Can You Sue Someone for Killing a Family Member in a Car Accident?
You can. California law gives you a clear path to hold the at-fault driver accountable and to secure financial support for your family. You don’t need legal jargon to start. You need to know who can file, what you must prove, what compensation you can claim, and when you must act.
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The Short Answer — and the Two Legal Paths
You pursue justice through a wrongful death claim, which compensates the family for their losses, and sometimes a survival action, which continues the claim your loved one could have brought had they lived.
California’s Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) makes both routes available. CCP §377.60 identifies the family members who may sue for wrongful death, and CCP §§377.30–377.34 explain survival actions and what damages they allow.
Who Can File for Wrongful Death in California?
Before you check eligibility, understand why the law lists family members in a specific order. Abiding by the code known as the California Code of Civil Procedure §377.60, the priority of who may file a wrongful death lawsuit affects how your family coordinates one unified case.
For those left behind, action for wrongful death carries legal and personal weight — accountability, recognition of a life, and financial stability. The designation of wrongful death heirs acknowledges those most deeply affected. Learn more about qualifying heirs here.
With that context, the statute says these parties may file a claim for a family member killed in a car accident, often together in a single action:
- Spouse or registered domestic partner, children, and grandchildren of deceased children; if none, those who would inherit by intestate succession, including a partner. Dependent putative spouse, stepchildren, and parents may also qualify.
- A dependent minor who lived in the household for the 180 days before death and received at least half of their support from the decedent.
What You Must Prove
Every wrongful death case in California rests on negligence. You show that the other driver owed a duty of care, broke that duty, caused the crash, and caused your family’s losses. Jurors look for specific, credible facts, so you and your lawyer gather evidence early and protect it.
- Duty and breach: Drivers must follow the rules of the road. Common causes of wrongful death due to car collisions include distracted driving, speeding, driving under the influence, and reckless driving. Federal data echoes the risk: distraction alone killed 3,308 people nationwide in 2022, with hundreds of thousands injured.
- Causation: You connect the unsafe act to the fatal crash through photos, videos, crash reconstruction, and medical evidence.
- Damages: You prove what the family lost — financial support, services, companionship, guidance, and more.
What Wrongful Death Compensation Can Include
California law allows both economic and non-economic damages in wrongful death, and separate categories in a survival action. You should track everything from day one.
- Funeral and burial costs: In a wrongful death lawsuit, the cost of the funeral and burial can be claimed as part of the settlement. These expenses are factored into the overall compensation provided by the liable party or their insurance provider. Families should keep detailed records and receipts related to funeral expenses to ensure these costs are adequately covered in the claim.
- Household and financial support: You can claim the value of services the decedent provided and the income they would have earned.
- Loss of love, companionship, care, and guidance: California recognizes these human losses in wrongful death.
- Survival damages: The estate can recover losses the decedent suffered before death. For cases filed on or after Jan. 1, 2022, and before Jan. 1, 2026, state law also permits recovery of the decedent’s pain, suffering, or disfigurement in a survival action.
How Severity Influences Value
Injuries that cause paralysis, cognitive impairment, or major scarring and death command the highest damages because they change your independence, earnings, and daily function. Authoritative public data indicate that the most severe crash outcomes continue to be a major national and state problem, despite a decline in overall fatalities in 2023.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data show U.S. traffic deaths fell in 2023, yet the toll stayed near 41,000. California’s Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) reports 4,061 traffic deaths in 2023, an ~11% drop from 2022 — still thousands of devastated families.
Special Note About Children and Young Adults
Wrongful death claims involving children and young adults are particularly heartbreaking. These individuals had their whole lives ahead of them, with endless possibilities and potential. When their lives are cut short due to someone else’s actions, it is a devastating loss for their families.
Deadlines You Cannot Miss in a Wrongful Death Claim
You protect your rights by acting fast. In most cases, you must file within two years of the death. If the at-fault party is a government entity (for example, a city bus or a dangerous roadway condition), you must present a government claim within six months before you can sue.
Why Safety Trends Still Matter to Your Case
You don’t litigate in a vacuum. Juries hear about risk factors, and insurers track safety rules. Federal regulators finalized a rule that will require automatic emergency braking (AEB) on new passenger vehicles, aiming to reduce rear-end and pedestrian crashes. That safety push highlights the reality your case confronts: technology improves, but negligent driving still kills.
Your Next Legal Move, Made Clear
You have legal standing, a defined path, and a deadline. Document everything, keep receipt trails for funeral and other costs, and talk to a California wrongful death lawyer who knows how to coordinate heirs, calculate lifetime support, and build causation with evidence. The law gives you tools to sue someone for killing a family member in a car accident — use them to secure accountability, recognition, and stability for your family.
We can help you file a wrongful death claim and sue someone for killing a family member in an accident. Call RTM Law Firm for a free, confidential consultation. No fees until we win.
Do you need compassionate support and effective representation?
No fees until we win. Available 24/7.
