Legal Definitions - mors naturalis

Mors naturalis is a Latin legal term that translates directly to natural death.

In legal contexts, mors naturalis refers to a death that occurs due to internal causes, such as disease, old age, or the body's inherent physiological processes, rather than from external factors like violence, accident, suicide, or poisoning. It signifies that no external force or deliberate act caused the individual's demise.

• Example 1: An 85-year-old woman, who had been in declining health due to advanced age, passes away peacefully in her sleep at home. A doctor certifies her death as resulting from natural causes, specifically "failure to thrive" due to old age, without any signs of injury or foul play.

  Explanation: This scenario illustrates mors naturalis because the death resulted from the natural progression of aging and the body's systems shutting down, not from any external trauma, accident, or intentional act.

• Example 2: A middle-aged man with a long history of severe heart disease experiences a sudden, fatal heart attack while at home. Emergency services confirm his death, and an autopsy (if performed) would confirm the cause as complications of his pre-existing cardiac condition.

  Explanation: This is an instance of mors naturalis because the death was caused by an internal medical condition (heart disease) and its natural progression, rather than an external event or injury.

• Example 3: A seemingly healthy young adult collapses unexpectedly and dies. Subsequent medical examination reveals an undiagnosed congenital brain aneurysm that ruptured, leading to a fatal hemorrhage.

  Explanation: Despite the sudden and unexpected nature, this death is classified as mors naturalis because it resulted from an internal, pre-existing medical condition (the aneurysm) and its natural, albeit tragic, progression, not from any external force or intervention.