Riverside Wrongful Death Attorney

The loss of a family member often brings questions that do not have immediate answers. While families are handling responsibilities that follow an unexpected death, they are often trying to understand what happened and whether the loss could have been prevented.

California law allows certain family members to pursue a wrongful death claim when a death was caused by negligence or wrongful conduct. The purpose of these claims is to seek accountability and compensation for losses suffered by surviving family members.

JSM Injury Firm APC represents families throughout Riverside in wrongful death claims. If you lost a loved one because of another party’s negligence, contact our office for a free consultation.

What Qualifies as Wrongful Death in California?

If you lost a loved one because of another party’s negligence or wrongful conduct, you may have the right to pursue a wrongful death claim. In many situations, the death results from an incident that would have supported a personal injury claim if your family member had survived.

Wrongful death claims arise in many different circumstances, including fatal traffic collisions and incidents involving unsafe property conditions. The central question is whether another party’s conduct caused the death and created legal responsibility for the loss suffered by surviving family members.

The fact that a death occurred does not automatically create a wrongful death claim. Whether you have a claim depends on how the death occurred and the facts surrounding the incident.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in California?

Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60, only certain family members have the right to file a wrongful death claim. If you lost a loved one, your eligibility to bring a claim often turns on your relationship to the person who died.

Family members who are commonly eligible to file include:

• A surviving spouse: A husband or wife is generally among the first individuals entitled to pursue a wrongful death claim.
• Children of the deceased: Biological and adopted children are frequently eligible to bring a claim.
• A registered domestic partner: Registered domestic partners have many of the same rights as spouses when pursuing a wrongful death claim.
• Certain dependents: Some family members who relied on the deceased for financial support may also qualify under California law.

More than one family member may have the right to participate in the same claim. The legal statute contains specific rules regarding who can be included in a wrongful death action and when eligibility extends beyond immediate family members.

Damages Available in a California Wrongful Death Claim

A wrongful death claim focuses on what surviving family members have lost after the death of a loved one. California law allows certain family members to seek compensation for the financial consequences of the death as well as the effect the loss has had on their lives.

Financial Losses After the Death of a Loved One

If your loved one contributed financial support to your household, that loss may be considered as part of a wrongful death claim. Many families rely on a loved one for income that helps cover household expenses and provides stability over time.

The financial effect of a wrongful death is not limited to the income that was available at the time of death. A claim may also consider the support your loved one would have been expected to provide in the future if the death had not occurred.

Funeral and Burial Expenses

Funeral and burial expenses often appear within days of an unexpected death. Families are frequently required to make arrangements and pay substantial costs while they are still processing the loss of a loved one.

California law allows certain funeral and burial expenses to be included in a wrongful death claim. These costs often create an additional financial burden during an already difficult period. A wrongful death claim can include expenses incurred because of the death.

The Loss of a Family Relationship

The death of a loved one affects more than a household’s finances. You have lost a relationship that was part of your everyday life before the death occurred.

California law allows eligible family members to seek compensation for that loss. While money cannot replace your loved one, the law recognizes that the death has affected surviving family members in ways that cannot be measured solely through financial records.

Loss of Household Services

Many people contribute to their households in ways that do not appear on a pay stub. A loved one may have handled responsibilities that became part of everyday life within the home. When that person dies, those responsibilities do not simply disappear.

Tasks that were once handled by a loved one often shift to other family members or require outside help. California law recognizes that these contributions have value and can be considered as part of a wrongful death claim.

How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Claim?

If you lost a loved one because of another party’s negligence, the amount of time available to file a claim is limited. Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1, families generally have two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Although two years may sound like a long time, it is common for families to spend the months following a death focused on responsibilities that require immediate attention. As time passes, questions about the claim often remain unresolved while the filing deadline continues to approach.

Different deadlines can apply when a minor is involved. Because filing deadlines determine whether a claim can proceed, identifying the correct deadline early helps prevent disputes about whether the claim was filed on time.

How JSM Injury Firm APC Handles Wrongful Death Cases

A wrongful death claim often begins while families are still trying to process an unexpected loss. Insurance companies and other parties may already be reviewing what happened. JSM Injury Firm APC approaches these cases with an understanding of the responsibilities families are already carrying. When handling a wrongful death claim, our firm focuses on:

• Taking over communication related to the claim: Families should not have to spend their time responding to insurance companies or handling every request for information on their own.
• Explaining how the process works: Questions about who can participate in the claim and what happens next are common after a death. We provide answers as those questions come up.
• Gathering the information needed to evaluate the claim: Wrongful death cases often require records and documentation that families do not have immediate access to after the loss.
• Keeping the focus on how the death occurred: A wrongful death claim begins with understanding what happened and whether another party bears legal responsibility for the loss.

No legal claim changes what your family has experienced. A wrongful death case cannot undo the loss or replace the person who died. The purpose of a wrongful death claim is to allow eligible family members to pursue compensation recognized under California law.

Representation for Families Pursuing Wrongful Death Claims

JSM Injury Firm APC represents families who have lost a loved one because of another party’s negligence. Wrongful death claims often involve questions that surviving family members have never had to confront before, including who has the right to file a claim and how California law applies to the loss.

Wrongful death cases differ from many other personal injury matters because the claim focuses on losses experienced by surviving family members after the death. JSM Injury Firm APC approaches these cases with an understanding of the responsibilities families are often managing while also trying to address legal issues connected to the loss.

“Families often come to us during one of the most difficult periods of their lives. Our role is to help them understand the claim and pursue it while they focus on their family.”

— Jamal S. Mahmood, Esq.
Founder and Principal Attorney
California Bar Number: 321915

Representative Case Results

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. The following results demonstrate the firm’s experience handling serious personal injury claims.

• $1.25 Million — Auto v. Auto — Spine Injury
• $1.1 Million — Premises Liability — Slip and Fall
• $1 Million — Auto v. Bus — Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
• $750,000 — Premises Liability — Fractured Foot

Discuss Your Family’s Wrongful Death Claim

The death of a loved one often leaves families searching for answers. While handling the responsibilities that follow an unexpected loss, you may also be trying to determine whether another party’s negligence contributed to the death and whether your family has the right to pursue a wrongful death claim.

JSM Injury Firm APC represents families throughout Riverside in wrongful death claims. If you lost a loved one because of another party’s negligence, contact our office for a free consultation. We can discuss what happened and whether your family has the right to pursue a wrongful death claim under California law.

JSM Injury Firm APC
3600 Lime Street, Building 2
Riverside, CA 92501

(951) 477-5642