Cedar Park Wrongful Death Lawyer
Texas gives specific family members the right to bring a wrongful death claim, and gives the estate a separate claim of its own. Which claim applies, and who may bring it, is set by statute rather than by choice.
- 138Google reviews
- 3Attorneys on your case
- 2 yrsTexas filing deadline
- No feeUnless we win
Who may bring a wrongful death claim in Texas
Section 71.004 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code limits the claim to the surviving spouse, children and parents of the person who died. Any one of them may bring it, individually or together.
Siblings cannot bring a Texas wrongful death claim, whatever their relationship with the person who died. If no eligible family member files within three calendar months of the death, the executor or administrator of the estate may file, unless the family asks them not to.
The two claims that arise from one death
A wrongful death claim compensates the family for what they lost. A survival claim under section 71.021 belongs to the estate and covers what the person who died suffered before death, including conscious pain and medical expenses incurred between injury and death.
The two are brought together but are legally distinct, with different beneficiaries and different damages. Bringing only one leaves part of the loss unrecovered.
What the family may recover
Texas allows recovery for loss of companionship and society, mental anguish, loss of the financial support the person would have provided, loss of inheritance, and funeral and burial expenses. Where death resulted from gross negligence, exemplary damages may be available, and the Texas Constitution permits them in wrongful death cases without the statutory cap that applies elsewhere.
Proving the loss
Financial loss is calculated by an economist from earnings history, work life expectancy and the support the family actually received. The human loss is proved by the people who lived it. That evidence is difficult to gather and the firm does the work of assembling it so the family is not left to organize it during grief.
Deadlines
Two years from the date of death under section 16.003. Where a governmental unit is involved, formal written notice can be required within months. Where a criminal case is running alongside, the civil deadline continues regardless of how that case proceeds.
How fault is decided in a wrongful death case
The same proportionate responsibility rules apply. A jury assigns each party a percentage under section 33.001, and the family's recovery is reduced by any share attributed to the person who died. At 51 percent or more, recovery is lost entirely.
Defendants routinely raise the conduct of the person who died, which families find distressing and which is a normal part of how these cases are defended. Independent investigation is what answers it.
What the process looks like for a family
The first step is establishing who is eligible to bring the claim and whether an estate representative needs to be appointed for the survival claim. Both usually proceed together.
The firm then investigates liability independently rather than relying on a police report or a pending criminal case, obtains the medical and autopsy records, and instructs an economist on financial loss. Families are not asked to gather this material themselves. Where a criminal prosecution is running alongside, the civil claim proceeds on its own timetable, because waiting can put the two year deadline at risk.
What it costs a family to bring the claim
Nothing to start, and no fee unless there is a recovery. Case expenses, including the economist and any accident reconstruction, are advanced by the firm.
Funeral and burial expenses are themselves a recoverable element of the wrongful death claim, which matters because those costs arrive immediately and long before any claim resolves.
What this kind of claim can recover
| Wrongful death claim | Survival claim | |
|---|---|---|
| Statute | Section 71.002 | Section 71.021 |
| Who brings it | Surviving spouse, children, parents | The estate |
| Whose loss | The family's | The person who died |
| Damages | Companionship, mental anguish, lost support, lost inheritance, funeral costs | Conscious pain, mental anguish before death, medical expenses incurred |
| Who receives it | The family members who bring it | The estate, then the heirs |
More on wrongful death
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas
Texas limits the right to bring a wrongful death claim to three categories of family member.
ReadSurvival Action or Wrongful Death Claim
One death produces two separate legal claims in Texas.
ReadWrongful Death Statute of Limitations
Two years, and the date it runs from is not always the date of the accident.
ReadMedical Malpractice Wrongful Death
A death caused by medical negligence is a wrongful death claim, but Texas surrounds it with procedural requirements no other injury claim carries.
ReadWrongful Death Settlement Calculators
No calculator can value a life, and the formulas they use have no basis in Texas law.
