Who Can Bring a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas

Who can bring a wrongful death claim in Texas? Janicek Law hopes to answer these questions for you.

If you lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, you need our skilled San Antonio wrongful death attorneys. Our experienced wrongful death attorneys can help you determine if your family members can sue for wrongful death in Texas. From here, we’ll work diligently to help surviving family members file a successful wrongful death claim.

Call 210-366-4949 to schedule a free consultation with a wrongful death attorney.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Suit in Texas

Every state has its own laws regarding who can file wrongful death claims. Only certain family members can file a wrongful death claim in Texas. This includes the surviving spouse, children, and parents of unmarried children. Texas law does not make a distinction between legally adopted children and biological children.

More distant family members, like aunts and uncles, cousins, and unmarried partners, cannot pursue a wrongful death claim in Texas.

If an immediate family member does not file a wrongful death lawsuit within three months of the date of death, the executor of the will may file a wrongful death lawsuit. The executor of the will, sometimes referred to as a personal representative, can pursue a wrongful death claim in the deceased person’s name. The personal representative would not necessarily receive any of the compensation. It would instead be put into a special trust for the beneficiaries of the will.

Can a Fiancé File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

In most cases, a fiancé or boyfriend/girlfriend of the deceased cannot file a wrongful death lawsuit. Only an immediate family member, like the surviving spouse, can file wrongful death claims in Texas. If the family pursues a wrongful death claim, there’s no guarantee that financial dependents will receive financial compensation from a settlement.

If you find yourself in this situation, you may feel powerless. Contact an experienced attorney for a free initial consultation to discuss the legal process.

Wrongful Death Beneficiaries Texas

Under Texas law, wrongful death beneficiaries include the surviving spouse, children (including legally adopted children), and parents of the deceased person. These eligible family members can file a wrongful death claim to seek financial compensation for losses like emotional anguish, lost support, and funeral and burial expenses. If none of these beneficiaries file within three months, the representative of the deceased person’s estate may file the claim unless family members object.

Who Determines Cause of Death in Texas?

If the death is from natural causes, typically the attending physician or primary care doctor certifies the cause of death on the death certificate.

For deaths that are sudden, unexplained, occur within 24 hours of admission to a facility, or are suspicious, the Medical Examiner or a Justice of the Peace is responsible, after conducting an investigation or inquest, and potentially an autopsy, to determine the cause and manner of death.

When Can A Family Sue for Wrongful Death in Texas?

The general rule is that if the deceased person could have pursued a personal injury case if they would have survived, then eligible family members file a wrongful death claim in Texas. A wrongful death claim exists when someone dies due to the legal fault of a negligent party.

Wrongful Death Medical Malpractice Texas

Medical malpractice is the result of a trusted medical provider making a mistake that results in a patient’s death. Successful wrongful death claim types include birth injuries, medication errors, and nursing home abuse and neglect.

Consult a San Antonio malpractice attorney for a free initial consultation.

Car Accident

Even with updated safety equipment, fatal automobile accidents happen every day. Distracted, impaired, or careless drivers can and should be held responsible in a wrongful death claim. 18-wheeler accidents can cause multiple fatalities, and families can file a wrongful death claim for every person’s death.

Intentional Killing

When someone kills another person intentionally, they are usually charged with a crime and face jail time. They can also face a wrongful death lawsuit brought about by the victim’s surviving family members. Unlike a criminal case that has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, civil cases only have to prove that the defendant’s negligence caused the victim’s death.

Can You Sue Someone for Murder in Texas?

Yes, grieving families can sue someone for murder in Texas by filing a wrongful death claim. A wrongful death lawsuit allows certain family members to seek financial compensation from the responsible party for causing a death through a wrongful act or negligence, even if that wrongful act is murder. Eligible family members include the surviving spouse, children, and parents. Wrongful death claims are separate from any criminal proceedings and do not require a conviction to move forward with a wrongful death claim in Texas.

Wrongful Death vs Survival Action Texas

So, what’s the difference between wrongful death vs survival action in Texas?

In Texas, eligible family members file a wrongful death claim for what the surviving family members lost due to the individual’s death. A survival action claim is different. The survival claim covers what the deceased person went through before they died.

If the deceased person suffered pain, had outstanding medical bills, or lost wages before the individual’s death, survival action claims let the decedent’s estate sue for those things, just like it was a personal injury claim.

Who Can File Survival Action Claims in Texas?

