In most common law and civil code jurisdictions , it is usually necessary to obtain a court order directing the registrar to issue a death certificate in the absence of a physician 's certification that an identified individual has died . However , if there is circumstantial evidence that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the individual is deceased on the balance of probabilities , jurisdictions may agree to issue death certificates without any such order . For example , passengers and crew of the RMS '' Titanic '' who were not rescued by the RMS '' Carpathia '' were declared legally dead soon after '' Carpathia '' arrived at New York City . More recently , death certificates for those who perished in the September 11 attacks were issued by the State of New York within days of the tragedy . The same is usually true of soldiers missing after a major battle , especially if the enemy keeps an accurate record of its prisoners of war
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Declared death in absentia