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Open related pageWrongful-death family guide
California Wrongful Death Claims: Eligibility and Evidence
A California wrongful-death claim concerns losses suffered by people the statute authorizes to recover after a death caused by another’s wrongful act or neglect. A survival action is different: it continues a cause of action the person had before death. Families should preserve the underlying liability evidence, relationship and eligibility records, financial-support records, and every deadline notice before deciding what path applies.
Published by Hurt Advice Editorial Team
Editorially checked; no attorney review is claimed.
Last updated August 9, 2026
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California Wrongful Death Claims: Eligibility and Evidence
Understand California wrongful-death eligibility, survival-action differences, family-loss evidence and deadline questions for attorney review. This resource is educational and should be used to organize facts before requesting independent attorney review when appropriate.
Last reviewed
Key takeaway 1
Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 identifies categories of people who may bring a wrongful-death action; eligibility should be verified from the complete family and dependency facts.
Source: Visible resource pageKey takeaway 2
The wrongful-death claim addresses authorized survivors’ losses, while a survival action under sections 377.30 and 377.34 concerns the decedent’s own pre-death cause of action and recoverable loss.
Source: Visible resource pageKey takeaway 3
California generally treats wrongful death as one action involving eligible claimants, so identifying and coordinating everyone is important.
Source: Visible resource pageRelated routes
6 related pages connect this guide to services, resources, and intake paths.
Source: Visible resource pagePlatform disclosure
Hurt Advice is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
Source: Hurt Advice source policyWhat can change the answer
- The reader's exact event, date, records, policy language, treatment course, losses, and disputed facts.
- Whether a public entity, minor, delayed discovery issue, commercial party, or other special rule may be involved.
- The current primary source and any later amendment, court interpretation, or fact-specific exception.
What this page cannot establish
- The resource is general educational information and cannot calculate an individual deadline, fault allocation, damages, or claim value.
- Examples and internal models are not official records, reported outcomes, guarantees, or legal conclusions.
- Hurt Advice is not a law firm; a separate written agreement with an independent attorney or law firm is required for representation.
Sources and review links
Review the cited sources and the page's local details before relying on general information for a specific claim.
Quick answer
The useful answer in plain English
Understand California wrongful-death eligibility, survival-action differences, family-loss evidence and deadline questions for attorney review. Hurt Advice is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Use this page to organize facts, records, and next questions before deciding whether to request review by an independent participating attorney or law firm.
Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 identifies categories of people who may bring a wrongful-death action; eligibility should be verified from the complete family and dependency facts.
The wrongful-death claim addresses authorized survivors’ losses, while a survival action under sections 377.30 and 377.34 concerns the decedent’s own pre-death cause of action and recoverable loss.
California generally treats wrongful death as one action involving eligible claimants, so identifying and coordinating everyone is important.
Proof should cover both the underlying wrong and the family’s specific financial and relationship losses.
Section 335.1 states a general two-year period for injury or death caused by wrongful act or neglect, but public-entity and medical-negligence matters can follow different procedures and timing.
Hurt Advice is a legal-information and lawyer-referral service, not a law firm. Intake does not create representation or promise an outcome.
Step-by-step
What to do next
These steps are ordered for usefulness: safety and records first, then insurance, medical, and review decisions.
1
Preserve what explains the death
Secure reports, photographs, video, witnesses, medical and coroner records, physical evidence, product or vehicle evidence, maintenance records, and insurer or entity communications.
2
Map potentially eligible people
Prepare a private family and dependency map with marriage, domestic-partnership, birth, adoption, guardianship, dependency, succession, and estate records for attorney review.
3
Separate wrongful-death and survival records
Create one folder for survivors’ losses and another for the decedent’s pre-death claim, expenses, earnings, records, and estate authority. Do not assume the same claimant or damages apply to both.
4
Build the family-loss record
Gather income, benefits, household-service records, funeral costs, photographs, calendars, correspondence, and specific examples of care, guidance, companionship, and support.
5
Screen every timing exception promptly
Identify public entities, health-care providers, delayed-discovery questions, minors, estate proceedings, and other facts before relying on the general two-year provision.
| Question | Wrongful-death action | Survival action |
|---|---|---|
| Whose loss is at issue? | Loss suffered by people authorized under section 377.60 | Loss or damage in the decedent’s own cause of action |
| Who brings it? | Eligible statutory claimants or a personal representative on their behalf | Personal representative or successor in interest under the applicable procedure |
| What proof is distinctive? | Relationship, support, household service, funeral, companionship and guidance evidence | Underlying claim, pre-death loss, estate authority, and filing-date facts |
| Which statute frames damages? | Code of Civil Procedure section 377.61 and current CACI instructions | Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34 and related instructions |
| Can the claims travel together? | They may arise from the same event but must remain analytically distinct | Coordination can avoid inconsistent proof while preserving separate elements |
Eligibility
Start with the statute and a complete family map
Section 377.60 names categories that include a surviving spouse or domestic partner, children, descendants of deceased children, and certain people who would take by intestate succession, along with specified dependent and other categories. The statute is detailed. General information cannot determine whether one relative qualifies without facts that may identify another required claimant or change the analysis.
- Use legal names and document relationships.
