Wrongful Death Lawyer in Los Angeles

What is the difference between a wrongful death claim and a survival action?

There are almost always two distinct claims, not one.

• The wrongful death claim belongs to the family. It compensates them for their own loss: the financial support that has gone, the value of what the deceased did at home, and the companionship and guidance that cannot be replaced.
• The survival action belongs to the estate and is brought by the personal representative under sections 377.30 and following. It recovers what the deceased person could have claimed had they lived, principally economic losses incurred between the injury and the death, including medical expenses of that period.

What changed for survival actions in 2026?

The change is recent enough that a lot of published material is out of date. Between 2022 and the end of 2025, a temporary amendment to section 377.34 allowed a survival action to recover the deceased person’s own pre-death pain and suffering. That amendment expired on 1 January 2026 and was not extended.

For cases filed on or after that date, those damages are no longer recoverable in a survival action, regardless of when the injury or the death occurred. Cases filed by 31 December 2025 keep them. In practice the date of death and the filing date now matter in a way they did not a year ago, and any page or article telling you otherwise was written before the sunset.

How is a wrongful death claim proved?

The claim is built on the same elements as any negligence case, with the death as the harm: that someone owed a duty of care, breached it, and that the breach caused the death. Evidence depends on what happened, and may include police, CHP or agency reports, photographs, witness accounts, video, medical and autopsy records and, in serious cases, accident reconstruction. Where a safety law was broken, Evidence Code section 669 can create a presumption of negligence. California applies pure comparative fault, so partial blame reduces a recovery rather than barring it, and under Civil Code section 1431.2 each defendant is liable for non-economic damages only in proportion to its fault.

What compensation can the family recover?

• Loss of financial support the deceased would have provided.
• The value of services the deceased gave to the household.
• Loss of companionship, affection and guidance.
• Medical expenses before death, and funeral and burial costs. When the family returns the body to another country, that cost is part of the claim and is often forgotten when it is calculated.
• Economic losses of the deceased recoverable by the estate in a survival action.
• Punitive damages under Civil Code section 3294 where the defendant acted with malice, oppression or fraud.

No value can be promised or known at the start. It depends on who survives, the deceased person’s age and earnings, the available insurance and the evidence of fault.

How long do you have to file a wrongful death claim in California?

• Two years from the date of death, generally, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
• Six months to present a written claim if a public entity is involved, such as a city or county vehicle, a public hospital, a transit agency or a school district, under Government Code section 911.2. Missing this deadline usually ends the claim.

Under Los Angeles Superior Court Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(A), an unlimited civil wrongful death action is filed in the judicial district where the incident arose, so a collision in Los Angeles County is not filed downtown by default, and the Court’s own filing locator settles which courthouse hears it. This office is at 550 S Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles.

How much does a wrongful death lawyer cost?

No fee unless there is a recovery. Broukhim Legal PC takes these cases on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and the fee is paid out of what is recovered. If nothing is recovered, no fee is owed. The fee agreement is put in writing and signed before any work starts, as California law requires (Business and Professions Code section 6147), and the costs of running the case are explained in that same agreement rather than left to the end. Your first conversation is free, confidential and carries no obligation.

Personal injury lawyers across Los Angeles County

Broukhim Legal PC represents injured people throughout Los Angeles County from its office at 550 S Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles. Each city page covers the courthouse an incident in that city is filed in, how a claim against that city is presented and the deadlines that apply:

See all locations we serve, or tell us what happened for a free case review.

Meet your Los Angeles wrongful death lawyer

Bejan Broukhim, Founder and Lead Attorney
State Bar of California, license number 183036

Bejan Broukhim brings years of California legal experience to injury and mass tort cases and personally reviews each one. He earned his J.D. at the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, served as a judicial extern in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the Van Nuys Superior Court, and appeared in preliminary hearings as a certified law clerk with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Every case is prepared from day one as though it will go to trial.

Office: 550 S Hill Street, Suite 1390, Los Angeles, CA 90013, serving all of Los Angeles County and California. Get directions