The first question in a wrongful death case is not what it is worth. It is who is allowed to bring it, and the answer is a defined list rather than a matter of who was closest to the person who died.
Getting that settled early matters, because everyone with standing has to be accounted for in a single action rather than bringing separate ones.
Culver Legal, LLP represents families across the Central Valley from an office at 1690 W Shaw Avenue, Suite 220 in Fresno. We work on contingency and advance the costs of the case, so there is nothing to pay up front and no fee unless we win. If there is no recovery, you are not charged those costs either. Call (310) 600-7881 at any hour.
Who Is Allowed to Bring the Claim?
Code of Civil Procedure 377.60 sets out who may file, and it works in tiers.
First, the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, and the children. If a child has died, the issue of that child stand in their place.
If there is no surviving spouse, partner or issue, standing passes to the people who would be entitled to the property of the person who died by intestate succession. That is where parents and siblings usually come in, and it depends on who else survives rather than on the relationship alone.
Separately, certain people who were financially dependent on the person who died may file. That includes a putative spouse and their children, stepchildren, and parents.
The point most families get wrong is about parents. A parent is not automatically on the list. They may qualify through intestate succession where there is no spouse, partner or child, or through dependency, and dependency has to be shown rather than assumed. Where a parent is bringing the claim, that is a question worth answering at the start rather than at a hearing.
If you are unsure whether you are on the list, that is the first thing to establish, and it is not a question you should have to work out alone.
Not sure whether you can bring the claim?
Standing is a defined list, not a matter of who was closest. It is worth settling before anything else.
There Are Actually Two Claims
Families are often surprised by this, and it changes what can be recovered.
The wrongful death claim belongs to the surviving family members and compensates them for their own loss: financial support the person would have provided, the value of household services, funeral and burial costs, and the loss of the person’s love, companionship, comfort and guidance.
The survival action belongs to the estate and covers what the person themselves suffered between the injury and their death, including their own economic losses. It is brought by the personal representative of the estate rather than by the family in their own right.
They are frequently brought together, they have different claimants, and missing the second one leaves part of the case unrecovered.
What Cannot Be Recovered, and It Is Worth Knowing Early
California does not allow the surviving family to recover for their own grief and sorrow as such, and punitive damages are not available in a wrongful death claim, though they may be available in the survival action in limited circumstances.
That is not a comfortable thing to read, and it is better read here than heard for the first time from an insurer.
How Long Do You Have?
Two years from the date of death under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1.
Six months to present a written claim where a public entity is involved, under Government Code 911.2, and no lawsuit can be brought until that has been done. For a claim against the City of Fresno that goes to the Risk Management Division, 2600 Fresno Street, Room 1030, and the city requires claims in duplicate. The city, the county, a school district, a state agency and a transit operator are separate entities with separate processes, so establishing which one applies comes before filing anything.
A coroner’s investigation and a police investigation run on their own timetables and are separate from the civil claim. Nothing in a civil claim interferes with either, and starting one does not require waiting for either to finish. Families frequently wait, believing they have to, and lose months they did not need to lose.
Where Are the Records, and Where Would the Case Be Heard?
Community Regional Medical Center, 2823 Fresno Street, describes itself as the only Level I trauma center between Los Angeles and Sacramento, verified at that level by the American College of Surgeons. If the injury was serious anywhere in this region, that is where the person was taken, which means one hospital holds the imaging, the trauma activation record and the first responder narrative.
Where a collision was involved, the report comes from the Fresno Police Department Records section at 2323 Mariposa Street, on (559) 621-2534, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., for a $12 fee. A collision on Highway 99, Interstate 5 or State Route 41 is normally the California Highway Patrol’s instead. A fatal investigation takes longer than any other kind, and that is normal rather than a sign that something has gone wrong. It is also not a reason to wait, because the six-month deadline, where it applies, does not pause for it.
A wrongful death claim is an unlimited civil case, filed at the B. F. Sisk Courthouse, 1130 O Street, and heard in Fresno County before a Fresno County jury.
What Kinds of Cases Do These Arise From?
- A car accident or a truck accident
- A motorcycle or bicycle collision
- Someone struck while walking
- A workplace death, where a third-party claim can run alongside workers’ compensation death benefits
- A construction site death
- A fall on property somebody else was responsible for
- A traumatic brain injury that proves fatal
Told to wait for the investigation to finish?
A civil claim does not wait for a coroner or a police file. Deadlines keep running either way.
Why Do Fresno Families Choose Culver Legal?
We are in Fresno, at 1690 W Shaw Avenue, Suite 220, and we will come to you rather than asking a family to travel.
Our team speaks Spanish, Farsi, Filipino, Hindi, Mandarin and Korean.
The economics are simple. Contingency, costs advanced, nothing up front and no fee unless we win. We advance the case costs, and if there is no recovery you are not charged those costs either. Culver Legal has recovered $200 Million and counting, and the phone is answered 24 hours a day.
Fresno Wrongful Death FAQs
Who can sue for wrongful death in California?
Code of Civil Procedure 377.60 sets out a defined list. First, the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and the children, with the issue of a deceased child standing in that child’s place. Where there is no surviving spouse, partner or issue, standing passes to whoever would inherit by intestate succession, which is usually how parents or siblings qualify. Separately, certain people who were financially dependent on the person who died may file, including a putative spouse, stepchildren and parents. Parents are the case most often misunderstood: they are not automatically on the list, and where they qualify through dependency, the dependency has to be shown rather than assumed.
Who pays a wrongful death settlement?
Almost always an insurer rather than the individual. Depending on how the death happened that may be a motor vehicle policy, a commercial or carrier policy, a homeowner or business liability policy, or a public entity’s own coverage. Where several parties contributed there may be more than one policy, and identifying all of them usually affects the outcome more than arguing about fault does.
Is it hard to win a wrongful death lawsuit?
It is harder than an injury claim, for a specific reason rather than a general one: the person who could describe what happened is not there to describe it. The case gets built from physical evidence, witnesses, records and expert reconstruction instead. That is difficult but not unusual, and it is the reason evidence preservation matters more here than anywhere else.
How long do these cases take?
Longer than families expect, and mostly for reasons outside anyone’s control. A criminal or coroner’s investigation may run alongside, more than one insurer may be involved, and where several family members have standing the claim is brought as a single action rather than several. What does not have to wait is the beginning.
Can we bring a claim if a workers’ compensation death claim is already open?
Often yes. Where somebody other than the employer contributed to the death, a third-party wrongful death claim can run alongside the compensation death benefit rather than instead of it. They are separate systems with separate deadlines, and the compensation carrier will usually have a right to be reimbursed out of a third-party recovery.
We are undocumented. Can we bring a claim without putting the family at risk?
Yes, and the protection is stronger than most people expect. Under Evidence Code 351.2, added by AB 2159, evidence of a person’s immigration status is not admissible in a civil action for personal injury or wrongful death, and discovery into it is not permitted either. It cannot be raised at trial and it cannot be asked about beforehand. It is not a question we ask you, and it is not a question the other side gets to ask.
Contact a Culver Legal Fresno Wrongful Death Lawyer
There is no hurry that matters more than your family right now, and there are two things that do not wait: the six-month deadline where a public body is involved, and evidence that is being overwritten while everyone is grieving. A conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Reach us at (310) 600-7881 at any hour, or at 1690 W Shaw Avenue, Suite 220.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Culver Legal, LLP is a California law firm. The information on this page is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
