"There is judgment involved, however for legal reasons when a hospital believed the person is dead, that is the date that goes on the certificate," Caplan said. There can be some discretion such as when a family is on the way to say goodbye, but that is usually a matter of hours, not weeks. It can sometimes be psychologically easier for a family to see a loved one in the hospital rather than the morgue, and doctors and nurses are sensitive to that, he said.