There are several types of circumstances that can result in a wrongful death claim being filed in California, and one or more family members of the person who died could receive damages from the individual or organization that was responsible for what happened.
What Is a Wrongful Death Claim?
Although the list of incidents that can be defined as a wrongful death in California is essentially limitless, common examples include car crashes, workplace accidents, a defective product and medical malpractice that caused that death. The most important factor to consider is if a person died as a result of someone else being negligent, careless or reckless or engaging in an act of wrongdoing.
A wrongful death claim, which is a civil suit, is different from criminal proceedings as financial compensation is the desired outcome of the former, and it will not cause anybody to be sent to prison. That said, the same incident could result in both types of charges being faced by the responsible party.
Economic damages that are awarded in connection with a wrongful death claim can be related to medical expenses, a loss of wages, financial support and benefits, funeral and burial costs, emotional distress and the loss of companionship, guidance, support and consortium.
It is okay if the decedent was partially at fault for what occurred. In that situation, the compensation that is awarded to family members will likely be reduced by that percentage.
In most cases, the statute of limitations in a wrongful death claim is two years from when the person died.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?
There is a hierarchy as far as who is eligible to file a wrongful death claim with some family members being guaranteed to be allowed to be involved with this process while other family members are only eligible to take part if nobody above them in this hierarchy exist. In some circumstances, non-family members may be eligible.
Generally, this hierarchy focuses on the closeness of the familial connection between the decedent and their relatives while the closeness of their personal relationships is usually not considered.
Their spouse is the initial focal point. This includes registered domestic partners as well as putative spouses - i.e. those who were not legally married at the time of the incident, but the surviving person genuinely believed that they were and had acted in good faith; an example would be if the decedent had not divorced someone else prior to marrying this person when the latter individual did not even know that their partner had been married before.
Children are also a prime focus as they are guaranteed to be allowed to take part in this wrongful death claim as well. If there is one child, the spouse would receive half of what is awarded with the other half going to the child. When two or more children are in the picture, the spouse would receive a third of the awarded amount with the children splitting the remaining two-thirds. If there is no spouse, the children would be awarded the entire amount.
Stepchildren, adopted children, and unrelated minor children are usually eligible to participate if they were financially dependent on the decedent.
If there are no children but there are grandchildren, the latter group of individuals is eligible to be included in this process with the spouse or on their own if there is also no spouse. This continues down the line as living great-grandchildren are eligible if there are no children or grandchildren and so on.
Parents of the victim become eligible to share the awarded amount with the spouse if there are no children or others in that part of the family tree while the parents would receive it in total if no spouse exists either. Parents of decedents who were minors and parents who were financially dependent on the decedent may also be eligible to be part of a wrongful death claim.
If there are no parents or children, the victim's siblings are eligible to be involved.
Note that if the decedent left behind no children, parents or siblings but did leave behind a spouse, that latter person would receive the entire awarded amount.
If there are no eligible family members, legal heirs may bring forth a wrongful death claim.
Only One Wrongful Death Claim May Be Filed
It is important to note that, in most cases, only one wrongful death claim may be filed, which is usually led by a personal representative. In other words, if the decedent left behind a spouse and three children, those four individuals need to gather and file together; in almost all cases, they cannot file four different claims.
A primary exception to this one-action rule occurs if an eligible person was a minor at the time of the wrongful death and was not involved with the initial claim; they may be able to file one themself after they turn 18. The statute of limitations is usually two years in this situation as well, meaning that they have two years from their 18th birthday to do so.
Another exception can happen if eligible heirs were not allowed to be part of the initial claim.
What About Survival Action?
Sometimes confused with wrongful death claims are survival action claims. The most common difference between the two is that survival action is usually connected with damages that occurred between the time of the incident and when the person died, such as related medical expenses.
In some circumstances, wrongful death and survival action claims are brought forth at the same time.
Punitive damages, which are not usually possible with wrongful death claims, are more likely with a survival action claim. However, they are still not common.
