The determination and pronouncement of when a person has died has medical, ethical, and legal implications. Laws vary from state to state, and death is usually defined in a state’s statutes.

Definitions and terminology may vary from state to state but generally a person is dead when, according to ordinary standards of medical practice, there is irreversible cessation of the person's spontaneous respiratory and circulatory functions. If artificial means of support preclude a determination that a person's spontaneous respiratory and circulatory functions have ceased, the person is dead when, in the announced opinion of a physician, according to ordinary standards of medical practice, there is irreversible cessation of all spontaneous brain function.

Death occurs when the relevant functions cease. But a formal pronouncement of death is not a legal determination of the cause, manner, or time of death.

In South Carolina, the determination of death is guided by state statutes that align with the general medical and legal consensus on the definition of death. According to South Carolina law, a person is considered legally dead when there is an irreversible cessation of all brain functions, which is known as brain death, or when there is an irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions. The pronouncement of death must be made by a licensed physician and is based on accepted medical standards. The use of artificial life support may necessitate the application of brain death criteria to determine death. It is important to note that while the pronouncement of death establishes that death has occurred, it does not legally establish the cause, manner, or exact time of death. These aspects are typically determined through a death investigation or autopsy when necessary.