Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in California?

Under California Code of Civil Procedure §377.60, a wrongful death claim may be filed by the surviving spouse or domestic partner, the children, and the issue of any deceased children; if the decedent left no children or other descendants, by the people who would be entitled to the decedent's property by intestate succession, a group that includes the surviving spouse or domestic partner; and, in every case, by certain financially dependent family members and household minors. The statute is the complete list. A fiancé, a close friend, a cohabiting partner who is not a registered domestic partner, or a relative who does not fit one of the categories generally cannot file, no matter how close the relationship. Because the categories interact, a legal professional should confirm standing before anything is filed.

The surviving spouse, a registered domestic partner (Fam. Code §297 defines the registration), the decedent's children, and the children of any child who died before the decedent always have standing (Code Civ. Proc. §377.60(a)). Adopted children are treated the same as biological children. A separated but still-married spouse remains a surviving spouse. Minor children file through a guardian ad litem appointed by the court, usually the surviving parent. If the decedent left no children or other descendants, the intestate heirs described below can also file, and the surviving spouse or partner is one of them.

If the decedent left no children or other descendants, the wrongful death claim may be brought by the people who would inherit under California's intestate succession law (Code Civ. Proc. §377.60(a); Prob. Code §§6401, 6402). That group includes a surviving spouse or domestic partner, together with the parents; if no parent survives, the siblings and the children of deceased siblings take the parents' place; and only when none of these relatives survive do more distant relatives such as grandparents qualify. This is why a sibling usually cannot file when the decedent left children or a surviving parent, but can when the decedent had no children and no surviving parents, even if a spouse survives.

Two further groups can file whether or not anyone in the first group survives, if they were financially dependent on the decedent (Code Civ. Proc. §377.60(b), (c)):

• A putative spouse (someone who believed in good faith that they were validly married) and the children of the putative spouse, stepchildren, parents, and the decedent's legal guardians if the parents have died, when they were dependent on the decedent.
• A minor who lived in the decedent's household for the 180 days before the death and depended on the decedent for at least half of their support.

Dependency is a factual question, usually proved with financial records, and it is one of the most contested standing issues in these cases.

California permits only one wrongful death action for a death, and all heirs should join or be joined in it (Cross v. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (1964) 60 Cal.2d 690). The court awards a single sum and then divides it among the heirs according to their respective losses (Code Civ. Proc. §377.61). Three practical consequences follow. An heir who files must name the other heirs so they can join. A settlement reached by some heirs can bar the others from suing the same defendant later. And a plaintiff who knowingly leaves out an heir may be liable to that heir. Identifying every heir at the outset is therefore not a formality; it protects the family and the case.

The survival action is a separate claim that belongs to the decedent's estate, not the family (Code Civ. Proc. §377.30). It is brought by the personal representative if a probate estate is open, or otherwise by the decedent's successor in interest, who files a declaration under penalty of perjury stating that no estate proceeding is pending and that no one has a superior right, with a certified copy of the death certificate attached (§377.32). The survival action recovers the losses the decedent suffered before death and any punitive damages (§377.34(a)). For actions filed on or after January 1, 2026, it no longer includes the decedent's own pain and suffering; that temporary rule applied only to filings between 2022 and 2025 (§377.34(b)). The two claims are usually joined in one lawsuit (§377.62).

Standing does not extend the deadline. The wrongful death claim generally must be filed within two years of the date of death (Code Civ. Proc. §335.1). If a public entity's vehicle, employee or property was involved, a written claim must be presented to that entity within six months (Gov. Code §911.2). Deaths caused by medical negligence follow §340.5: three years from the injury or one year from discovery, whichever comes first. A minor heir's deadline may be tolled during minority in some cases (Code Civ. Proc. §352), but deaths caused by medical negligence follow the special rules for minors in §340.5, and the adults' deadlines run, and the one-action rule means the case should be filed for everyone together.