ReadChances of Winning a Wrongful Death Suit
The honest answer is that it depends on three things, and none of them is how sympathetic the loss is.
ReadHow a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Works
A wrongful death case is two claims brought by different people for different losses, and it runs...
ReadHow to Prove Wrongful Death
Four elements, each proved separately, and the hardest part is that the person who could describe what happened is gone.
ReadNursing Home Wrongful Death
A death in a nursing home is not automatically a claim, and it is not automatically natural causes either.
ReadWrongful Death Compensation
Two claims recover two different sets of losses.
ReadHow Long a Wrongful Death Case Takes
Longer than an ordinary injury claim, commonly one to three years, and for structural reasons...
ReadWrongful Death Insurance
A wrongful death claim is worth what can be collected, and that usually means insurance rather than a defendant's own pocket.
ReadHow Settlements Are Paid Out
Between the agreed figure and money in a family's hands sit several steps: liens, allocation between...
ReadWrongful Death of a Child
The death of a child is valued differently from the death of a wage-earner, because the loss is almost...
ReadFatal Slip and Fall Claims
A fatal fall is a wrongful death claim built on premises liability, which means it has to clear the premises notice hurdle as well as prove the death.
ReadMedical Malpractice vs Wrongful Death
These are not alternatives to choose between. One describes what the defendant did; the other describes who may claim and for what.
ReadFatal Truck Accident Claims
A fatal truck crash combines the highest-stakes wrongful death claim with the evidence-heavy world of commercial trucking.
ReadDividing a Wrongful Death Settlement
A wrongful death recovery is not split evenly, and it is not the family's to divide as it wishes.
ReadHow to File a Wrongful Death Claim
There is no form to file and no agency to file it with.
ReadDeadline to File a Wrongful Death Claim
Two years from the date of death for most claims, but the deadline that ends these cases most often...
ReadWho Is Liable for a Wrongful Death?
Anyone whose wrongful act or negligence caused the death, and often more than one party.
Read
Related practice areas
Injury claims overlap. These are the areas most often connected to this one.
Car Accidents
A car accident claim in Texas turns on two questions: who was responsible, and what did the collision actually cost you.
Learn moreTruck Accidents
A collision with an 18 wheeler is not a bigger car accident.
Learn moreGas Explosions
A gas explosion destroys the evidence of its own cause.
Learn moreConstruction Accidents
Texas is the only state that does not require private employers to carry workers compensation.
Learn more
Who handles wrongful death at the firm
Shanna Valentine
Attorney
St. Thomas University School of Law, Miami, Florida
Mike Ely
Attorney
George Washington University Law School, 2002
Nick Reed
Attorney
St. Thomas University School of Law, Miami. Dual JD and MBA, with honors.
Frequently asked questions
Only the surviving spouse, children and parents of the person who died. Siblings cannot bring the claim. If no eligible family member files within three months of the death, the estate's executor or administrator may file unless the family asks them not to.
A wrongful death claim compensates the family for their own loss. A survival claim belongs to the estate and covers what the person who died suffered between injury and death, including conscious pain and medical expenses. They are brought together but are legally separate.
No. A civil claim is separate from any criminal prosecution and runs on its own two year deadline. A criminal conviction can help prove the civil case, but an acquittal does not end it, because the standard of proof is lower in a civil claim.
Yes. Texas allows recovery for loss of companionship and society and for mental anguish, alongside the financial losses. These are real categories of damages rather than afterthoughts.
Two years from the date of death in most cases. Claims involving a governmental unit can require formal written notice within months, so those need attention immediately.
The firm works on a contingency fee and advances case expenses, so there is nothing to pay to begin. Funeral and burial costs are also a recoverable element of the claim itself.
Find out where your claim stands
A free consultation covers what your claim requires, what the deadline is, and what insurance coverage is actually available.
Contingency fee. You pay nothing unless we win.