In a California wrongful death case, the family can recover two kinds of loss. One is money, such as the support and household help the person gave, plus funeral costs. The other is the loss of the person’s love, care and company.
Code of Civil Procedure section 377.61 allows damages that are just under all the circumstances. California’s jury instructions list what that includes.
What money losses count?
The financial part covers what the person would have provided if they had lived.
- The financial support they would have given the family.
- Gifts or benefits the family expected to receive.
- Funeral and burial costs.
- The value of household services, such as childcare, cooking, repairs and driving.
Support is measured over the years the person would likely have lived. Pay stubs, tax returns and benefit statements are the usual proof.
What about the loss of love and care?
California lets the family recover for the loss of the person’s love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society and moral support. For a spouse, that can include the couple’s intimate relationship.
For a child, it includes the loss of a parent’s training and guidance. No formula sets this amount, and it comes from what the family can show about the person and the relationship.
What can a family not recover?
Some losses feel obvious and are not part of the wrongful death claim.
- Grief and sorrow on their own. The claim pays for the loss of the relationship itself.
- The pain the person felt before death. That is not part of the family’s claim.
- Punitive damages, with a narrow exception for a death caused by a felony homicide.
How is a survival action different?
The estate can bring its own claim, called a survival action, under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.30. It covers losses the person had before death, such as medical bills and wages lost between the injury and the death.
It can also include punitive damages the person could have claimed while alive. The two claims are often filed together, and each one pays for a different loss.
Is there a cap on wrongful death damages?
For most cases, no. California does not cap wrongful death damages in a car crash, a truck crash or a fall.
Medical malpractice is the exception. A state law called MICRA caps the non-economic part of those cases, and the cap rises on a set schedule each January.
How is the money divided in the family?
California allows one wrongful death case for all the heirs together. When there is one award, the court decides each heir’s share, under section 377.61.
Families can agree on the split among themselves. When they cannot, the judge divides it based on what each heir lost. Our guide to who can file a wrongful death claim in California explains who counts as an heir.
How this plays out in Los Angeles
Many families in Los Angeles send money to parents or relatives in another country. For a family member with the right to file, that support can count as a financial loss, and wire transfer records are the proof.
Most of these cases go to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Our team gathers the pay records, the transfer records and the family’s own account of the person, because each piece shapes the claim.
What to do now
- Gather the person’s pay stubs, tax returns and benefit statements.
- Save the receipts for the funeral and burial.
- List the household work the person did each week.
- Collect records of money sent to family, in this country or abroad.
- Note the family routines the person was part of, while the memories are fresh.
Talk to us about what your family lost
We can go through the records with you and explain what each part of the claim covers. We can also tell you which deadline applies to your family.
There is no fee to ask, and no fee unless we win. Here is how we work as a wrongful death lawyer in Los Angeles, and how to reach our team in English, Spanish or Armenian.
