Who Can Bring a Wrongful Death Claim in California
The claim belongs to the family
When someone is killed because of another person’s negligence, California allows certain members of the family to bring a wrongful death claim. It is their claim, for what they lost: the person’s financial support, the household services they provided, and the love, companionship and guidance the family will go without.
Not everyone who loved the person can bring it. California’s law lists who can (Code Civ. Proc. § 377.60).
Who can bring the claim
The closest family first. The person’s surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, their children, and the children of any of their children who have already died.
If there is no spouse, partner or descendant, the people who would inherit from the person under California’s rules for someone who dies without a will. In practice that usually means the person’s parents, and if there are none, their brothers and sisters.
Certain people who depended on the person, whether or not they fit the categories above, if they were dependent on the person for support. This can include a putative spouse (someone who believed in good faith they were legally married to the person), that spouse’s children, stepchildren, and the person’s parents.
A child living in the household. A minor who lived in the person’s home for the 180 days before the death and depended on them for at least half of their support can also bring a claim.
Who qualifies, and how the recovery is shared among them, can get complicated in blended families. It is one of the first things to sort out.
One case, not many
The family members who can bring the claim generally bring it together, in a single case. One family member cannot usually go off and settle the whole claim on their own, leaving the others out.
The other claim: a survival action
A death can also leave a second claim, separate from the family’s. It is called a survival action, and it belongs to the person’s estate. It covers what the person themselves lost before they died, such as their medical bills and lost earnings between the injury and the death. It is brought by the estate’s personal representative, or by the person’s successor in interest.
One important change. For a few years, California allowed a survival action to recover damages for the pain and suffering the person went through before they died. That temporary rule expired on January 1, 2026. For cases filed now, those damages generally are no longer available in a survival action. This makes it even more important that the family’s own wrongful death claim is brought fully and correctly.
Deadlines
Wrongful death claims have deadlines, and a claim against a city, county, transit agency or other public entity has a much shorter one. Do not wait to find out which applies.
Talk to Boyd
Losing someone this way is the worst thing a family goes through. When you are ready to talk, Boyd will take the call himself, and the first conversation is free: (714) 656-2400.