CaliforniaAB 5832025-2026 Regular SessionHouseWALLET

Death certificates.

Sponsored By: Gail Pellerin (Democratic)

Signed by Governor

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

Gender identity on death certificates

Beginning July 1, 2026, every death certificate must show the decedent’s gender identity: female, male, or nonbinary. The informant’s report controls unless an official document is shown, such as a birth certificate, driver’s license, Social Security record, court order, passport, advance health care directive, or proof of clinical treatment for gender transition. If there is no document and someone with the right to control disposition disagrees, that person or a majority of them controls the entry. Any disputing person may ask the superior court to decide who controls the entry. A person who follows the document rule is not liable for damages over the recorded sex.

Nurse practitioners can certify deaths faster

Beginning July 1, 2026, the physician or the nurse practitioner last in attendance can complete and sign the medical section and the time of death. They must list the immediate and contributing causes of death, and note any cancer only if they have actual knowledge. The attending physician or nurse practitioner must finish and deliver the certificate within 15 hours after death. If the coroner certifies, the coroner has up to three days after examining the body. For fetal deaths, a physician or nurse practitioner must certify the time and causes and deliver the certificate within 15 hours after delivery. Physicians, nurse practitioners, and coroners can file a declaration under Section 2015.5 of the Code of Civil Procedure to correct medical data on death, fetal death, or live birth records.

E-signatures and pregnancy data in records

By July 1, 2024, the State Registrar records parents’ relationship to the decedent and any extra last names in the electronic system, not on the paper certificate. Beginning July 1, 2026, approved electronic signature substitutes may be used by embalmers, the person completing the cause-of-death section, and local registrars. The electronic system must show if the decedent was pregnant at death or within the prior year when known by observation, autopsy, or the medical record. No pregnancy test or mandatory record review is required just for registration.

Immediate coroner notice for suspicious deaths

Beginning July 1, 2026, doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, funeral directors, and others must immediately notify the coroner when a death is unattended or suspicious. This includes no medical attendance, the attending doctor was absent, the attending cannot state the cause, suspected suicide, death after injury or accident, or a possible criminal act. Failure to notify is a misdemeanor.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Gail Pellerin
Democratic • House

Cosponsors

There are no cosponsors for this bill.

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 230 • No: 0

House vote • 9/3/2025

Item 121 — Assembly AFLOOR

Yes: 79 • No: 0

Senate vote • 9/2/2025

Item 282 — Senate SFLOOR

Yes: 40 • No: 0

legislature vote • 6/11/2025

Vote in CS60

Yes: 9 • No: 0

House vote • 5/8/2025

Item 77 — Assembly AFLOOR

Yes: 72 • No: 0

legislature vote • 4/23/2025

Vote in CX25

Yes: 15 • No: 0

legislature vote • 4/1/2025

Vote in CX08