Hi, my name is Matt Eason. I’m a personal injury and wrongful death attorney here in Sacramento, and I have been practicing that law for over 25 years. In this video, we will address what you need for a wrongful death lawsuit in California. You need three basic things for a wrongful death lawsuit in California and a fourth to make it worthwhile.
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In California, the first thing you have to have to maintain a wrongful death action is that you have to have legal standing. Legal standing is a fancy way of saying you have a legally recognized right to bring that action. We produced another video that addresses the legal standing question in a little more depth, meaning who has a right to bring an action? If you’re a legal heir of the decedent, you probably have legal standing. Standing is generally limited to the spouse or domestic partner, then the children, and then it goes in different directions based on the probate code.
The second item to a successful wrongful death action in California is you need liability. Somebody has to have breached a duty. In other words, they had an obligation to act and failed to act as a reasonable person would have in the same or similar circumstances. Car accidents, truck accidents, and things like that, where someone was rear-ended or was not driving safely, are relatively easy liability-type scenarios or can be easy. The more complex situation has to do with medical malpractice. Just because someone passes away in the hospital under a doctor’s care does not necessarily mean that there’s malpractice or that there’s a liability against that provider. Instead, you have to show that that provider failed to act as a reasonable provider would have in the same or similar circumstances.
The third item to having a successful wrongful death action in California is probably more of a technicality under the circumstances, but it still technically has to be proven. You have to have suffered damages. Damages can obviously be economic, such as loss of support, but they can also be non-economic, such as loss of love and companionship.
The fourth item for a wrongful death in California isn’t technically required. Still, practically, it can be essential, and that is collectability if the person that you’re going after for the wrongful death of someone else does not have any assets. For example, if they aren’t insured, don’t own a home, or don’t have a stable job, then sometimes bringing the wrongful death action might be good for your heart and soul to get closure. It’s going to be unsuccessful as far as being able to collect. Most of the collectability has to do with insurance, or the person that caused the harm must act in the course and scope of their employment, and their employer has insurance.
So, while technically, a wrongful death action in California requires standing, liability, and damages, collectability is also an issue that should be looked into. Suppose you’ve lost a loved one, and you’re curious about a wrongful death action and what it encompasses and doesn’t. In that case, I hope you consider contacting me, Matt Eason, or another one of our Sacramento wrongful death attorneys at my firm, Eason and Tambornini.
