When a family loses someone because of another party’s negligence or wrongful conduct, the legal system offers a specific and limited form of accountability: financial compensation through a civil wrongful death claim. It cannot undo what happened, and California law is explicit that it does not attempt to compensate for grief itself. What it can do is hold the responsible party accountable for the practical and relational losses the family now carries.
The Law Office of Sam Salhab has represented Fresno families through this process for over fifteen years. A free, confidential consultation is available to discuss what happened and what options exist.
You Do Not Need Criminal Charges to File a Civil Claim
One of the most common misconceptions families bring to a first consultation is the belief that a wrongful death lawsuit requires criminal charges against the person responsible. It does not.
Criminal prosecution and a civil wrongful death claim are entirely separate proceedings with different purposes, different standards of proof, and different outcomes.
Two Systems, Two Standards
Criminal prosecution, pursued by the government, seeks punishment, jail time, fines, or other penalties, and requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. A wrongful death lawsuit, pursued by the family, seeks financial compensation, and requires only a preponderance of the evidence, a meaningfully lower standard.
A Decision Not to Prosecute Does Not End Your Options
A prosecutor’s decision not to file charges, often made for reasons that have nothing to do with the strength of a civil case, does not foreclose a wrongful death claim. The two proceedings can run simultaneously, or a civil claim can proceed even where no criminal case was ever filed.
What California Juries Are Actually Told to Award
Most explanations of wrongful death damages stay vague. California’s actual jury instructions are specific, and understanding them gives families a realistic picture of what a claim addresses.
Under CACI No. 3921, the official instruction California courts use for adult wrongful death cases, damages fall into two categories.
Economic Damages
What’s Included
The instruction directs juries to award the financial support the decedent would have contributed to the family over their expected lifetime, the value of household services the decedent would have provided, the value of gifts or benefits the family could reasonably have expected to receive, and funeral and burial expenses.
Non-Economic Damages
The instruction also directs juries to compensate for the loss of the decedent’s love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, and moral support, along with loss of consortium for a surviving spouse and loss of a parent’s guidance for surviving children.
What the Law Explicitly Excludes
CACI No. 3921 is equally specific about what a wrongful death claim does not compensate.
What the Family’s Own Grief Does Not Cover
It does not include the family’s own grief or sorrow, separate from the loss of companionship described above. It does not include the decedent’s own pain and suffering before death, that is addressed through a separate survival action, not the wrongful death claim itself.
No Punitive Damages
California courts have also held, in Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California (1976), that punitive damages are not available in a wrongful death action under California’s wrongful death statute.
Wrongful Death vs. Survival Action
Many families are unaware that two distinct legal claims can arise from the same death, and that both can be pursued together.
| Wrongful Death | Survival Action | |
| Who files | Eligible surviving family members | The estate’s personal representative |
| What it compensates | The family’s losses going forward | The decedent’s own losses before death |
| Includes | Lost support, companionship, funeral costs | Medical bills, lost wages, pre-death pain and suffering |
| Punitive damages | Not available | Available in appropriate cases |
A survival action addresses harm the decedent personally experienced, including medical expenses and pain endured before death. A wrongful death claim addresses what the family lost as a result of the death itself. Filing both, where applicable, ensures no category of recoverable damages is left unaddressed.
Who Can File in Fresno
California Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60 establishes who has legal standing to bring a wrongful death claim.
Who Has First Priority
The surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and the decedent’s children have first priority. If the decedent had no surviving children, grandchildren may have standing.
Other Qualifying Heirs
Anyone who would inherit under California’s intestate succession laws can also qualify, as can a minor who lived with the decedent for at least 180 days before the death and depended on the decedent for at least half of their financial support.
All eligible heirs typically file together in a single action, with each person’s individual losses assessed separately rather than divided from one collective award.
How a Wrongful Death Case Unfolds
For families navigating this for the first time, understanding the general sequence can ease some of the uncertainty.
The General Sequence
A case typically moves through the fatal incident, an initial investigation, early consultation between the family and an attorney, evidence preservation, a parallel insurance investigation, calculation of damages, settlement negotiation, and, where a fair resolution cannot be reached, litigation through discovery toward trial or settlement.
