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Decedent
The more commonly-used term here is "deceased," simply meaning the person who has died. As is the case with so much of legal terminology, this word is derived from Latin. The original term, decedare, mean "to take leave of."
In litigation, the decedent or deceased may refer to the cause of action if wrongful death is involved. A wrongful death claim is a specific type of lawsuit against a party who can be held responsible for a person's death on the basis of civil law (torts) rather than on a criminal basis.
In the U.S., the standard of proof is less exacting in litigation than in a criminal case. Whereas in a criminal trial, the accused must be proven guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt," judgment in a civil suit, a defendant can be found liable on a preponderance of the evidence. In other words, instead of being convinced beyond a reasonable doubt, the judge or jury in a civil action must simply weigh the evidence on both sides and decide which side has the better claim.
Because of this, it is possible for a defendant to be found not guilty of causing a person's death in criminal court, but found to liable for that same death in the course of a civil trial. Those who remember the O.J. Simpson fiasco back in the mid 1990's will recall that the defendant was found not guilty during his criminal trial, but later was determined to be liable for his victims' deaths when the victims' families brought civil action against him.
In order to bring a lawsuit against a party for wrongful death, the defendant must be shown to have caused the victim's demise, either in whole or part. Normally, this is negligence, but can be malice aforethought; in fact, it is possible for a trial that starts out as litigation to turn into a criminal trial if evidence shows that there was malice, or if the negligence was egregious enough.