Legal Definitions - postmortem

Postmortem refers to anything that occurs or is done after death. It can be used as an adjective to describe an action or event, or as a noun, often referring specifically to a medical examination of a body to determine the cause of death.

• Example 1 (Adjective): When a prominent business owner passed away, their legal team conducted a postmortem analysis of their business contracts to ensure all obligations were met and assets transferred according to the estate plan.

  Explanation: This example illustrates "postmortem" as an adjective because the analysis of business contracts happened after the business owner's death, as part of settling their estate.

• Example 2 (Noun): After a person was found deceased under suspicious circumstances, the authorities requested a full postmortem to be performed by the medical examiner to uncover any potential foul play.

  Explanation: Here, "postmortem" is used as a noun, referring to the specific medical procedure (an autopsy) conducted on the deceased's body to investigate the cause and manner of death.