How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas?
Two years from the date of death for most claims, but the deadline that ends these cases most often is the governmental notice period, which is measured in months and arrives during the worst weeks of a family's life.
- 138Google reviews
- 3Attorneys on your case
- 2 yrsTexas filing deadline
- No feeUnless we win
Two years from the death
Section 16.003 gives two years to file suit on a wrongful death claim, running from the date of death rather than the date of the injury that caused it. The survival claim generally runs the same two years.
Filing means commencing a lawsuit in court. Notifying an insurer, opening a claim or negotiating does not preserve the deadline, and no insurer is obliged to warn a family that it is running out.
The date it runs from is not always obvious
Where a person is injured and survives for a period before dying, the wrongful death period runs from death, not from the injury. Those can be weeks or months apart, and using the wrong date can forfeit real time.
Confirming the correct trigger date is an early step, not an afterthought, particularly where the claim was already close to a deadline for the underlying injury.
Governmental defendants: the deadline that bites
Where a governmental unit may be responsible, the Texas Tort Claims Act requires formal written notice within six months, and many cities impose shorter periods by charter, some ninety days. Public hospitals, city and county vehicles, government premises and road defects all engage it.
This is the single most common way wrongful death claims against public bodies are lost. The notice period runs while the family is arranging a funeral, and missing it bars the claim regardless of how strong it was.
Extensions for minors and incapacity
Where a beneficiary was a minor, the limitations period as to that beneficiary's share may be tolled until they reach majority. A child does not necessarily lose the claim because an adult failed to act within two years.
Legal incapacity of a beneficiary can also toll the period as to their share. These protect those who could not act for themselves and are exceptions rather than a general extension.
The discovery rule, in narrow cases
Where the cause of death could not reasonably have been known, in some medical or toxic exposure cases, the discovery rule may delay the start of the period until the cause was or should have been discovered.
It is narrowly applied and argued on specific facts. It is not a reason to delay seeking advice on an apparent claim.
Why the real deadline is sooner than two years
Evidence perishes long before the limitations period expires. Footage overwrites in days, vehicle data is lost on repair, and medical records take months to obtain and have reviewed by an expert.
A family that treats two years as the working deadline will find, where a governmental unit is involved, that the real deadline passed months earlier, and in every case that the evidence that would have proved the claim is gone.
Summary
| Situation | Deadline | Runs from |
|---|---|---|
| Wrongful death | 2 years | Date of death |
| Survival claim | 2 years | Date of death, with exceptions |
| Governmental defendant | Formal notice in months, often 90 days | Date of the incident |
| Beneficiary was a minor | Tolled as to their share | Until majority |
| Cause not discoverable | Discovery rule may apply | When it should have been known |
Keep reading
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.
Practice areaWho 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.
Read
Frequently asked questions
Two years from the date of death to file suit. Where a governmental unit may be responsible, formal written notice is required within months and sometimes ninety days, and that shorter deadline bars the claim if missed.
From the death. Where someone is injured and survives a period before dying, those can be weeks or months apart, and using the injury date can forfeit real time.
Yes, much shorter. The Texas Tort Claims Act requires formal written notice within six months, often ninety days by city charter. It runs during the funeral period and is the most common way these claims are lost.
Possibly. Where a beneficiary was a minor, the limitations period as to their share may be tolled until majority, so the claim is not necessarily lost because an adult did not act in time.
Talk it through with a lawyer
A free consultation covers whether you have a claim, what the deadline is, and what insurance is actually available.
Contingency fee. You pay nothing unless we win.