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Personal Injury Basics

Survival Action

A claim that continues a deceased person's own surviving cause of action through a personal representative or, if none, a successor in interest.

In Personal Injury Cases

A survival action concerns the deceased person's claim; wrongful death is a separate claim for eligible survivors. Under California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34(a), recoverable damages generally concern loss incurred before death and exclude pain, suffering and disfigurement. Section 377.34(b) permits those noneconomic damages for actions filed from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025, or granted trial preference before January 1, 2022. Do not assume that exception covers an action first filed in 2026. Other statutory rules, including the preserved elder-abuse provisions and medical-malpractice limits, may affect a particular case.

What to check for survival action

Identify who may act

Section 377.30 gives the personal representative authority to pursue a surviving claim; a successor in interest may do so if there is no personal representative. A family relationship alone does not answer who has that authority.

Check the filing and preference records

Keep the file-stamped complaint and any trial-preference order. Those dates matter to the section 377.34(b) exception; the date of death alone does not decide whether pain-and-suffering damages are available.

Separate the two claims

Keep the deceased person's pre-death losses separate from the losses asserted by eligible wrongful-death claimants. Section 377.60 identifies who may pursue wrongful death; the same person does not necessarily act in the same capacity for both claims.

Collect the authority documents

A person proceeding as a successor in interest must address the declaration requirements in section 377.32, including the death certificate and the facts supporting the claimed authority. Ask counsel which probate orders or other records the circumstances require.

Primary California sources

Statutory text checked . This is a source check, not attorney review of your circumstances.

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