A death certificate contains a vast amount of information. Some of that is primary information recording data from the same time as the death. Some data is secondary in nature, having usually been provided by an informant who may or may not have known the correct information.

Among the primary information on the certificate is a signed statement by the attending physician attesting to how long the deceased had been in the doctor’s care, the date and time of death, and the cause(s) of death.