A wrongful death claim is a civil claim brought after someone dies because of another person’s or company’s wrongful act or carelessness. It asks for money for what the death took from the family. There is no national wrongful death law: each state’s statute decides who files, who the money is for, what can be claimed and how long the family has.
This page is general information, not legal, tax or medical advice, and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Injury law and deadlines vary by state and change. Ask a lawyer or the court about your situation.
If you’re here because someone in your family has died, we’re sorry. This section takes the questions in the order they usually matter: the deadline first, then who brings the case, the two claims a death can create, what a family can claim, and who receives the money. Injury Handbook sells nothing and refers no one.
First: the deadline
A missed deadline can end a claim however strong it is, so it comes before everything else. Each state sets its own. Of the 37 states and DC whose wrongful death rule we read in official text, all but one set a basic period of two or three years. Louisiana allows one year from the death or two years from the injury, whichever is longer (C.C. art. 2315.2(B)). That wording took effect on 1 August 2025 (Act 176 of 2025), and the act doesn’t say how it applies to earlier deaths, so for those it is not confirmed.
Some statutes count from the death, some from the injury or from when the cause was discovered, and some add an outer limit counted from the act itself: Connecticut allows two years from the death but never more than five years from the act (C.G.S. 52-555(a)). Deaths after medical care or a homicide often have their own rules.
A claim against a government can need written notice much sooner. New York’s local governments need a notice of claim within 90 days, which in a wrongful death case runs from the appointment of the estate’s representative (General Municipal Law 50-e(1)(a)). A death claim against the State of New York is due within 90 days after an executor or administrator is appointed, unless a written notice of intention is served in that time, and in any event within two years of the death (Court of Claims Act 10(2)). In Illinois, a suit against a local public entity such as a county, township, city or school district must be started within one year of the injury or the date the claim accrued, and the act counts a death as an injury (745 ILCS 10/8-101(a), 10/1-204). California’s public entities need a claim for a death within six months after it accrues (Gov. Code 911.2(a)), and Texas government units need notice within six months after the incident (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 101.101). All read 6 November 2026.
Our page on wrongful death deadlines by state gives each state’s period as its statute words it, when the clock starts, the special cases and the government notice rules we read, and says “not confirmed” where we haven’t read a state. For the general injury limits, the injury deadline lookup shows each state’s statute and exceptions. Don’t plan around the last day of any period: an earlier date can apply.
What makes a death “wrongful”, and who files
The statutes use broad words. Texas covers a death caused by a “wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default”, but only if the person who died could have sued for the injury had they lived (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 71.002(b), 71.003(a)). So the family usually has to prove what the injured person would have had to prove.
Who files depends on the state. In New York, Illinois, Florida and Ohio the personal representative brings the case: the executor named in a will, or an administrator the probate court appoints. In Texas the spouse, children or parents can sue in their own names, and the executor or administrator steps in only if none of them has filed within three calendar months, unless all of them ask it not to (71.004). Where a representative is needed, the appointment takes time while the deadline keeps running. Our sister site Executor Handbook explains letters testamentary and how to get them.
Our guide to how wrongful death lawsuits work follows a case through its usual stages: records, any notice to a government, a claim to the insurer, the complaint, discovery, settlement talks, trial and dividing the money. It also shows where courts must approve a settlement; in Ohio, for example, the personal representative settles “with the consent of the court making the appointment” (Rev. Code 2125.02(E)).
Two claims can follow one death
Families often hear two names. The wrongful death claim belongs to the family and covers what the death took from them. A survival claim is the injured person’s own claim, for their losses between the injury and the death, such as medical bills and lost pay, carried on by the estate. The money from each can go to different people, and the two can run on different clocks. In New York the wrongful death limit is two years after the death (EPTL 5-4.1), shorter than the three-year injury limit (CPLR 214(5)), so the family’s claim can run out first. Florida folds the two together: when an injury causes a death, the injury claim ends and the estate’s losses are claimed inside the one wrongful death action (Fla. Stat. 768.20).
Our page on wrongful death vs a survival action sets the two side by side for eight states, including who brings each, where the money goes, and both deadlines.
What a family can claim
States differ most here. Some allow money only for financial loss; others also cover grief or lost companionship. Illinois allows damages “for grief, sorrow, and mental suffering” (740 ILCS 180/2(a)). New York measures recovery by “pecuniary injuries”, meaning financial loss, plus medical and funeral costs (EPTL 5-4.3). Some states cap part of the award: in Kansas, damages other than an heir’s financial loss can’t exceed $250,000 in total, plus costs (K.S.A. 60-1903, read 6 November 2026).
The losses many families feel most, companionship, care, comfort and guidance, are often called loss of consortium. Our page on loss of consortium explains who can claim it in the states we read, how it is tied to the injured person’s case, and the caps that include it.
If you want to put your family’s money losses in one place, the wrongful death damages worksheet adds up what you enter: funeral and medical bills, lost support, lost benefits and lost help at home, with the arithmetic shown. It doesn’t predict what a court or insurer would pay.
You will see “average wrongful death settlement” figures online. We looked for a public dataset of settlement amounts and found none: most settlements are private, and a federal study of civil trials notes that settlement terms “may not be reported to the court or may not be publicly available” (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005 data). So we give no average and don’t repeat one.
Who gets the money
In most of the states we read, the wrongful death statute, not the will, names who shares, and the person who files is acting for them. The statutes split the money in four broad ways:
- Fixed shares. Kentucky, after funeral, administration and recovery costs, gives half to the spouse and half to the children when there are both (KRS 411.130(2)).
- Inheritance shares. Pennsylvania limits the beneficiaries to the spouse, children or parents and uses the shares they would take with no will (42 Pa.C.S. 8301(b)).
- By each person’s loss. In Texas the jury sets each family member’s share (71.010(b)); Illinois divides by each person’s “percentage of dependency” (180/2(b)).
- By kind of damage. Oklahoma sends each item to a set person: the spouse’s grief to the spouse, medical and burial costs to whoever paid them (12 O.S. 1053(B)).
Connecticut is the clear exception, distributing the money under the will if there is one (C.G.S. 45a-448(b)). Many statutes also keep the money from the dead person’s creditors; Texas says the damages “are not subject to the debts of the deceased” (71.011). Our page on who gets wrongful death money, state by state covers the 40 states and DC we read, who can be left out, and the court hearings and claim deadlines inside a case.
Fees, case costs and repayment claims from health plans or Medicare can come out before the family is paid; the what-you-keep calculator shows that arithmetic on figures you enter. On tax, IRS Publication 4345 (Rev. 9-2023) doesn’t mention wrongful death, and we found no IRS text that says directly how it is taxed, so ask a tax professional.
Your next step
- Write down three dates: the injury or accident, the death, and the day any executor or administrator is appointed. Deadlines can run from any of them.
- Ask whether a government was involved: a public road, vehicle, hospital or employee. If so, find that body’s notice rule this week through the state’s court self-help pages or a lawyer.
- Write down the family: spouse or partner, children, parents, siblings and anyone who depended on the person who died, with their ages. The statute, the court and any lawyer will ask about them first.
- Keep the papers: several certified copies of the death certificate, the police or incident report number, medical and funeral bills, and the person’s recent pay records and tax returns. Put any contact from an insurer in writing.
- Ask the court clerk or a lawyer in the state where the death happened which deadline and steps apply to your family. If cost is a worry, legal aid offices and the state bar’s website are places to start.
Sources checked on 6 November 2026.
