San Francisco native Lyn Rawles is a transgender woman whose beauty in her younger years could rival top models. But these days the 49-year-old Rawles is worried about growing old and how she will be remembered after she dies.

“I was born a male but I’ve been living as a woman for more than 20 years and I want my death certificate to show that I am a woman,” Rawles said.

On July 1 Rawles and other transgender individuals in California will be able to have the gender they identify with reflected on their death certificates.

The Respect After Death Act requires medical examiners or coroners to refer to legal documents such as a court order approving a name or gender change, a passport, a will, proof of clinical treatment for gender transition, an amended birth certificate, or a valid driver’s license to determine the sex listed on the death certificate.

According to the law, officials are not to base their decisions solely on the genitalia of the transgender person. If a conflict arises, such documents would override preferences of next-of-kin.

California was the first state in the US to pass this kind of law in September 2014 and since then Illinois legislator has passed a similar bill for transgender individuals.

Sasha Buchert, a staff attorney at the Transgender Law Center said the California law is an improvement on what is being proposed in other states, such as Illinois, where the law would requires a transgender person to provide written direction or an advanced health care directive - a legal document in which a person specifies what actions should be taken for their health if they are no longer able to make decisions for themselves.

"California’s new law is more flexible in that various forms of documentation can be used to influence the sex marker on the death certificate," said Buchert.

She also pointed out that other states require transgender individuals to show documentation proving they have undergone complete sex change operations and full medical treatment before allowing them to amend their birth certificates.

"Some transgender individuals go through medical treatments and procedures to physically change their bodies but not all do it and some change some parts of their bodies but not other parts," said Buchert.

"So for medical examiners or coroners identifying a transgender person, it can be challenging," she added.