How to File a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas
There is no form to file and no agency to file it with. Bringing a wrongful death claim is a sequence of steps, and the order matters because some deadlines arrive in months while the evidence disappears in days.
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Establish who may bring the claim
Only the surviving spouse, children and parents may bring the wrongful death claim, and any of them may bring it for all. The survival claim requires a personal representative of the estate, which may mean opening a probate proceeding.
This is the first step, because the claim cannot proceed until standing is clear. Where the family structure is simple it is quick; where it is not, it can take time and occasionally requires resolving disputes among potential beneficiaries.
Preserve the evidence immediately
Because the person cannot describe what happened, the case depends on physical evidence, records, event data and witnesses, all of which perish. Send preservation demands at once: for vehicle data and footage in a crash, for records in a medical case, for inspection logs and footage in a premises case.
This competes with a family's need to grieve, which is precisely why involving counsel early matters. The preservation work does not wait for the family to be ready.
Identify the governmental-notice question first
If any defendant may be a governmental unit, a public hospital, a city or county vehicle, a government-owned property, formal written notice is due within months, sometimes ninety days. This is the deadline that most often destroys these claims.
It has to be identified and met at the very start, long before the substantive case is ready, because it arrives during the funeral period and is unforgiving.
Investigate and obtain the records
The autopsy and toxicology, the police or agency report, medical records, employment and financial records for the economic projection, and whatever documents the responsible party holds. Much of this is slow to obtain and some requires formal process.
In a medical case the records must be reviewed by a qualified expert before the claim can even be framed, and the Chapter 74 expert report is due within 120 days of filing suit.
Present the claim, then file if needed
Where liability and damages are established and coverage exists, the claim is presented to the responsible party's insurer as a demand. Where it cannot be resolved, or the limitations deadline approaches, suit is filed.
Filing preserves the claim, compels evidence the other side will not produce voluntarily, and commits no one to a trial. Most viable claims resolve at mediation rather than by verdict.
Resolution, approval and distribution
A settlement is allocated between the wrongful death and survival claims, liens are resolved, and where a minor is a beneficiary the court approves it. The recovery is then distributed among the beneficiaries according to their losses.
How it is divided is its own subject, because the wrongful death and survival portions follow different rules.
Summary
| Step | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Establish standing | First | Claim cannot proceed without it |
| Preserve evidence | Immediately | Footage and data perish in days |
| Governmental notice | Within months | Most common way these claims are lost |
| Obtain records | Ongoing | Slow; expert review in medical cases |
| Present and file | Before limitations expires | Two years from death |
| Approval and distribution | At resolution | Court protects minors |
Keep reading
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Frequently asked questions
There is no form or agency. You establish who may bring the claim, preserve the evidence immediately, identify any governmental-notice deadline, investigate and obtain the records, and present the claim to the responsible party's insurer, filing suit if it cannot be resolved or the deadline approaches.
The surviving spouse, children and parents may bring the wrongful death claim, and any may bring it for all. The survival claim requires a personal representative of the estate, which may mean opening a probate proceeding.
Identifying whether any defendant is a governmental unit, because formal written notice is then due within months and sometimes ninety days. That deadline arrives during the funeral period and is the most common way these claims are lost.
Not necessarily. Most viable claims are presented to the responsible party's insurer and resolved by negotiation or mediation. Suit is filed where the claim cannot be resolved or the limitations deadline approaches, and it does not commit anyone to a trial.
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.