death certificate (thing)

The bureaucratic proof of death. Your typical death certificate contains:

• The name and age of the deceased
• Date and time of death
• Cause of death
• Coroner's name
• funeral home
• surviving relatives

These are kept on record usually at a central state office. Laws vary from state to state, county to county, or shire to shire, but usually just about anybody can request a copy for their own purposes. Sometimes these pieces of paper are the first jilting factor to a relative in the event of death.