In addition to the rules of evidence in the courts of general jurisdiction, the following rules relating to a determination of death and status apply:

(1) Death occurs when an individual is determined to be dead under the Alabama Determination of Death Act, Section 22-31-1, et seq.
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Terms Used In Alabama Code 43-8-211

  • Circumstantial evidence: All evidence except eyewitness testimony.
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • following: means next after. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • preceding: means next before. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(2) A certified or authenticated copy of a death certificate purporting to be issued by an official or agency of the place where the death purportedly occurred is prima facie evidence of the fact, place, date, and time of death and the identity of the decedent.
(3) A certified or authenticated copy of any record or report of a governmental agency, domestic or foreign, that an individual is missing, detained, dead, or alive is prima facie evidence of the status and of the dates, circumstances, and places disclosed by the record or report.
(4) In the absence of prima facie evidence of death under subdivision (2) or (3), the fact of death may be established by clear and convincing evidence, including circumstantial evidence.
(5) An individual whose death is not established under the preceding subdivisions who is absent for a continuous period of five years, during which the individual has not been heard from, and whose absence is not satisfactorily explained after diligent search or inquiry, is presumed to be dead. The individual’s death is presumed to have occurred at the end of the period unless there is sufficient evidence for determining that death occurred earlier.
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