Most wrongful death cases resolve through settlement before reaching trial.
Evidence That Matters in a Fresno Wrongful Death Case
Building a strong claim depends on documentation gathered promptly.
Foundational Records
The official police or CHP report, the death certificate obtainable through the California Department of Public Health’s Vital Records office, and an autopsy report where one was performed form the foundational record.
Supporting Evidence
Medical records from any treatment before death, witness statements, surveillance footage, and accident reconstruction analysis in disputed liability cases all support the claim. Employment and financial records establish the economic damages tied to lost future support, and Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data is often used to project future earnings objectively rather than through estimation.
Why Acting Early Matters
Surveillance footage is frequently overwritten within days. Electronic vehicle data can be lost once a vehicle is repaired or disposed of. Witness memories fade measurably within the first weeks. Maintenance and employment records relevant to certain claims may be subject to routine destruction schedules. An attorney engaged early can send preservation requests before any of this evidence disappears.
Common Causes of Wrongful Death Claims in Fresno
While vehicle collisions remain the most common basis for these claims, particularly on heavily trafficked corridors like Highway 99, Highway 41, Highway 168, and Highway 180, wrongful death claims also arise from truck and motorcycle accidents, pedestrian collisions, medical negligence, dangerous property conditions, workplace accidents, and defective products.
Fresno’s significant agricultural trucking and commercial freight activity introduces specific liability questions in crashes involving commercial carriers, addressed in more detail in our dedicated truck accident resources.
What If the Deceased Was Partly at Fault
California’s pure comparative negligence rule applies to wrongful death claims. If the deceased bore some responsibility for the incident, the family’s recovery is reduced proportionally, not eliminated. A family awarded $900,000 in damages where the deceased was found 30% at fault would recover $630,000.
Insurers frequently argue for an inflated fault percentage against the deceased specifically because it reduces what they owe, making independent investigation important from the outset.
Talk to a Fresno Wrongful Death Attorney
California’s statute of limitations for wrongful death claims is two years from the date of death under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1, with a separate six-month Government Claims Act deadline if a government entity may be responsible.
The Law Office of Sam Salhab offers free, confidential consultations with 24/7 availability. There is no fee unless the family recovers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What qualifies as wrongful death under California law?
A wrongful death claim arises when a person dies because of another party’s negligence, recklessness, or wrongful conduct, conduct that would have supported a personal injury claim had the person survived. Common bases include vehicle collisions, medical negligence, dangerous property conditions, workplace incidents, and defective products.
Can our family file a claim if criminal charges were never filed?
Yes. Civil wrongful death claims are entirely independent of criminal prosecution. A decision not to file criminal charges, often made for reasons unrelated to civil liability, does not prevent a family from pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit. The civil case uses a lower standard of proof than a criminal case requires.
How is a wrongful death claim different from a survival action?
A wrongful death claim compensates surviving family members for their own losses, lost financial support, companionship, and funeral costs. A survival action, filed by the estate, compensates for what the decedent personally suffered before death, including medical expenses and pre-death pain and suffering. Both can typically be pursued from the same death.
What damages are excluded from a wrongful death claim in California?
California’s jury instructions explicitly exclude the family’s own grief and sorrow, separate from the loss of companionship and support that is compensable, and the decedent’s own pain and suffering, which belongs to a survival action instead. Punitive damages are also generally unavailable in wrongful death actions under California law.
Can multiple family members join the same wrongful death claim?
Yes. Eligible heirs under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60 typically file together in a single action, with each person’s individual losses, support, companionship, guidance, assessed separately rather than divided from one shared award.
How long do we have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Fresno?
The standard deadline is two years from the date of death. If a government entity may be responsible, such as a poorly maintained public road, a separate Government Claims Act notice must be filed within six months of the death, a much shorter and easily missed deadline.
What happens if the deceased was partly at fault for the incident?
The family can still recover under California’s pure comparative negligence rule. The total damages award is reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to the deceased rather than eliminated. Insurers often argue for an inflated fault percentage specifically to reduce their payout, which is why independent evidence matters early in the process.
