old ladies with bad hearts and lungs, or even middle-aged men with high blood pressure and lots of other cardiac risk factors, I’d tell them that if they were lacking external physical evidence of foul play, “heart failure” as a diagnosis worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-re-unattended-death/244284/5 "2004-05-10T12:09:52Z")
Thanks guys. This man was in very poor health, and at least a few of his problems were more or less self-inflicted. Given what you’ve told me I can see why they didn’t need an autopsy. The suddeness of it was a shock but it wasn’t really a surprise, if you know what I mean. There may also be more outstanding legal issues with this guy than I originally thought. He made some poor life decisions as a young and then spent the rest of his life attempting to evade the consequences. His wife, on the other hand, is a wonderful person and I hope she doesn’t end up paying for his mistakes. Lawyer, lawyer, lawyer. I’m going to beat that like a drum. I know I could have looked this stuff up myself, but I’ve been somewhat busy. I really appreciate the help. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-re-unattended-death/244284/6 "2004-05-10T13:49:31Z")
When my father-in-law died, there was a nurse’s assistant and seven or so family members present, yet they put his time of death at the time the actual nurse showed up to pronounce him. Go figure. It was nearly five hours later. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-question-re-unattended-death/244284/7 "2004-05-10T14:32:52Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Minor aside: I’ve had a number of patients end up found dead at home. How many, and where’s your practice? 😃 (It’s a joke - I know Qadgop is an outstanding physician, and I certainly hope I’m never one of his patients for other reasons.)