[The postmortem examination and death certificate by the general practitioner: problems with certification on site].

Family doctors are the most competent persons for the postmortem examination due to their knowledge of the patient, previous history, and the circumstances of death. The postmortem examination is a medical activity with specific requirements for the physician that require special training. The situation on site enables the physician to gather important information about the circumstances of death. However, a local postmortem examination is also carried out under difficult conditions, without personal or professional support and in an environment that knows neither the meaning nor the procedure of a postmortem examination. Differences in the understanding of the terms unnatural or unclarified death type lead to conflicts between physicians and the surrounding field of the deceased.