Questions Families Ask About Wrongful Death Claims in Texas

The surviving spouse, children and parents of the person who died (Civil Practice and Remedies Code 71.004). Adopted children and adoptive parents are included. Any one of them may bring the claim for all of them. If none has started it within three months, the executor or administrator must bring it unless all of them ask otherwise.

Not a wrongful death claim. Section 71.004 names only the spouse, children and parents. A brother, sister or grandparent may still inherit part of the separate survival claim if they are an heir of the estate, for example when the person had no spouse, children or will.

Two years from the date of death (section 16.003(b)). Claims against a city, county or the state usually need written notice within six months of the incident, and a city charter may set its own period. Evidence is easiest to secure in the first months, so it is better not to wait until the deadline is near.

Texas law sets no table of values. A jury may award damages proportionate to the injury caused by the death (section 71.010), covering lost support, companionship, mental anguish and loss of inheritance, with exemplary damages in cases of gross negligence. What a claim is worth depends on the evidence of fault, what the person meant to the family and the insurance behind the people responsible. We explain those factors for your case instead of quoting averages.

We charge nothing for the consultation. No Fees or Costs Unless We Win. If we take the case, the fee is a percentage of what is recovered, set out in a written agreement, and there is no attorney’s fee if there is no recovery. The firm’s published terms are that we advance case costs and you owe no case costs unless money is recovered; your agreement states exactly how costs are handled.

Nobody can tell you that honestly at the start. The strength of a case depends on how clearly the evidence shows the other side’s fault, whether the person who died is said to share some fault, and whether there is insurance or another source of payment. After we have looked at the reports and records, we tell you plainly what we see.

Yes. A wrongful death claim is a civil case, decided on a lower standard than a criminal case, and it does not depend on a criminal charge. Section 71.006 also says a claim is not barred because the death was caused by a felony or because a criminal case is under way.

Many claims are resolved without a trial, but some are not, and preparing as if a trial will happen is what gives a family a fair offer. If a suit is filed in Bexar County it goes to a civil district court at the courthouse on Dolorosa Street. You decide whether to accept any offer.

LAWBOSS – Harris, Nelsen & Uvalle, PLLC is a Texas personal injury law firm founded by Michael Uvalle, with offices in San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. This website, Wrongful Death Attorney San Antonio, is the firm’s site for families after a death. Our San Antonio office is in Fountainhead Tower on I-10, and it is open 24 hours.

The wrongful death claim is the family’s own claim for what the spouse, children and parents have lost (section 71.004). The survival action is the claim the person who died would have had for their own injuries, which continues after death and belongs to the estate (section 71.021). They are usually brought together.

Section 71.011 says wrongful death damages are not subject to the debts of the deceased. Survival action money goes into the estate, so creditors of the estate may be paid from it. Tax questions depend on the facts, and we suggest asking a tax professional.

In Bexar County the Medical Examiner’s Office investigates sudden, violent and unexpected deaths to find the cause and manner of death. The funeral home handles the paperwork, and the autopsy report, a public record, usually takes at least 12 weeks.