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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>82199</law_id><section_number>64.2-2204</section_number><catch_line>Evidence of death or status</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="64.2">Wills, Trusts, and Fiduciaries</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="V">Provisions Applicable to Probate and Nonprobate Transfers</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="22">Uniform Simultaneous Death Act</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>In addition to otherwise applicable rules of <span class="dictionary">evidence</span>, the following rules relating to a determination of death and status shall apply:</p></section>
						<section id="1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> Death occurs when an individual is determined to be dead in accordance with the provisions of &#xA7; <a class="law" title="When person deemed medically and legally dead; determination of death; nurses', licensed practical nurses', physician assistants', or advanced practice registered nurses' authority to pronounce death under certain circumstances" href="/54.1-2972/">54.1-2972</a> or Chapter 23 (&#xA7; <a class="law" title="Presumption of death from absence or disappearance; when applicable" href="/64.2-2300/">64.2-2300</a> et seq.). <a id="paragraph-294606" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/64.2-2204/#1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="2"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> A certified or authenticated copy of a death certificate purporting to be issued by a governmental official or agency, domestic or foreign, of the place where the death purportedly occurred is prima facie <span class="dictionary">evidence</span> of the <span class="dictionary">fact</span>, place, date, and time of death and the identity of the decedent. <a id="paragraph-294607" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/64.2-2204/#2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="3"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> A certified or authenticated copy of any record or report purporting to be issued by a governmental official or agency, domestic or foreign, that an individual is missing, detained, dead, or alive is prima facie <span class="dictionary">evidence</span> of the status of the individual and of the dates, times, identities, circumstances, and places disclosed by the record or report. <a id="paragraph-294608" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/64.2-2204/#3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="4"><p><span class="prefix-number">4.</span> In the absence of prima facie evidence of death under subdivision 2 or 3, the <span class="dictionary">facts</span> of death may be established by clear and convincing evidence, including <span class="dictionary">circumstantial evidence</span>. <a id="paragraph-294609" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/64.2-2204/#4"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="5"><p><span class="prefix-number">5.</span> In the absence of evidence disputing the time of death stated on a document described in subdivision 2 or 3, such a document that states a time of death 120 hours or more after the time of death of another individual, however the time of death of the other individual is determined, establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the individual survived the other individual by 120 hours. <a id="paragraph-294610" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/64.2-2204/#5"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>1994, c. 475, &#xA7; 64.1-104.5; 2012, c. 614.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
