Wrongful death · every U.S. state

Wrongful-death law, state by state.

Wrongful-death claims in the United States are governed by state statute, not common law. Every state has its own answer to: who can sue, what damages are recoverable, and how long the surviving family has to file. This hub maps every jurisdiction.

1-year deadline (3)

The strictest filing window. Notice must be served and complaint filed within 12 months of death.

4+ year deadline (1)

The most plaintiff-friendly windows.

Why wrongful-death statutes are unique

At common law, the death of an injured person ended their tort claim , there was no surviving cause of action for the family. State legislatures fixed this anomaly in the 19th and early 20th centuries by enacting wrongful-death statutes. Because the right to sue exists only by statute, courts interpret these statutes strictly. Procedural requirements (who is the proper plaintiff, what damages are recoverable, when the suit must be filed) are jurisdictional, meaning any error can extinguish the entire claim.

Most states also enacted companion "survival" statutes that preserve the decedent's own personal-injury claim for pre-death damages (medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering before death). Survival actions and wrongful-death actions are typically filed together by the personal representative of the estate but recover different categories of damages: survival recovers what the decedent lost, wrongful-death recovers what the survivors lost.

Full state-by-state table

StateDeadlineStatute
Alabama 2 years Ala. Code § 6-2-38 View
Alaska 2 years Alaska Stat. § 09.10.070 View
Arizona 2 years Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 12-542 View
Arkansas 3 years Ark. Code § 16-56-105 View
California 2 years Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 335.1 (PI) View
Colorado 2 years Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-102 View
Connecticut 2 years Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-584 View
Delaware 2 years Del. Code tit. 10 § 8119 View
Florida 2 years Fla. Stat. § 95.11 (amended 2023 to reduce PI SOL from 4 to 2 years) View
Georgia 2 years O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 View
Hawaii 2 years Haw. Rev. Stat. § 657-7 View
Idaho 2 years Idaho Code § 5-219 View
Illinois 2 years 735 ILCS 5/13-202 View
Indiana 2 years Ind. Code § 34-11-2-4 View
Iowa 2 years Iowa Code § 614.1 View
Kansas 2 years Kan. Stat. § 60-513 View
Kentucky 1 year Ky. Rev. Stat. § 413.140 View
Louisiana 1 year La. Civ. Code art. 3493.1 (extended from 1 year to 2 years by 2024 La. Acts No. 423 View
Maine 2 years Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14 § 752 View
Maryland 3 years Md. Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-101 View
Massachusetts 3 years Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 260 § 2A View
Michigan 3 years Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5805 View
Minnesota 3 years Minn. Stat. § 541.05 View
Mississippi 3 years Miss. Code § 15-1-49 View
Missouri 3 years Mo. Rev. Stat. § 516.120 View
Montana 3 years Mont. Code § 27-2-204 View
Nebraska 2 years Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207 View
Nevada 2 years Nev. Rev. Stat. § 11.190 View
New Hampshire 6 years N.H. Rev. Stat. § 508:4 View
New Jersey 2 years N.J. Stat. § 2A:14-2 View
New Mexico 3 years N.M. Stat. § 37-1-8 View
New York 2 years N.Y. CPLR § 214 (PI) View
North Carolina 2 years N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-52 View
North Dakota 2 years N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-16 View
Ohio 2 years Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.10 View
Oklahoma 2 years Okla. Stat. tit. 12 § 95 View
Oregon 3 years Or. Rev. Stat. § 12.110 View
Pennsylvania 2 years 42 Pa. C.S. § 5524 View
Rhode Island 3 years R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14 View
South Carolina 3 years S.C. Code § 15-3-530 View
South Dakota 3 years S.D. Codified Laws § 15-2-14 View
Tennessee 1 year Tenn. Code § 28-3-104 View
Texas 2 years Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003 View
Utah 2 years Utah Code § 78B-2-307 View
Vermont 2 years Vt. Stat. tit. 12 § 512 View
Virginia 2 years Va. Code § 8.01-243 View
Washington 3 years Wash. Rev. Code § 4.16.080 View
Washington DC 2 years D.C. Code § 12-301 View
West Virginia 2 years W. Va. Code § 55-2-12 View
Wisconsin 3 years Wis. Stat. § 893.54 View
Wyoming 2 years Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-105 View

Who is the proper plaintiff in a wrongful-death case?

State wrongful-death statutes name the persons entitled to recover. The typical hierarchy is: the personal representative of the decedent's estate sues on behalf of statutory beneficiaries, who in most states are the surviving spouse, children, and parents. Some states allow dependent siblings, grandparents, and domestic partners; others limit recovery strictly to the immediate family. Disputes over priority of beneficiaries are common and can substantially delay case resolution.

The proper plaintiff is almost always the court-appointed personal representative (executor or administrator) of the decedent's estate, not an individual family member acting in their own name. State courts can dismiss wrongful-death cases filed by the wrong plaintiff even when filed within the SOL. Plaintiffs' attorneys file the probate petition for personal-representative appointment as the first procedural step in any wrongful-death case, because the underlying personal-injury action cannot move forward until that appointment is made and the letters of authority issued by the probate court.

Damages recoverable in U.S. wrongful-death cases

Recoverable damages in a wrongful-death action are statutorily defined. The traditional categories are pecuniary loss (lost wages and financial support the decedent would have provided), loss of consortium, loss of society and companionship, funeral and burial expenses, and (in some states) mental anguish of the survivors. Pre-death pain and suffering of the decedent is usually pursued separately through a "survival action" , the decedent's own personal-injury claim that survives their death and accrues to the estate.

The interplay of wrongful-death and survival actions is a defining feature of U.S. fatal-accident litigation. Most state statutory schemes allow both: wrongful-death recovers the survivors' losses; survival recovers the decedent's pre-death damages. Both are typically filed together by the personal representative, but the recovery flows to different recipients (statutory beneficiaries for wrongful-death; the estate for survival). The allocation between the two categories has tax consequences and probate-administration consequences that should be considered before settlement.

Informational only

Wrongful-death deadlines run from the date of death, not the date of the underlying injury. Government-defendant notice deadlines are usually much shorter and apply in addition to the general SOL. Consult an attorney before the calendar runs out.