Wrongful Death Lawyer

California law does not let just anyone file a wrongful death claim — the right belongs to a defined circle of people closest to the person who died. Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60 (opens in new window) lists who may bring the claim, beginning with the person's surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, their children, and, if a child has died, that child's children (the decedent's grandchildren). This is the primary group the law recognizes as most directly harmed by the loss, and in most cases it is these family members who bring the claim.

If there's no surviving spouse, domestic partner, or descendant, the right to sue generally passes to those who would inherit from the person under California's laws of intestate succession — which can include parents, siblings, and other next of kin, depending on the family. In addition, the statute allows certain people who were financially dependent on the person who died to bring a claim — for example, a putative spouse and their children, stepchildren, or the person's parents — even when they are not first in the line of succession. The rules are specific and fact-dependent, and figuring out exactly who holds the right in a particular family is one of the first things we sort out.

California treats wrongful death as a single, unified claim, which means the eligible family members generally join together in one action rather than filing competing lawsuits — and any recovery is then divided among them according to each person's actual loss. If you're unsure whether you are among those the law allows to file, or how a claim would work when several family members are involved, that's exactly the kind of question the consultation is meant to answer, gently and without obligation.

Code of Civil Procedure § 377.61 (opens in new window) defines what a family may recover, and the losses fall into two broad groups. The first is financial: the economic support the person who died would have contributed to the family over their lifetime, the value of household services they provided, and the reasonable expenses of the funeral and burial. The second is the human loss the law recognizes but cannot truly measure — the loss of the person's love, companionship, comfort, care, moral support, and, for a child, the guidance and training a parent would have given. Our guide to the damages available in a California wrongful death case explains how each category is proven.

One distinction matters more than the rest, because it can feel counterintuitive. California does not allow the survivors to recover for their own grief, sorrow, or mental anguish as a separate item of damages. What the law does allow is compensation for the loss of the relationship itself — the love, companionship, and support your loved one would have provided. It is framed around the value of what was lost to the family rather than around the family's emotional suffering, and we make sure that loss is documented and presented fully.

Alongside the wrongful death claim, California recognizes a separate claim called a 'survival action,' under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.30 (opens in new window). It belongs to the person's estate rather than to the family, and it recovers the losses the person themselves suffered between the moment of injury and their death — their own medical expenses and lost earnings during that period, along with any punitive damages. California law no longer allows a survival action to recover the person's own pre-death pain and suffering: a temporary provision that permitted it (Code of Civil Procedure § 377.34(b)) sunset on January 1, 2026. The two claims are typically pursued together, by the family and the estate's representative, and our guide to a wrongful death claim compared with a survival action sets out where they differ.

No page can tell you what a particular claim is worth, and any lawyer who quotes a number before understanding the facts is guessing. The value of a wrongful death case depends on many things — the person's age, health, earnings, and role in the family, the strength of the liability evidence, and the insurance available — and on how completely and credibly the loss is proven. What we will do is build the claim on honest evidence rather than on whatever an insurer is willing to concede, and give you straight answers at every step.

Wrongful death claims arise whenever a person's death is caused by the negligent, reckless, or intentional act of another. The most common cause is a fatal traffic collision — car, truck, and motorcycle crashes, and the pedestrian and bicycle deaths that are all too frequent on Los Angeles streets — where a driver's carelessness, speed, distraction, or impairment took a life. Crashes caused by drunk or impaired drivers deserve special mention, both because they are preventable and because the criminal case against the driver runs alongside, and can strengthen, the family's separate civil claim.

Beyond the roadway, these claims commonly grow out of dangerous property conditions and negligent security — a fatal fall, a drowning, or a foreseeable violent attack a property owner failed to guard against; out of medical negligence, where a preventable error in diagnosis or treatment caused a death; and out of workplace and construction accidents, where a party other than the employer contributed to a fatal jobsite injury. Defective products, and in some cases intentional acts of violence, can give rise to wrongful death claims as well.

Whatever the cause, the legal question is the same: did someone else's failure to use reasonable care, or their wrongful act, cause the death — and who, exactly, is responsible? Serious cases often involve more than one at-fault party and more than one insurance policy, and identifying every responsible party frequently determines how much coverage a claim can reach. That investigation is work we carry for you, so that your family does not have to.

For most wrongful death claims the statute of limitations is two years from the date of death under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 (opens in new window). Two years can feel like a long time in the fog of grief, and then pass before a family is ready to think about a lawsuit — which is one reason we encourage families to reach out early, even just to understand their options, long before any deadline is near.

A much shorter six-month deadline applies when a government entity may be responsible — a city or county vehicle, a public transit bus, a government employee, or a dangerous condition on public property. Those claims are covered on our government liability page, and because it's not always obvious that a public entity is involved, that deadline is a strong reason to have a case looked at sooner rather than later.

There are limited circumstances that can change these timelines — cases involving certain medical-negligence rules, claims where a person entitled to sue is a minor, or situations where the cause of death was not immediately known — but they are exceptions, not the rule, and they are fact-specific. The safe course is never to assume there is plenty of time. The sooner a claim can be evaluated, the more of the evidence can be preserved. This is general information, not legal advice about your family's specific deadline, which should be confirmed with an attorney.

Boyadzhyan Legal Shield is based in Encino on Ventura Boulevard and represents grieving families throughout the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles — Encino, Sherman Oaks, Tarzana, Van Nuys, Woodland Hills, Studio City, Northridge, and the surrounding communities. We know the roads where fatal crashes happen, from the US-101 (Ventura Freeway) and the I-405 to the length of Ventura Boulevard and the busy Valley intersections, and we know the local courts, hospitals, and agencies whose records a serious case depends on.

That local knowledge is practical, not decorative. Knowing how a particular interchange or intersection functions, where the cameras are, and how the Los Angeles County courts handle these matters helps us build the case and anticipate the arguments a defendant will make. When a wrongful death case cannot be resolved fairly and must be filed as a lawsuit, San Fernando Valley civil matters are generally heard at the Van Nuys Courthouse, and we appear in Van Nuys and the surrounding Los Angeles County courts.

Working from a single Encino office keeps the firm close to the families and communities it serves. You work directly with the attorney handling your case — not a rotating cast at a high-volume settlement mill. The initial consultation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation to hire the firm.