A Parent's Questions After a Wrongful Death, Answered Clearly

The Short Answer: A Parent May Have a Right to File

A parent may have a right to bring a wrongful death claim for an adult child in California. Under Code Civ. Proc. § 377.60, the answer turns on who else survived your child, mainly a spouse, a registered domestic partner, or children.

This page walks through those family questions in plain steps. It also covers a route many parents don’t expect: a parent who depended on the adult child may be able to file even when the other rules don’t reach them.

What Is a Wrongful Death Claim in California?

A wrongful death claim is a lawsuit that arises when a person dies because of another party’s wrongful act or neglect. A car crash, a truck collision, a motorcycle or bicycle crash, a pedestrian strike, a bus accident, a dog attack, or an unsafe property condition can each lead to this kind of claim, depending on the facts. Personal injury cases follow similar fault-based rules.

The claim belongs to specific family members, not to the person who died. The statute lets those people bring the claim themselves, or through the decedent’s personal representative on their behalf. A personal representative is the person who manages the deceased person’s estate.

California also has a separate survival claim.

For the broader process, from filing through damages, read our wrongful death overview.

Who May Bring the Claim Under CCP Section 377.60

Section 377.60 lists the people who may assert a wrongful death claim. The first group is the decedent’s surviving spouse or domestic partner, the decedent’s children, and the issue of any deceased children.

The statute defines “domestic partner” as a person in a registered domestic partnership at the time of death, though for a death before January 1, 2002, a person may instead qualify by establishing the listed Family Code factors. It also defines “putative spouse” as a surviving spouse of a void or voidable marriage who is found by the court to have believed in good faith that the marriage to the decedent was valid.

The second route in subdivision (a) applies only when there is no surviving issue. In that case, the people who would inherit the decedent’s property through intestate succession may bring the claim. Intestate succession is the inheritance process that applies when someone dies without a valid will. This is where a parent can enter the picture.

How the Order of Heirs Decides Who Files

Work through the family in three questions. First, was there a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner? Second, were there children or issue of deceased children? Third, if neither survived, who would inherit under intestate succession?

The first two questions often shape the parent’s path the most. When a spouse, partner, or child survived, those people are named first in the statute. A parent then has to look at other routes.

The statute also gives the court a role. Code Civ. Proc. § 377.61 says the court decides the respective rights in an award among the people entitled to assert the claim. That means more than one family member can have a stake in the same case.

When the Adult Child Left a Spouse, Registered Domestic Partner, or Children

A surviving spouse or registered domestic partner is named in the first group of § 377.60(a). Whether a parent can also file alongside that person depends on the intestate heirs and on any dependency facts. That is a question for the family’s specific details.

When the adult child left children, the parent’s intestate route generally does not open. That route applies only when no issue survived. A parent who was dependent on the decedent may also assert a cause of action under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 377.60, whether or not the parent qualifies under subdivision (a).

Consider a father who lived with and relied on his adult daughter for housing. She left a husband and two young children. The husband and children are named in § 377.60(a). A father who was dependent on the decedent may assert a cause of action under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 377.60, whether or not he qualifies under subdivision (a). That answer depends on the facts of his relationship with his daughter, and it isn’t predicted by the family structure alone.

When a Parent May Be the Closest Eligible Heir

Section 377.60(b)(1) is the route many families miss. It allows certain people who were dependent on the decedent to assert the claim, whether or not they qualify under subdivision (a). The statute names parents among those persons, along with stepchildren, putative spouses, children of a putative spouse, and the decedent’s legal guardians if the parents are deceased.

If there was no surviving issue of the decedent, a parent may also be among the persons, including the surviving spouse or domestic partner, who would be entitled to the decedent’s property by intestate succession, and in that situation the parent can qualify under subdivision (a) as well. In that situation, the parent can qualify under subdivision (a) as well.

Families often assume that an adult child’s death leaves only the spouse with rights. That assumption can be wrong. A complete list of surviving relatives, along with proof of any financial dependence, helps show which routes may apply.

What the Claim Can Cover and Where to Learn More

The statute lets the court award damages that may be just under all the circumstances. Code Civ. Proc. § 377.61 also excludes certain damages covered by a different section. Those rules apply to how the claim is valued, and each case turns on its own facts.

Timing matters too. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1 sets a two-year period for an action for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another.

Families in our service area, including Kern County, Fresno, and Visalia, can read local context on those pages.

Talk With Colvin Accident Lawyers About Your Family’s Situation

If you’ve lost an adult son or daughter and aren’t sure you can bring a claim, you’re not alone in asking. Questions about a spouse, a partner, grandchildren, or your own financial role in your child’s life can change the answer. Colvin Accident Lawyers, based in Bakersfield, can review those details with you. Donald Norman Colvin is the responsible attorney for this page. The first consultation is free and confidential, and it carries no obligation to continue. To start that conversation, contact Colvin Accident Lawyers.

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