Only the deceased person’s estate can file a survival action claim. That means the person in charge of the decedent’s estate, like the executor (if there’s a will) or a court-appointed administrator (if there isn’t), files survival action claims.

If no one’s been appointed yet, a legal heir can step in to get the process started. The money won in a survival claim goes to the decedent’s estate and is later split up between heirs or whoever’s named in the will.

How are Wrongful Deaths Proven?

Depending on the specific case, a qualified wrongful death lawyer can pursue a few different methods to prove wrongful death. In most cases, your legal team must prove the 4 D’s of negligence: there was a duty of care that the defendant owed, the defendant breached it, and their actions resulted in a death. Medical providers owe a professional duty of care to their patients. If a maternity nurse neglects to call the doctor when a fetus is in distress, they are breaching their duty of care. If the patient dies because of their neglect, that would be grounds for a wrongful death action.

Who Can Be Sued for Wrongful Death?

Wrongful death actions can be brought against any responsible party. This can include physicians, hospitals, bartenders, and even people who own property where the deceased person was injured. Anyone responsible in a wrongful death suit can be held financially liable.

Texas Wrongful Death Statute of Limitations

A wrongful death action needs to be filed within 3 months by an immediate family member. After this period, the executor of the deceased person’s estate can pursue damages in a wrongful death case. Overall, wrongful death lawsuits in Texas have to be filed within two years.

Discovery Rule for Wrongful Death Claims in Texas Courts

In Texas courts, the discovery rule can extend the time to file a wrongful death claim if the family members did not know and could not have reasonably known that the deceased person’s death was caused by a wrongful act. Normally, the Texas wrongful death statute allows two years to file, but this rule delays that deadline until the harm is discovered or should have been discovered through reasonable diligence. This rule may apply in wrongful death cases involving medical negligence, concealed evidence, or delayed findings of gross negligence.

Texas Wrongful Death Damages: Financial Compensation For the Victim’s Family Members

No lawyer can tell you what the recovery from a wrongful death lawsuit can be without extensive research into the claim. Depending on the exact circumstances surrounding both the death and the life of the deceased person, wrongful death settlements can include economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages, or pecuniary injuries, are costs that are easily defined. They are meant to restore someone to the lifestyle they had before the injury. Some examples of economic damages include:

• Medical expenses
• Funeral expenses
• Lost wages
• Lost earning capacity

Non-economic damages in Texas are harder to quantify. These damages include:

• Pain and suffering
• Lost companionship
• Emotional distress
• Loss of consortium

Exemplary Damages in Texas Wrongful Death Claims

In Texas wrongful death lawsuits, a jury may award punitive damages, or exemplary damages, when a death results from a willful act or gross negligence. These damages are not meant to compensate family members but to punish the defendant. Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 71.009, only the surviving spouse, children, or parents may recover these damages in a wrongful death case.

When Can Family Members Seek Punitive Damages Under Texas Law

Under Texas law, families can ask for punitive damages in a wrongful death case when the person who caused the death did something really bad. These are not just careless, but dangerous on purpose, or clearly didn’t care if someone got hurt.

Examples of Gross Negligence in Texas Wrongful Death Claims

• If a truck driver was falling asleep but kept driving and crashed and killed another person, and the company knew the driver was too tired to be safe, that’s gross negligence.
• If a nurse purposely gave someone the wrong medication out of anger and the person died, that’s a willful act.
• If a business ignored repeated safety warnings about a gas leak and an explosion killed a worker, that shows they knew the risk and did nothing.

Punitive damages aren’t about paying the family back. They’re about punishing the bad behavior and sending a message: don’t ever do this again. Only the person’s surviving spouse, children, or parents can ask for this under Texas law.

Texas Wrongful Death Damages Cap

Texas damage caps apply only in wrongful death cases caused by medical malpractice. Non-economic damages are capped under Texas law to $250,000 per healthcare provider, with a maximum of $500,000 total for all providers combined. These Texas wrongful death limits do not affect the actual damages arising financially, like outstanding medical bills, funeral expenses, or lost wages. In all other wrongful death claims, such as fatal car crashes or workplace accidents, there are no damage caps under Texas law.

Legal Representation for Bexar County Wrongful Death Cases: Call for a Free Consultation

At Janicek Law, we fight for families to receive fair compensation from the at-fault party. Our law firm has been fighting for injured victims and their families for over two decades; let us fight for you. For legal representation that you can trust, choose a wrongful death attorney from Janicek Law. Call us today for a free evaluation at 210-366-4949 and begin your attorney-client relationship.