California Wrongful Death Laws: A San Diego Guide

California wrongful death law gives certain family members the right to hold a person, company, or public entity financially accountable for causing a death. In most ordinary negligence cases, California does not cap wrongful death damages. But the law is specific about who can bring the claim, what damages can be recovered, and how long the family has to act.

This guide explains the California laws that control wrongful death cases in San Diego in plain English. For a step-by-step explanation of what happens after a family hires a lawyer, see our guide to the legal process for wrongful death claims in San Diego.

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California wrongful death law at a glance

• Only certain family members have the right to bring a wrongful death claim.
• A death may create both a wrongful death claim for the family and a separate survival action for the estate.
• California generally does not cap wrongful death damages in ordinary negligence cases.
• Most wrongful death lawsuits have a two-year filing deadline, but claims involving government entities can require action within six months.
• California's comparative fault rules allow recovery even when the person who died was partly responsible.

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What Is a Wrongful Death Claim in California?

A wrongful death claim is a civil claim brought by certain surviving family members when someone dies because of another person's or entity's wrongful act or negligence.

The right to bring the claim comes from California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60. Unlike a survival action, the wrongful death claim belongs to the surviving family members and compensates them for what they lost because their loved one died.

Most wrongful death cases are based on negligence. The family generally must prove that the defendant owed a duty of care, failed to use reasonable care, and that the failure caused the death. Our guide to proving negligence in a wrongful death case explains how those elements are established.

Wrongful death claims can arise from many circumstances, including vehicle crashes, construction and workplace incidents involving third parties, dangerous property, dangerous road conditions, and defective products. Our guide to the common causes of wrongful death in San Diego discusses these cases in more detail.

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Who Has the Right to File a Wrongful Death Claim?

California does not allow every relative to bring a wrongful death claim. Section 377.60 identifies the people who may have that right.

They generally include:

• The surviving spouse or registered domestic partner.
• The decedent's children.
• The children of a child who died before the decedent.
• If the decedent left no surviving children or other descendants, people who would inherit under California's intestate succession laws, which can include parents or other relatives depending on the family structure.
• Certain people who were financially dependent on the decedent, including a putative spouse, children of a putative spouse, stepchildren, parents, and, in certain circumstances, a legal guardian.
• Certain dependent minors who lived in the decedent's household for the 180 days before the death and received at least half of their financial support from the decedent.

The decedent's personal representative may also bring the wrongful death action on behalf of the eligible heirs.

Determining who qualifies can become complicated in blended families, when relatives are estranged, when children have different parents, or when someone depended financially on the person who died.

California also generally requires all eligible heirs to pursue their wrongful death rights in a single action rather than filing separate lawsuits. Identifying everyone who may have a claim at the beginning helps protect the entire family.

Our guide to who can file a wrongful death claim in San Diego explains these rules in greater detail.

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What Damages Can Be Recovered?

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.61, a jury may award damages that are just under all the circumstances.

California's wrongful death jury instruction, CACI No. 3921, divides those damages into economic and non-economic losses.

Economic Damages

Economic damages can include:

• Lost financial support the decedent would have contributed to the family.
• Loss of gifts or benefits the family could reasonably have expected to receive.
• Funeral and burial expenses.
• The reasonable value of household services the decedent would have provided.

The amount of future financial loss depends on the evidence in the particular case. Life expectancy is an important part of that analysis because future losses generally extend over the shorter of the decedent's or the heir's expected lifetime.

Our California wrongful death life expectancy calculator explains how life expectancy can affect the calculation.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages compensate the family for the loss of the relationship itself.

They can include the loss of the decedent's:

• Love.
• Companionship.
• Comfort.
• Care.
• Assistance.
• Protection.
• Affection.
• Society.
• Moral support.
• Training and guidance.

The loss of training and guidance can be especially significant when a child loses a parent.

California law makes an important distinction. A wrongful death jury does not award damages for the survivors' grief, sorrow, or emotional distress from the death itself. Instead, the jury evaluates the relationship that was lost and the benefits of that relationship that would have continued.

For many families, this loss of love, companionship, guidance, and support is the most significant part of the wrongful death claim. Photographs, videos, family stories, friends, coworkers, and other witnesses can help show a jury who the person was and what the relationship meant.

For a more detailed discussion, see our guide to the types of damages in wrongful death cases.

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Does California Cap Wrongful Death Damages?

Generally, no.

In ordinary California negligence cases, such as most fatal vehicle crashes, premises liability cases, dangerous roadway cases, and product liability cases, there is no general statutory cap on wrongful death damages. The amount depends on the losses proved by the family and, if the case goes to trial, what the jury determines those losses are worth.

Different rules can apply in specialized cases. Wrongful death claims arising from medical malpractice, for example, are subject to statutory limits on non-economic damages and other rules that are outside the scope of this guide.

Punitive damages are also different from ordinary wrongful death damages.

Under Civil Code section 3294, punitive damages may be awarded in appropriate cases involving malice, oppression, or fraud. They are generally not recoverable through the wrongful death claim itself.

Punitive damages may, however, be available through the decedent's survival action when the evidence supports them. Section 3294 also creates a separate exception when a defendant has been convicted of felony homicide for the death.

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Wrongful Death Claim vs. Survival Action

One death can create two different civil claims.

The wrongful death claim belongs to the eligible surviving family members. It compensates them for the economic and non-economic losses caused by the death.

A survival action belongs to the decedent's estate. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.30, it preserves certain claims the person could have brought if they had survived.

