Wrongful Death Claims in California: Seeking Justice for Your Loved One
May 13, 2025- Categories: Wrongful Death
In the catastrophic event that your loved one is killed due to someone else’s negligence or recklessness, you could be entitled to file a wrongful death claim to seek damages. While no amount of money can relieve your pain or bring your deceased family member back, financial compensation can help provide for surviving family members going forward. Grief can be an all-encompassing experience that lasts for months and years, causing confusion, withdrawal, anger, and feelings of overwhelming loss. For this reason, it’s often important to hire an attorney to step in and handle the legal side of things while a family gropes for meaning and puts their life back together. When choosing an attorney, look for attributes like compassion, caring, skill, determination, and a deep knowledge of the law.
Understanding Wrongful Death Claims in California
The overriding law governing wrongful death cases is California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.60. A “wrongful act” in a wrongful death case can include:
- Negligence – A failure to pursue reasonable care.
- Recklessness – Conduct that exhibits a disregard for the safety of others.
- Medical Malpractice – Decisions or actions by a healthcare provider that are careless or insufficient.
- Intentional Acts – Deliberate acts of violence like assault or murder.
- Product Liability – Dangerous or defective consumer products that are due to failures on the part of manufacturers, designers, or product instructions/warnings.
If your loved one died and you believe any of the circumstances listed above caused their death, consulting a personal injury lawyer or product liability attorney is the first step in seeking justice for your loved one.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in California?
In California, various family members can file a wrongful death claim on behalf of a loved one who died. These include:
- Surviving spouse or domestic partner
- Children
- Grandchildren (if the deceased’s children are also dead)
- Minor dependents such as stepchildren who relied on the deceased for financial support for at least 50% of their care
- Anyone else who is entitled to inherit under California intestate succession laws
- A sibling, but only if every other heir in the intestate succession is not present to do so.
Regardless of which family member initiates a lawsuit, California’s “one action rule” requires that all eligible family members wanting to file a claim must join together and file a single lawsuit against the responsible party, rather than filing claims individually.
Crucial Evidence in Wrongful Death Cases
Your attorney will identify key pieces of evidence that can help prove your case. Legal teams may hire accident investigators to visit the scene or review documents to build a strong case. Expert witnesses are sometimes hired to explain and give informed opinions about the circumstances surrounding a death. Important pieces of evidence include:
- Medical records and autopsy reports
- Photos and videos
- Accident and/or incident reports
- Police reports (if any)
- Witness statements
- Surveillance footage
- Financial documents
- Physical evidence such as relevant materials from an accident scene
- Expert testimony.
A diligent, skilled, and committed attorney will leave no stone unturned when gathering evidence to prove your wrongful death case.
Statute of Limitations
Filing Your Claim Promptly Can Make All the Difference
It’s important to understand the statute of limitations for wrongful death claims. Generally, surviving family members have two (2) years from the date of a loved one’s death to file a wrongful death claim in California. Keep in mind that the death could occur days, weeks, or months after the accident or inciting incident that caused the fatality. The clock starts on the day of the death, not the day of the accident or injury. There are exceptions for the two-year rule:
- Minors filing for the wrongful death of a parent have until two years after they turn 18 years old to file a claim.
- If the cause of the death was not immediately known, the statute of limitations clock may not start until the cause is identified (discovery rule).
When filing a claim against a government entity, the statute of limitations is dramatically shorter – just 6 months from the date of the death. For medical malpractice wrongful death cases, the statute of limitations is either . . .
- One year from the date of discovery that the fatality was caused by medical negligence or carelessness, or
- Three years from the date of death, whichever event occurs earlier.
As you can see, issues around statute of limitations in California can be complex and confusing. If the statute of limitations lapses, a court will likely dismiss your claim, barring you from collecting damages. Consulting an attorney is the best way to ensure that your claim is filed properly and on time.
Neale & Fhima has a 99% success rate in the cases we handle. Whether we achieve a settlement or take a case to trial, our fierce attorneys know how to negotiate and argue a case in court. We will not back down.
Impediments to Filing or Winning a Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Various obstacles can arise when attempting to pursue a wrongful death claim. Your success can hinge on the skill and tenacity of the lawyer you hire. Potential impediments to your claim can include:
- Insufficient Evidence – There is not enough documentation, eyewitnesses, medical records, or other proof to make your case successful.
- Limited Standing – Appropriate family members or representatives of the estate might not be present or able to be located to file a lawsuit.
- Proving Negligence – There are elements of negligence that you must be able to show to prove negligence: 1) duty of care, 2) breach of duty, 3) causation of death.
- Contributory Negligence – If the deceased was partially at fault for causing his or her own accidental death, then this muddies the waters, and it could result in reduced compensation or none at all.
At Neale & Fhima, we are willing to review the facts in any wrongful death situation and offer an analysis about whether adequate evidence and information exists to pursue a successful claim.
Neale & Fhima: Aggressive Advocates in Wrongful Death Cases
The role of a wrongful death attorney is to be both compassionate and fierce. We must show caring, respect, and deep compassion for victims’ families, while at the same time we must be knowledgeable, aggressive, and adept when confronting insurance companies and lawsuit defendants. At Neale & Fhima, our attorneys and legal team are both. Our experienced wrongful death lawyers have an outstanding record of recovering more than $50 million in rightful compensation for victims throughout Southern California. While no amount of money can bring back a deceased loved one, it can provide resources for surviving family members in the future. A skilled personal injury attorney can calculate compensation after an accident and tell you what your claim may be worth. You don’t have to face this tragedy alone. The Neale & Fhima team will walk beside you every step of the way throughout the legal process. For a free consultation about your case, call us at 888-407-2955.
Attorney Aaron Fhima
Aaron Fhima is a trial attorney who has secured numerous settlements and verdicts against large corporations and some of the largest auto manufacturers in the world. Representing consumers and injury victims throughout the state of California, Aaron’s practice areas include personal injury, and lemon law litigation. Aaron has a long record of success taking on large defense firms; and he doesn’t hesitate to take cases to trial when necessary to enforce his clients’ rights. [ Attorney Bio ]
