Who Is Eligible to File a Wrongful Death Claim in California?

Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.60, the right to file a wrongful death claim belongs to a specific set of individuals who had a close relationship with the deceased person. Not everyone who is grieving the loss of a loved one has legal standing to bring a wrongful death lawsuit. California law establishes a priority system that determines who may file and in what order. Attorney Damoun Yazdi at The Accident Network Law Group handles wrongful death claims arising from car accidents, truck accidents, and other negligence throughout Southern California.

Key Takeaways

• California’s wrongful death statute (CCP Section 377.60) establishes who has standing to sue
• Surviving spouses and domestic partners, children, and in some cases grandchildren have priority standing
• When there is no surviving spouse or children, the deceased’s parents or siblings may have standing as intestate heirs, and certain financially dependent relatives may have standing as dependents
• Wrongful death claims compensate survivors for their losses, while survival actions compensate the estate for the deceased’s losses
• California’s statute of limitations for wrongful death is two years from the date of death (CCP Section 335.1)

Who Has Standing to File a Wrongful Death Claim

Surviving Spouse or Domestic Partner

The surviving spouse or registered domestic partner of the deceased has the highest priority standing to bring a wrongful death claim under CCP Section 377.60. This right exists regardless of the length of the marriage or whether the couple had children.

A putative spouse (someone who reasonably believed they were lawfully married but whose marriage was invalid for a legal reason) may also have standing in certain circumstances.

Children of the Deceased

The minor and adult children of the deceased have standing to file a wrongful death claim. This includes biological children, legally adopted children, and in some circumstances, stepchildren who were dependent on the deceased.

If the deceased was not married and had children, the children (or their guardian or representative) would typically be the primary claimants.

Grandchildren

Grandchildren have standing only when the deceased’s children are also deceased. If the deceased had children who are still living, the grandchildren generally do not have independent standing unless they were dependents of the deceased.

Other Heirs and Dependents

When the deceased has no surviving spouse, domestic partner, children, or grandchildren under the circumstances described above, CCP Section 377.60(a) extends standing to whoever would inherit the deceased’s estate through intestate succession, typically the deceased’s parents, and, if no parents survive, the deceased’s siblings. These heirs do not need to show financial dependency to have standing under this provision.

Separately, CCP Section 377.60(b) grants standing to certain dependents, including a putative spouse, children of a putative spouse, stepchildren, parents, or legal guardians, who were financially dependent on the deceased, even when they would not otherwise qualify as heirs under subdivision (a).

Putative Spouse’s Children

Children born to a putative spouse’s relationship with the deceased may have standing under certain circumstances.

Wrongful Death vs. Survival Action

California allows two distinct types of claims when someone dies due to another’s negligence. Wrongful death claims, brought by eligible survivors, compensate the survivors for their own losses: loss of financial support, loss of companionship, loss of consortium, grief and sorrow, and funeral and burial expenses. These are the survivors’ personal losses.

Survival actions are brought by the deceased’s estate and compensate for losses the deceased personally experienced before death: the pain and suffering, medical expenses, and lost wages the deceased suffered from the moment of the injury until death. Survival actions can also include punitive damages if the defendant’s conduct warrants them.

Damages Available in Wrongful Death Claims

Surviving family members can recover economic damages including the financial support the deceased would have provided over their expected lifetime, calculated based on their earnings history, age, and likely career trajectory; the value of household services and childcare the deceased provided; funeral and burial expenses; and the value of gifts and benefits the survivors reasonably expected to receive.

Non-economic damages include loss of love, companionship, comfort, affection, society, solace, and moral support (particularly for spouses and children), and loss of the deceased’s training and guidance for minor children.

California does not cap non-economic damages in wrongful death cases (unlike medical malpractice cases under MICRA).

California Laws Relevant to Wrongful Death Claims

California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.60 establishes standing. CCP Section 335.1 sets the two-year statute of limitations from the date of death. CCP Section 377.30 et seq. governs survival actions. California Vehicle Code Section 16056 (amended by SB 1107, effective January 1, 2025) sets minimum auto insurance at $30,000/$60,000/$15,000. California follows pure comparative negligence (Li v. Yellow Cab Co., 1975).

Contact The Accident Network Law Group About Your Wrongful Death Claim

Losing a family member to someone else’s negligence raises two separate questions: whether you have legal standing to file a wrongful death claim, and what damages the law allows you to recover. Attorney Damoun Yazdi at The Accident Network Law Group evaluates both, identifies every party who may share responsibility, and pursues the claim on your family’s behalf. Consultations are always free, and we work on a contingency basis under our No Recovery, No Fee policy.

Our team serves clients in Costa Mesa, Riverside, Rancho Cucamonga, Apple Valley, Victorville, and Bakersfield, and throughout Southern California. Se habla espanol.