Legal Definitions - legal death

Definition: Legal death refers to the ending of life and cessation of all vital functions and signs. It can also refer to brain death or civil death.

Examples:

• Brain death: This is the bodily condition where there is no response to external stimuli, no spontaneous movements, no breathing, no reflexes, and a flat reading on a machine that measures the brain's electrical activity.
• Civil death: This is the loss of rights, such as the right to vote, make contracts, inherit, and sue, by a person who has been outlawed or convicted of a serious crime. It can also refer to the state of a corporation that has formally dissolved or become bankrupt.

These examples illustrate how legal death can refer to different situations where the person or entity is considered legally dead. Brain death is used to determine when a person is no longer alive, while civil death refers to the loss of legal rights.