In proceedings under chapter 524 the Rules of Evidence in courts of general jurisdiction including any relating to simultaneous deaths, are applicable unless specifically displaced by this chapter. In addition, the following rules relating to determination of death and status are applicable:
(1) a certified or authenticated copy of a death record purporting to be issued by an official or agency of the place where the death purportedly occurred is prima facie proof of the fact, place, date and time of death and the identity of the decedent;
(2) a certified or authenticated copy of any record or report of a governmental agency, domestic or foreign, that a person 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;
(3) the provisions of section 578.16 shall govern the presumption of death of a person whose absence is not satisfactorily explained.
History:1974 c 442 art 1 s 524.1-107; 1975 c 347 s 13; 1Sp2001 c 9 art 15 s 32; 2012 c 143 art 3 s 38