Personal Injury
A wrongful death claim belongs to the family members the law lists and compensates them for their own losses from the death. A survival claim is the claim the person who died could have brought, and it passes to their estate or successor. For survival claims filed on or after January 1, 2026, California law no longer allows damages for the person's pain, suffering or disfigurement, except in elder abuse cases that meet a higher standard.
Last updated October 4, 2026.
When someone dies after a crash, a fall or another injury caused by someone else, the family may have two separate claims, owned by different people and measuring different losses. Getting that distinction right shapes who signs the papers, who must be included, and what the case is worth. For an overview of how injury claims work, see our personal injury page.
| Question | Wrongful death | Survival claim |
|---|---|---|
| Whose claim is it? | The listed family members, for their own losses | The person who died; it passes to the personal representative or successor in interest |
| Law | Code Civ. Proc. 377.60, 377.61 | Code Civ. Proc. 377.20, 377.30, 377.34 |
| What can be recovered? | Damages that are just under all the circumstances, not including the damages recoverable in the survival claim | The losses the person sustained before death, plus penalties or punitive damages they could have recovered |
| Pain and suffering of the person who died? | No | Only for cases filed from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2025 (or given trial preference before 2022), and in qualifying elder abuse cases |
| Who decides how the money is divided? | The court determines each person's share (377.61) | It is part of the estate or passes to the successor |
| Deadline to sue | Generally two years (335.1) | The later of six months after the death or the period that would have applied had the person lived (366.1) |
Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 lists who may sue, directly or through the personal representative of the person who died:
Section 377.61 directs the court to decide each eligible person's share of any award, so identifying every person on this list is one of the first steps in a case. The Judicial Council's jury instruction for an adult's death, CACI 3921, tells jurors to return a single amount for all plaintiffs, which the judge then divides.
Under section 377.20, a claim a person had before death is not lost when they die; it survives, subject to the usual time limits. Section 377.30 says it passes to the person's successor in interest and may be brought by the personal representative of the estate or, if there is none, by the successor. Section 377.11 defines the successor as the beneficiary of the estate or another person who succeeds to the claim, and section 377.10 explains that the beneficiary is determined by the will or, without one, by the intestate succession rules.
A successor who files without a probate estate must sign a declaration under section 377.32 stating, among other things, the date and place of death and that no estate administration is pending in California, with a certified copy of the death certificate attached. Survival damages cover losses the person sustained or incurred before death, for example medical expenses. If the family is also deciding whether the rest of the estate needs probate, our page on the small estate limit in California explains when property can pass by affidavit.
CACI 3921 sorts wrongful death damages into two groups. Economic damages are the financial support the person would have contributed during the shorter of their life expectancy or the family member's, the gifts or benefits the family member would have expected, funeral and burial expenses, and the value of household services the person would have provided. Noneconomic damages are the loss of the person's love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society and moral support, and in some cases training and guidance.
The same instruction tells jurors not to consider the family's grief, sorrow or mental anguish, the pain and suffering of the person who died, or the family's wealth or poverty. Those limits are why the survival claim matters: it is the only place the person's own pre-death losses can be recovered.
Section 377.34(a) limits survival damages to the losses the person sustained before death, including penalties or punitive damages, and excludes damages for pain, suffering or disfigurement. Subdivision (b) created a temporary exception for cases filed on or after January 1, 2022 and before January 1, 2026. That window has now closed: a survival action filed today cannot recover the person's pre-death pain and suffering under section 377.34.
There is one important exception. Section 377.34(f) says the section does not affect claims under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act. Under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15657, if physical abuse, neglect or abandonment is proven with recklessness, oppression, fraud or malice, the section 377.34 limits do not apply, subject to the cap in Civil Code section 3333.2(b), and the court must award reasonable attorney fees and costs. The Los Angeles Superior Court's filing location form lists elder and dependent adult abuse and claims against skilled nursing facilities as their own case type.
Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 gives two years for an action for the death of a person caused by another's wrongful act or neglect. For the survival claim, section 366.1 allows the later of six months after the death or the period that would have applied if the person had lived. If a city, county or state agency may be responsible, a written claim is due within six months instead; see our page on claims against Glendale, Los Angeles County or the state.
In Los Angeles County, the court's filing location form lists auto and other wrongful death cases to be filed where the injury or death occurred. Our page on the personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles County explains the local offices and courthouses. For these case types the form lists the downtown courthouse only for class actions. Our guide to a civil case at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse explains the statewide court deadlines that apply once any case is filed.
A spouse, domestic partner or children have the first claim under section 377.60(a). Parents and other relatives come in only when there are no surviving children or grandchildren and they would inherit, or when they were financially dependent under subdivision (b).
When a person dies at the scene, the survival claim may be small. When they lived for weeks with hospital bills and lost income, the survival claim carries those losses, though not pain and suffering for cases filed from 2026 on.
A death in a nursing home or caused by neglect of an elder may fall under Welfare and Institutions Code section 15657. A crash with an uninsured or unidentified driver raises insurance questions covered in our guide to a hit and run or uninsured driver in Los Angeles County.
A city vehicle, a road hazard or a public building brings in the six-month government claim, which applies to death claims as well as injuries.
For example, imagine a hypothetical 68-year-old retired teacher who is struck by a car in a Glendale crosswalk, spends three weeks in the hospital, and then dies. She is survived by her husband and two adult children, and she left a will naming her husband as the only beneficiary.
The family has two claims. The wrongful death claim belongs to her husband and both children, each for their own losses, such as household services, funeral expenses and the loss of her companionship; the court decides each person's share. The survival claim belongs to her estate. With no probate case, her husband, as the beneficiary under her will, can bring it as successor in interest by signing the section 377.32 declaration with a certified death certificate. That claim covers her hospital bills and other losses before death, but because it would be filed after January 1, 2026, not her pain and suffering.
The family notes two years from the death on the calendar. Whether the driver's insurance is enough, and what either claim is worth, depends on facts not yet gathered.
The court decides each eligible person's share of a wrongful death award (section 377.61), and CACI 3921 has the jury return a single amount for all plaintiffs. That is why every eligible person should be identified early.
Sometimes. Under section 377.60, parents may sue if the child left no children or grandchildren and the parents would inherit under the intestate succession rules, or if they were financially dependent on the child.
No. CACI 3921 tells jurors not to consider grief, sorrow or mental anguish, but the loss of love, companionship, comfort and support is recoverable.
Not necessarily. If there is no personal representative, the successor in interest can bring it by filing the declaration in section 377.32.
Section 377.34(b) turns on the filing date, not the injury date, so a survival action filed on or after January 1, 2026 does not include pain and suffering, except in qualifying elder abuse cases.
Many California employees can. Our page on bereavement leave in California explains the five days the law allows.
We help families in Glendale and across Los Angeles County understand which claims they have, who must be included, and which deadlines apply, with care for what they are going through. Families in the city can also read about local reports and offices on our Glendale personal injury lawyer page. Call (818) 244-9000 or request a consultation.
Our Glendale team can explain the wrongful death and survival claims available to your family and the deadlines that apply.
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