DEATH

death.  The  ending  of  life;  the  cessation  of  all  vital  functions  and  signs.  —  Also  termed

decease; demise.

accidental  death.A  death  that  results  from  an  unusual  event,  one  that  was  not  voluntary,

intended, expected, or foreseeable.

brain death.The bodily condition of showing no response to external stimuli, no spontaneous

movements,  no breathing,  no reflexes, and a flat reading (usu. for a  full day)  on a  machine  that

measures the brain’s electrical activity. — Also termed legal death.

civil death. 1.Archaic. At common law, the loss of rights — such as the rights to vote, make

contracts, inherit, and sue — by a person who has been outlawed or convicted of a serious crime,

or who is considered to have left the temporal world for the spiritual by entering a monastery.

“In one large department of law the fiction [civil death] is elegantly maintained. A monk or

nun can not acquire or have any proprietary rights. When a man becomes ‘professed in religion,’

his heir at once inherits from him any land that he has, and, if he has made a will, it takes effect at

once as though he were naturally dead.” 1 Frederick Pollock & Frederic W. Maitland, History of

English Law 434 (2d ed. 1898).

“Civil   death   arises   from   outlawry;   it   seems   doubtful   whether   there   are   any   other

circumstances to which the phrase is now applicable.” William R. Anson, Principles of the Law of

Contract 193 n.(b) (Arthur L. Corbin ed., 3d Am. ed. 1919).

2. In some states, the loss of rights — such as the rights to vote and hold public office — by a

person  serving  a  life  sentence.  Cf.  civil  disability  under  DISABILITY(3).  [Cases:  Officers  and

Public  Employees    31.  C.J.S.  Officers  and  Public  Employees  §§  28–30.]  3.  The  state  of  a

corporation that has formally dissolved or become bankrupt, leaving an estate to be administered

for the benefit of shareholders and creditors. — Also termed (in senses 2 & 3) legal death. [Cases:

Corporations    617(1). C.J.S. Corporations § 852.]

compensable death.Workers’ compensation. A death that, because it occurred in the course of

employment,  entitles  the  employee’s  heirs  to  compensation.  [Cases:  Workers’  Compensation

408–510. C.J.S. Workmen’s Compensation §§ 245–287.]

death by one’s own hand.See SUICIDE(1).

immediate death. 1. See instantaneous death. 2. A death occurring within a short time after an

injury or seizure, but not instantaneously.

“A  distinction  has  been  made  between  ‘instantaneous’  and  ‘immediate’  death  ….  As  an

example  of ‘immediate’ rather than ‘instantaneous’ death … the situation in which a blow on the

head produces unconsciousness and renders the victim incapable of intelligent thought, speech, or

action for several minutes until he dies.” 22A Am. Jur. 2d Death § 43, at 159 (1988).

instantaneous death.Death occurring in an instant or within an extremely short time after an

injury  or  seizure.  •  It  is  a  factor  in  determining  an  award  of  damages  for  the  victim’s  pain  and

suffering. — Sometimes also termed immediate death.

“Although the possibility of a death that is truly simultaneous with the injury that caused it

has  been  denied,  it  has  been  pointed  out  that  death  may  be  so  contemporaneous  with  the  fatal

injury as to be instantaneous in the sense that there could be no recovery for the victim’s pain and

suffering.  Ordinarily,  death  is  not  regarded  as  instantaneous  if  an  appreciable  length  of  time

elapsed  between  the  injury  and  the  death.  Indeed,  even  where  the  injury  causing  the  death  is

necessarily  fatal and  death results therefrom  in a few  moments, it has been  held that although  it

would commonly be  called an  instantaneous death, still  if the injured person survives the injury

for a brief period, it may not be said that the death is instantaneous …. In such case it is immaterial

that the period of time between the injury and death is short.” 22A Am. Jur. 2d Death § 43, at 158

(1988).

legal death. 1. See brain death. 2. See civil death (2).3. See CIVIL DEATH (3).

natural  death.  1.  Bodily  death,  as  opposed  to  civil  death.  2.  Death  from  causes  other  than

accident or violence; death from natural causes. — Also termed mors naturalis. Cf. violent death.

See NATURAL-DEATH ACT.

presumptive death.Death inferred from proof of the person’s long, unexplained absence, usu.

after seven years. See ENOCH ARDEN LAW. [Cases: Death    1–2. C.J.S. Death §§ 1, 3, 8–14.]

simultaneous   death.The   death   of   two   or   more   persons   in   the   same   mishap,   under

circumstances   that   make   it   impossible   to   determine   who   died   first.   See   UNIFORM

SIMULTANEOUS DEATH ACT; COMMON DISASTER; COMMORIENTES.

violent  death.Death  accelerated  by  human  intervention  and  resulting  from  a  sharp  blow,

explosion, gunfire, or the like. Cf. natural death. [Blacks Law 8th]