The California Wrongful Death statute creates a legal claim when someone dies at the hands of a negligent, reckless, or intentional tort or a dangerous or defective product. Such incidents include:

*Negligent driving, such as unsafe movements, speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and viewing a smartphone or cellphone while driving

*Shooting someone either intentionally or negligently

*Death from fire or smoke inhalation due to faulty or inadequate fire protection systems such as sprinklers, sufficient exits, or fire extinguishers

*An attack by a criminal that kills a hotel guest or store customer due to inadequate or otherwise negligent security

*Exposure to a toxic chemical leading to a fatal disease

These and other acts and omissions -- whether negligent, reckless, or criminal -- leave the victim's family and significant others emotionally, mentally, and financially distraught. The at-fault or responsible parties face a wrongful death lawsuit.

The damages from a wrongful death go beyond expenses for funerals and burials or cremation. California's wrongful death statute law awards eligible parties compensation for the financial support the decedent would have provided and the loss of companionship, guidance, and relationship provided by the decedent.

Your relationship to the decedent determines whether you are eligible for compensation under the wrongful death statute. We examine the relationships that may allow you to bring or share in a wrongful death claim.

The Surviving Spouse

You may bring a wrongful death claim as the surviving spouse. So long as you are not divorced, the fact that you were separated from the decedent at the time of death does not defeat your right to sue for wrongful death.

“Putative Spouses”

Your right to sue doesn't necessarily vanish if it turns out you were not validly married to the decedent. In such situations, it counts that you in good faith believed that you were legally married.

A “putative spouse” refers to one who enters into a marriage with the deceased that either is void from the outset or can become nullified after the ceremony. Bigamous marriages and those between a parent and child, siblings, half-siblings, or those where the parties are otherwise related to each other are void. Neither party has any choice about recognizing the marriage as valid.

In some cases, a party has the option of treating a marriage as valid or asking a court to nullify it. These “voidable marriages” may arise if the party seeking nullification has entered into a second marriage believing the first spouse died or disappeared. California law makes the second marriage voidable if the first spouse disappeared and was not known to be alive for at least five consecutive years. If you married the decedent on a good faith belief that the first spouse was no longer living, you may file a wrongful death claim as a putative spouse of the decedent.

The wrongful death statute requires certain parties to additionally prove that they depended on the deceased for necessities such as shelter, food, clothing, and medical care. If you're a putative spouse, this additional prerequisite applies to you.

Domestic Partners

If you meet the requirements for recognition as such, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit as a domestic partner.

Before the United States Supreme Court recognized same-sex marriages as a right under the U.S. Constitution in Obergefell v. Hodges, California allowed same-sex and other couples to register as domestic partners. With this designation, couples who could not marry or chose to not marry would have an official recognition of their relationship. This brought some of the same benefits accorded to married couples. The recognition of domestic partnerships by California continues even after same-sex couples became entitled to marry under the U.S. Supreme Court's decision.

Some couples choose to register as domestic partners rather than marry because of tax considerations – notably the ability to use the “single” filer tax status. To be considered a domestic partner of the decedent, you must have:

*Lived with the decedent and share household resources and finances

*Been at least 18 years old, along with the decedent

*Not be married to someone else

*Not been someone else's domestic partner less than six months before becoming a partner with the decedent

*Registered as a domestic partner of the decedent

*Not be related to the decedent so as to have barred being married to the decedent

Children and Grandchildren

At first blush, biological children and grandchildren of a decedent seemingly may always sue for the parents' or grandparents' wrongful death. However, bear in mind that the wrongful death laws seek to compensate those who stand to inherit from the decedent or relied on the decedent for support or relationship. For that reason, courts have often excluded illegitimate children from wrongful death suits where the decedent is the putative or alleged father.

If your parents are not married, you must show one of the following to be able to sue:

*The decedent is your mother

*A court order during your father's lifetime establishes paternity

*Your father treated you before others as your child, such as you living with him for 180 days

*Your father and mother later married, thereby legitimating you as his child

*Your father died before you were born, and you show by “clear and convincing evidence” that you are the father's child

Eligible children also include step-children who depended on the decedent for support and adopted children.

Other Heirs of the Decedent

When a decedent has no surviving children, or grandchildren, California law includes those who may inherit from the decedent as eligible parties. In this situation, you treat the decedent as if he or she did not have a will and determine who inherits under the intestancy statute.

If any survive, the decedent's parents may sue for wrongful death. Even if children or grandchildren survive the decedent, parents get standing to sue if they depended upon the decedent for essentials.

If the decedent had no surviving children, grandchildren, or parents, then the children of the decedent's parents – brothers and sisters of the decedent – can sue.