A steady hand for families after an unthinkable loss.
No lawsuit brings anyone back, and we will never pretend otherwise. What a wrongful death claim can do is keep a family financially whole after someone else's carelessness took the person holding things together. We carry the legal weight for Los Angeles families so you can carry the rest.
No fee unless we win. Free, confidential case review.
Families usually reach us within days of a fatal crash or workplace incident, not because they want to think about a lawsuit, but because everyone else already is. An insurance representative has called with condolences and questions. A tow yard wants to release the vehicle. Someone mentioned a deadline. Our first role in a wrongful death case is to take all of that off your phone. The insurer speaks to us. The evidence gets preserved. The deadlines get calendared. Your family gets room to grieve.
There is no rush to make big decisions in the first weeks, and we will not manufacture one. The urgent work is quiet work: a preservation letter before the vehicle is scrapped, camera footage requested before it is overwritten, the coroner's and traffic reports ordered. We handle that immediately. Everything else moves at your family's pace.
Who may bring the claim.
California defines the right to sue by statute. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60, a wrongful death action belongs first to the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and the children. Where a child of the decedent has died, that child's children may step into their parent's place. If no spouse, partner, or child survives, the claim passes to those who would inherit under California's intestacy rules, which can include parents. The statute also reaches certain people who were financially dependent on the decedent, including a putative spouse, stepchildren, and parents. Sorting out who holds the claim is often the first legal question in these cases, and it is worth answering carefully, because California expects all heirs to be joined in a single action rather than filing piecemeal.
Two claims often filed together.
A wrongful death claim compensates the family for its own losses. A survival action, authorized by Code of Civil Procedure section 377.30, is different: it is the decedent's own claim, the one they would have pressed had they lived, brought by the estate's representative or successor in interest. It covers losses the decedent incurred before death, such as medical expenses and lost earnings, and it is the vehicle for punitive damages when the conduct was malicious or despicable, such as a drunk driving death. Punitive damages are not available in the wrongful death claim itself. The two claims are usually filed together, and the distinction matters most in cases involving egregious conduct, where the survival action can carry value the wrongful death claim cannot.
What the law measures.
California wrongful death damages fall into two groups. The economic side counts the financial support the decedent would have contributed over their lifetime, the value of household services they provided, funeral and burial expenses, and gifts or benefits the heirs would have received. The non-economic side compensates for the loss of the person: companionship, protection, affection, moral support, and, for a spouse, the loss of the marital relationship, and for children, the loss of a parent's guidance.
One feature of California law surprises grieving families: the claim compensates what was lost, not the grief itself. Damages for sorrow and mental anguish, as such, are not part of the wrongful death measure. It is a hard line, and an honest lawyer tells you it exists rather than letting an insurer use it as a surprise later. Presenting the loss of companionship fully and concretely is how the law's limits are met with the family's reality.
How a recovery is divided among heirs.
Because California requires one joint action, a single settlement or verdict often covers several family members with very different losses. Division happens by agreement when the family can reach one, and by court decision when it cannot. The touchstone is each heir's individual loss rather than an automatic equal split, so a spouse who depended on the decedent's income and a self-supporting adult child typically receive different shares. Any share belonging to a minor requires court approval through a minor's compromise, with the funds protected until adulthood. We talk through the division early and candidly, because the last thing a grieving family needs is a dispute discovered at the end.
The deadlines run even while you grieve.
Most California wrongful death actions must be filed within two years of the death. When a public entity may share fault, a crash with a Metro bus, a dangerous road condition, a county vehicle, the written government claim deadline is generally six months. Fatal cases grow from the same incidents as the rest of our injury practice: the car crashes and commercial truck collisions that fill Los Angeles freeways, and the severe harms we document in catastrophic injury cases, which sometimes become wrongful death matters partway through. When that happens to a family we already represent, we manage the transition without missing a step.
Speak with us whenever you are ready.
Three quick questions. No cost, no obligation, and no fee unless we win.
What the law allows your family to claim.
Do we have to decide anything right away?
No. The general deadline to file a California wrongful death lawsuit is two years, and six months for the written claim if a government entity is involved. What should happen early is quiet preservation work: securing vehicles, video, and records before they disappear. We can do that without your family making any larger decisions, and without any pressure to.
Who receives the money from a wrongful death settlement?
The heirs who hold the claim, typically the surviving spouse or domestic partner and children. When several family members recover together, the settlement is divided by agreement among them or, if they cannot agree, by the court. Shares reflect each person's actual loss, so a dependent spouse and a financially independent adult child are usually not treated identically. Court approval is required for any minor's share.
The other driver is facing criminal charges. Does that replace our case?
No. A criminal prosecution punishes the offense and is controlled by the District Attorney. It does not compensate your family. The civil wrongful death claim is separate, has a lower burden of proof, and can succeed even if the criminal case ends in acquittal or is never filed. We often coordinate timing around a pending prosecution, but one does not depend on the other.
What does it cost a family to bring a wrongful death claim?
Nothing up front. Wrongful death cases at Woodbury Law Group are handled on contingency, so the fee is a percentage of the recovery and is owed only if there is one. Case costs are advanced and explained in writing before you sign. A consultation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Hurt in an accident? Talk to us today.
The call is free. The case review is free. You pay nothing unless we win for you.