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If a person has died, a doctor must immediately carry out the post-mortem examination. He or she establishes the death and completes the death certificate. The death certificate must be presented to the competent registry office when the death is notified.

The following persons are obliged to arrange for the post-mortem examination in the following order:

• the spouse or registered partner
• children of full age
• the parents
• the grandparents
• the adult siblings
• the adult grandchildren of the deceased person
• the person in whose home, institution or property the death occurred
• any person who was present at the time of death or who is informed of the death from his own knowledge

Note: If the death occurred in hospitals, maternity homes, nursing or old people's homes, educational or prison institutions or similar institutions or in means of transport (e.g. in a tram), the medical management of the hospital, the management of the other institution or the driver of the means of transport is obliged to arrange the post-mortem examination in the first place.

ID card or passport to identify the deceased

The costs of the post-mortem examination are charged to the person, who is also obliged to pay the funeral costs.

Every general practitioner and medical staff of a hospital or other institution are obliged to carry out a post-mortem examination. The post-mortem examination is to be carried out by them on request and may only be refused for compelling reasons. In case of refusal, it must be ensured that the post-mortem examination is carried out by another doctor.

Emergency doctors deployed in the ambulance service are not obliged to determine the manner and cause of death. They only have to establish the death and record the occurrence of the death on the death certificate. They arrange for the post-mortem examination to be carried out by another doctor via the rescue coordination centre and notify the police if there are indications of a non-natural death.

If there is a natural death, the person conducting the post-mortem examination gives the death certificate to the person who arranges the funeral.

If it is an unknown deceased person, they notify the local police station.

The death certificate consists of a confidential and a non-confidential part.

If the manner of death is unclear, the doctor will retain the confidential part of the death certificate and notify the local police station. This person carries out investigations and informs the doctor about their results. If these investigations have revealed a natural death, the doctor supplements the confidential part of the death certificate and forwards it to the competent registry office.

If the police investigation or the post-mortem examination has already revealed indications of a non-natural death, in particular if external influence or failure to provide assistance is to be suspected, the police will involve the public prosecutor's office so that, if necessary, the cause of death can be determined by means of a forensic medical report and an autopsy. This also applies if someone puts an end to his own life. If the public prosecutor's office has been involved, the registrar does not certify the death until it is reported.

Under the second sentence of Paragraph 2(1) of the BbgLDV, all sheets of the 'death certificate' form must be signed by the doctor carrying out the post-mortem examination and stamped by the doctor, if applicable by the institution. The obligation to carry out the post-mortem examination is based on § 5 BbgBestG (medical morgue obligation) With regard to the individual steps, reference is made to § 2, with regard to the exceptions to §3 BbgLDV.

The death certificate must be sent to the health department of the district or the independent city.

Gesetz über das Leichen-, Bestattungs- und Friedhofswesen im Land Brandenburg (Brandenburgisches Bestattungsgesetz - BbgBestG) i. V. mit Verordnung über die Dokumentation der Morchenschau im Land Brandenburg (Brandenburgische Leichenschaudokumentations-Verordnung - BbgLDV)

Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Integration and Consumer Protection