Wrongful Death

When a family loses someone in a wreck on the 91, the I-215, or a surface street near Canyon Crest, the civil case is a death action with its own standing rules. Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 says who may bring that action, including a surviving spouse or domestic partner, children, and other categories the section names. The two-year period in section 335.1 still applies to an action for a person’s death that another person’s wrongful act or want of care brought about.

If a public-entity theory is in the picture, a written claim is often due in six months under Government Code section 911.2, and the minority pause in section 352 does not apply to that claim. Shared fault and Civil Code section 1431.2 can still change what a recovery looks like. They do not extend the filing window.

The longer walkthrough lives in the wrongful-death guide. Get the crash report, keep funeral bills and any medical bills from the interval before death, and confirm the courthouse for the county where the wreck occurred.