A survival action may include losses the decedent personally sustained before death, such as medical expenses, lost earnings, or property damage. It may also include punitive damages when the defendant's conduct satisfies the requirements for such an award.

When a viable survival claim exists, it is often pursued alongside the family's wrongful death claim.

California's rules for survival damages recently changed. For actions filed on or after January 1, 2026, Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34 generally does not allow the estate to recover damages for the decedent's pre-death pain, suffering, or disfigurement. The temporary statute that permitted those damages applied to qualifying actions filed before January 1, 2026.

Because the wrongful death claim and survival action belong to different parties and compensate different losses, both should be evaluated at the beginning of the case.

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What Is the Deadline for Filing a Wrongful Death Claim?

Wrongful death deadlines are strict. Missing the controlling deadline can end an otherwise valid claim.

The General Two-Year Deadline

Under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, most California wrongful death lawsuits must be filed within two years of the date of death.

That is the general rule, not a safe deadline for every case.

Government Claims Can Have a Six-Month Deadline

If a state or local government entity may be responsible, the family generally must first present a government claim within six months under Government Code section 911.2.

This can apply when a death involves Caltrans, a city or county, a public roadway, a government vehicle, a transit agency, or another public entity.

If the government entity rejects the claim in writing, Government Code section 945.6 generally requires the lawsuit to be filed within six months after the rejection.

If the initial six-month government claim deadline has already passed, the family should not automatically assume the claim is lost. California has procedures that may allow an application for permission to present a late claim in some circumstances, but those procedures have their own strict deadlines.

Claims Involving Minor Heirs

Minor heirs may receive additional time for certain private-party claims under California's tolling rules in Code of Civil Procedure section 352.

Those tolling protections do not eliminate the six-month government claim requirement.

Other circumstances can also affect the deadline, including medical malpractice claims and cases in which the cause of death was not reasonably discoverable at the time of death.

Our guide to the statute of limitations for wrongful death claims explains the major deadlines and exceptions. You can also use our California civil litigation deadline calculator to identify dates that may require closer review.

Because the shortest applicable deadline controls, families should determine the filing deadline early rather than assuming they have two years.

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What If Your Loved One Was Partly at Fault?

Being partly at fault does not necessarily prevent a wrongful death recovery.

California follows pure comparative negligence. The family's recovery is reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to the person who died.

For example, if a jury determines that the family's damages are $5 million but finds the decedent 30 percent responsible for the incident, the recoverable damages would generally be reduced by 30 percent.

Comparative fault also matters when multiple defendants contributed to the death.

Under Civil Code section 1431.2, each defendant is generally responsible for non-economic damages only in proportion to that defendant's percentage of fault. Economic damages are treated differently and may be subject to joint liability.

This creates a strong incentive for defendants to blame the decedent or shift responsibility to other people and entities. A thorough investigation is critical when fault is disputed.

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Wrongful Death Claims Against Government Entities

Cases against government entities involve additional rules that do not apply to ordinary private-party claims.

A wrongful death involving a dangerous highway, unsafe intersection, government vehicle, public transit agency, or another public entity may be subject to the California Government Claims Act.

The family generally must present a formal claim within six months before filing the lawsuit. The case may also involve legal defenses unique to public entities, including statutory requirements for proving liability and, in some roadway cases, claims of design immunity.

These cases frequently require early investigation because the physical condition of a roadway can change, government records may be critical, and the deadline for presenting the claim arrives quickly.

Our guide to suing the government over a dangerous road in California explains these cases in greater detail.

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What Happens If There Is Also a Criminal Case?

A criminal prosecution and a wrongful death lawsuit are separate proceedings.

The government brings a criminal case to determine whether the defendant committed a crime and should be punished. The surviving family brings a wrongful death claim to establish civil responsibility and recover the damages California law allows.

The burden of proof is also different.

A criminal conviction generally requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. A civil wrongful death claim generally requires proof by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning the family's version of what happened is more likely true than not.

Because the civil standard is lower, a family may have a viable wrongful death claim even when prosecutors do not file criminal charges or when the defendant is acquitted.

A criminal conviction can also affect the civil case. Evidence developed in the prosecution may be important, and a felony homicide conviction can affect the availability of punitive damages.

Most importantly, the civil filing deadlines continue to run while the criminal case is pending. Families should not assume they must wait for the prosecution to finish before protecting their civil rights.

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How These Laws Work Together in a Real Wrongful Death Case

The statutes define who can bring the case, what can be recovered, and when the claim must be filed. The outcome still depends heavily on how the case is investigated and prepared.

That work can include preserving physical and electronic evidence, identifying every eligible heir, determining every person or entity that contributed to the death, locating all available insurance coverage, working with qualified experts, and developing evidence that shows the full extent of the family's loss.

Our guide to the wrongful death legal process in San Diego explains how a case moves from the initial investigation through filing, discovery, mediation, and trial.

If you are deciding who should handle the case, our guide to finding the right wrongful death attorney explains what families should look for.

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How Hulburt Law Firm Can Help

Wrongful death law gives families important rights, but those rights can depend on evidence that disappears quickly and deadlines that arrive sooner than expected.

Our San Diego wrongful death attorneys handle the investigation and legal process from the beginning. We identify the responsible parties, preserve the evidence, determine the available insurance and other sources of recovery, comply with government claim requirements when they apply, and prepare the case for trial when necessary.

If you lost a loved one because of someone else's negligence in San Diego, call (619) 821-0500 or send us a message through our contact form for a free, confidential case review. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for your family.

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