California Wrongful Death Attorney

California wrongful death is a statutory claim. Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60 permits specified people to assert a claim for death caused by another’s wrongful act or neglect, or permits the decedent’s personal representative to assert it on their behalf. The statute includes a surviving spouse or domestic partner, children and issue of deceased children; when there is no surviving issue, it reaches people who would take by intestate succession; and it adds certain dependents in defined circumstances.

The statute’s exact words matter. A family relationship does not automatically establish standing, and the person managing an estate is not always the only person whose loss must be addressed. An early family map should identify the decedent’s marital and domestic-partner status, children and deceased children’s issue, parents, household dependents, potential intestate heirs, and the personal representative or successor in interest.

Wrongful death addresses the eligible claimants’ own losses resulting from the death. A survival claim is different: under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.30, a cause of action that belonged to the decedent passes to the personal representative or, if none, the successor in interest. The two claims may arise from the same event but have different claimants and damages rules.

Section 377.34 is especially time-sensitive. Its current text generally limits survival damages to losses the decedent sustained before death and excludes pain, suffering, and disfigurement, while subdivision (b) permits those damages for specified proceedings, including actions filed on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2026. A new matter should not assume that a survival claim includes the decedent’s pain and suffering.

Section 377.61 permits damages that are just under the circumstances and directs the court to determine the respective rights in an award. California’s official CACI No. 3921 gives a practical evidence map for an adult’s death:

• Economic evidence: expected financial support, gifts or benefits, funeral and burial expenses, and the reasonable value of household services.
• Relationship evidence: love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, moral support, and, where applicable, sexual relations or training and guidance.

CACI 3921 also tells jurors not to award a separate amount for the survivor’s grief, sorrow, or mental anguish or for the decedent’s pain and suffering within the wrongful-death claim. That legal distinction does not deny the reality of grief; it means the evidence must be connected to the damages California law recognizes.

The incident evidence may include vehicles, property, products, video, photographs, reports, electronic data, witness information, and records held by companies or public agencies. The life record is equally important: employment and tax records, benefits, household responsibilities, calendars, correspondence, photographs, family witnesses, education and caregiving, medical and funeral expenses, and evidence of future support or guidance. Preserve accurately; do not create a litigation diary that exaggerates or reconstructs details from memory.

Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 generally provides two years for an action for death caused by another’s wrongful act or neglect. That general period is not a complete deadline analysis. If a public entity may be involved, Government Code § 911.2 generally requires a claim relating to death or personal injury to be presented no later than six months after accrual, and § 945.4 generally requires presentation and action or deemed rejection before suit for money or damages. Medical-professional negligence and other claims have different statutes. Accrual, exceptions, late-claim procedures, and the correct entity are fact-specific.

The firm evaluates wrongful-death claims arising within its accepted catastrophic-injury and accident practice, including suitable vehicle, aviation, construction, premises, and product matters. The firm does not handle medical or dental malpractice claims. Acceptance of any matter depends on conflicts, facts, timing, venue, available evidence, and the firm’s ability to undertake the representation.