Los Angeles Wrongful Death Lawyer

The sudden death of a loved one from an accident or other preventable injury can be shocking.  It can also create a huge impact on your family, stripping you of income and saddling you with high-dollar funeral/burial costs, end-of-life medical bills, and other problems.  All of this comes on top of the pain and emotional distress of losing a loved one.

Our lawyers can help you seek justice for what happened.  Holding a company or individual responsible for your loved one’s death can be incredibly healing, and it can help your family deal with the expenses and lost support.

Call our wrongful death lawyers at the Law Office of John J. Perlstein at (213) 252-1070 for a free case evaluation.

Wrongful Death Claims for an Unlawful Killing

When someone is killed in any type of unlawful way, the law generally focuses on punishing the crime.  However, you can also file a civil claim for any unlawful killing, which covers a wide range of deaths:

  • First degree murder
  • Second degree murder
  • Voluntary manslaughter/negligent homicide
  • Involuntary manslaughter
  • Vehicular manslaughter.

Whenever someone commits a crime that kills someone else, they can often be held criminally responsible, but you can also sue them in civil court for wrongful death.

Wrongful Death Claims for Accidental Death

Whether it rises to the level of a crime or not, many deaths are accidental.  This allows you to sue in civil court for the death by proving these elements:

  1. The defendant owed the victim a legal duty. This can be based on specific laws or what is reasonable in a given situation.
  2. The defendant breached that duty. This can include something like drunk driving, horseplay with a firearm, or designing a dangerous product.
  3. That breach of duty caused the deadly accident.
  4. The accident killed your loved one and produced other damages (e.g., medical bills, lost wages).

Civil vs. Criminal Cases for a Loved One’s Death

As mentioned, some wrongful death cases involve criminal activity.  Whether that be a criminal charge for the death – such as a drunk driving death resulting in vehicular manslaughter charges – or it stems from other criminal activity – like fraud – there can easily be a criminal case and a civil case involved.

Different Burden of Proof

Civil and criminal cases have a different burden of proof, with the criminal standard being much higher:

  • Criminal cases have to be proved “beyond a reasonable doubt” – a standard of being nearly 99% “sure.”
  • Civil wrongful death cases have to be proved “by a preponderance of the evidence” – a standard that is just over 50% “sure.”

This means that the prosecution could lose a criminal case, but a civil wrongful death case could still succeed, simply because the jury does not need to be as absolutely sure to hold someone civilly responsible.

Criminal Conviction Helps with Civil Case

If there is a criminal charge involved, and the defendant loses their criminal case, the record of conviction can help us prove your civil wrongful death claim.  This is especially true if they admitted to the crime and pled guilty; that admission is powerful proof in a civil case.

This often means criminal cases go to trial first.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Los Angeles?

Our wrongful death lawyers can only file a lawsuit on behalf of the people who are entitled under the law to sue for their loved ones’ deaths.  This usually includes two options:

Heirs

When someone dies without a will, the law lists their heirs in the “intestacy” law.  California law lets these “intestate heirs” file a wrongful death lawsuit, including

  • The spouse
  • The children (or grandchildren)
  • The parents
  • Other family, if there is no one closer to file.

Personal Representative (Executor)

Alternatively, the victim’s personal representative can file.  This is a person named in their will to be the executor of their estate – the person who collects and distributes their assets.  This person can also be appointed by a court if the victim died without a will.

When a personal representative files, they usually do so for the benefit of the family and estate, not so they get all the damages themselves.

Wrongful Death vs. Survival Claims

When someone dies, there are actually two legally separate lawsuits that can be filed together: a survival action and a wrongful death lawsuit.

Purpose

If the victim survived the accident, they would have been able to file a personal injury lawsuit for their harms.  That lawsuit survives as the “survival action,” meant to vindicate their pre-death damages.

The family files the wrongful death lawsuit to recover damages for their own harms from the death.

Damages

The survival action covers the victim’s own pre-death damages, like medical care, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

The wrongful death lawsuit covers the family’s damages, such as ongoing lost wages, funeral and burial expenses, lost household services, lost companionship, grief, etc.

Who Gets Paid?

A survival action pays damages into the victim’s estate to be distributed to their heirs.  The wrongful death claim pays damages directly to the deceased victim’s family.

Who Files?

The estate – through the personal representative/executor files the survival action.  The family members or the personal representative can file the wrongful death action.

Does a Will Change Who Can File?

The will can name a personal representative to file these cases.  However, the “intestate heirs” can also file a wrongful death lawsuit.  These heirs are set by law and are not changed by a will.

Does a Will Change Who Can Benefit?

A will can name who will inherit the victim’s estate, accounting for the money won in a survival action.  However, the money from a wrongful death lawsuit only goes to the heirs set by law, not the heirs selected in a will.

Can Unmarried Partners Sue for their Partner’s Death?

Only a legal spouse (or domestic partner, under old civil union laws) can file.  Engaged, unmarried, or divorced partners cannot file unless they are listed as the personal representative.

Unmarried partners also cannot recover from the damages directly.  However, they might recover a share of the estate, including the damages from the survival action because they are listed in the will.

Can Friends File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Friends and other unrelated people are not listed in the law as heirs, and they cannot recover damages in a wrongful death claim.  However, if they are listed in the estate, they can receive a share of the survival claim’s damages when the estate is distributed.

How Long Do You Have to File?

California law gives the family or personal representative 2 years from the death to file a wrongful death claim.

Survival actions must be filed within 2 years of the injury or within 6 months of the death, whichever is later.

Call Our Wrongful Death Attorneys in Los Angeles Today

Call the Law Office of John J. Perlstein for a free case review with our wrongful death lawyers by dialing (213) 252-1070.