- Identify deceased children and their descendants.
- Record dependency and household facts where relevant.
- Identify the estate representative or successor-in-interest process separately.
Two claims
Wrongful death and survival are related but not interchangeable
Section 377.61 addresses damages in the wrongful-death action, while section 377.34 addresses recoverable loss in a decedent’s cause of action. The current text of section 377.34 limits the ordinary survival recovery and includes a time-defined provision for certain actions filed before January 1, 2026. The filing date and current statutory text therefore matter; avoid repeating an expired rule as if it applies to every new case.
- Wrongful death focuses on authorized survivors’ losses.
- Survival continues a cause of action the decedent had before death.
- The estate representative or successor in interest may be relevant to survival standing.
- Damages and procedural requirements should be analyzed separately before being combined in one case plan.
Evidence architecture
Build four records: cause, eligibility, financial loss, and relationship loss
The claim cannot rest on grief alone, and it should not reduce a person to a spreadsheet. A respectful file connects reliable proof of the underlying event with relationship documents, measurable support, household services, and specific evidence of the care, guidance, companionship, and support that were lost.
- Cause file: reports, records, witnesses, video, physical evidence, and responsible entities.
- Eligibility file: vital, family, dependency, succession, and estate records.
- Financial file: earnings, benefits, services, expenses, and support history.
- Relationship file: dated, specific examples and corroborating records rather than generic adjectives.
Timing
The general two-year rule is only the beginning of the deadline screen
Section 335.1 provides a general two-year period for an action involving death caused by wrongful act or neglect. A public entity can require a Government Claims Act presentation far earlier. A death associated with professional negligence by a health-care provider uses a different limitations framework. Accrual and other exceptions can also be disputed. Confirm the actual path before negotiations or investigation consume the available time.
- Identify all public entities and employees immediately.
- Separate medical-negligence issues from later medical care that did not cause the death.
- Save every notice, rejection, policy, and delivery date.
- Do not assume a criminal, insurance, probate, or agency process extends the civil deadline.
Primary-source trail
Sources used for this guide
These links support the general rules and public processes discussed above. They do not calculate a reader's deadline or replace advice about a specific claim.
California Legislative InformationCode of Civil Procedure section 377.60Official statute identifying categories authorized to bring a wrongful-death action.California Legislative InformationCode of Civil Procedure section 377.61Official damages provision for the wrongful-death action.California Legislative InformationCode of Civil Procedure section 377.34Official current survival-action damages provision, including the time-defined filing provision.California Legislative InformationCode of Civil Procedure section 335.1Official general limitations provision for injury or death caused by wrongful act or neglect.Judicial Council of CaliforniaCalifornia Civil Jury Instructions (CACI), 2026 EditionOfficial current civil jury instruction resource, including wrongful-death and damages instructions.
Common mistakes
Avoid these claim-planning mistakes
Search results can make a complicated injury issue feel simple. These are the mistakes that most often create confusion later.
Assuming the closest relative is automatically the only person who must be considered.
Using wrongful-death and survival-action labels interchangeably or combining their damages without support.
Failing to preserve the underlying collision, premises, product, medical, workplace, or public-entity evidence.
Using an expired or time-limited section 377.34 rule without checking the action’s filing date and current statute.
Treating a criminal, probate, insurance, or agency proceeding as if it preserves the civil claim deadline.
Related reading path
Where to go from here
These links connect the answer to service pages, evidence pages, insurance pages, medical-care resources, and attorney profile discovery.
Wrongful-death service and evidence guideUse the companion service page to organize cause, eligibility, and family-loss records.California statute of limitationsReview the broader deadline framework and exception categories.Government claim deadline toolUse this when a public entity, employee, vehicle, property, facility, or agency may be involved.Evidence checklistPreserve reports, photographs, video, witnesses, records, and communications.Verified professional profilesCompare participating attorneys and independently verify current credentials.Request referral intakeOrganize the event, family map, entities, records, and known dates for possible attorney review.
FAQ
Questions this page answers
Who may bring a California wrongful-death claim?Open
Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 identifies the categories. Eligibility can depend on spouse or domestic-partner status, children and descendants, intestate succession, dependency, household, guardianship, and other facts, so the complete family structure should be reviewed.
What is the difference between wrongful death and a survival action?Open
Wrongful death addresses losses of authorized survivors. A survival action continues a cause of action the decedent held before death and uses different standing and damages rules, including section 377.34.
What evidence should the family preserve?Open
Preserve the underlying incident and causation evidence, vital and relationship records, estate and dependency records, income and benefit proof, household-service evidence, funeral costs, insurer notices, and specific relationship-loss records.
What is the California wrongful-death deadline?Open
Section 335.1 states a general two-year period for an action involving death caused by wrongful act or neglect. Public entities, health-care professional negligence, accrual disputes, and other circumstances can change the process or timing.
Does a criminal case replace the family’s civil claim?Open
No. A government prosecution and a civil wrongful-death action have different parties, purposes, proof, and procedures. Do not assume activity in one preserves deadlines in the other.
Does Hurt Advice represent the family?Open
No. Hurt Advice provides legal information and referral intake and is not a law firm. Any attorney-client relationship must be accepted separately by an independent attorney or law firm.
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