Death of a person in the context of defining the boundaries of his legal personality

Background. The achievements of modern medicine determine a new wave of reproblematization of criteria for determining brain death and various legal issues related to it. The purpose of the work is to identify new approaches to this topic, taking into account innovations in social practice and individual court decisions, partly expanding the scope of understanding the constituent elements of a personʼs legal personality, some of which can be realized even after the death of their bearer. Materials and methods. The subject of the study is scientific publications related to rethinking the boundaries of the existence of a personʼs legal personality over time, as well as normative legal acts reflecting the impact of a personʼs death on his rights and duties. The author used the method of system analysis and a formal legal approach, used general scientific methods that allowed him to draw his own conclusions based on the generalization of the studied information. Results. The analysis of human death is complemented by the need to evaluate it from two points of view: as a condition requiring accurate diagnosis, and as a legal fact affecting the legal status of not only the deceased himself, but also related persons (legal successors, heirs, etc.). The author suggests considering the death of an individual as the natural finale of the existence of his legal personality. However, in modern conditions of incomplete clarity of the distinction between brain death and borderline states, as well as the development of the possibilities of maintaining the functioning of the human body after the irrevocable loss of its functions by the brain, death may not be a clear endpoint, but a time-consuming process, which necessitates a number of legislative changes. Conclusions. It is proposed to unify the approach to assessing the transformation of the rights of the deceased into elements of the legal status of living persons who are called upon to implement them by using the term “legal modus of individual”, in which the author puts an understanding of the totality of responsibilities, duties and limitations of the rights and freedoms of a particular individual.