Wrongful Death Attorney in San Francisco, CA

Alex Maldonado
August 8, 2026
Wrongful Death

A wrongful death attorney in San Francisco represents surviving family members when a person dies because of someone else’s negligence or wrongful act. California law lets a spouse, domestic partner, children, and certain financial dependents recover funeral costs, lost support, and the loss of the person’s love and companionship. Most claims must be filed within two years.

B&D Injury Law Group represents families in San Francisco and throughout California in fatal injury cases. This page covers who can file, what damages California allows, the deadlines that apply, and what your family can do now. You can request a free consultation at any time.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in San Francisco?

California limits who may file. The surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, the children, and the grandchildren of deceased children come first. If none exist, the people who would inherit under California intestate succession may file. Certain dependents, including a putative spouse, stepchildren, or parents, may also qualify if they relied on the deceased financially.

The rule comes from California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60. California treats wrongful death as a single action, so eligible relatives generally join one lawsuit rather than filing separately, and any recovery is divided among them.

What Damages Can San Francisco Wrongful Death Attorneys Pursue?

California allows two broad categories. Economic damages cover funeral and burial expenses, the financial support the person would have contributed, and the value of household services they provided. Non-economic damages cover the loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, moral support, and, for a spouse, intimacy.

California does not allow survivors to recover for their own grief and sorrow as a separate item. The loss is measured by what the relationship provided, not by how much pain the survivors feel.

What Is the Difference Between a Wrongful Death Claim and a Survival Action?

A wrongful death claim belongs to the surviving family and compensates their losses. A survival action belongs to the estate and recovers losses the person suffered before dying, such as medical bills and lost earnings. The two are often filed together in the same lawsuit because they arise from the same event.

Feature	Wrongful Death Claim	Survival Action
Who brings it	Eligible surviving family members	Personal representative of the estate
Losses covered	Support, services, companionship, funeral costs	Pre-death medical bills and lost earnings
Who receives money	The family members directly	The estate, then heirs or beneficiaries
Probate involvement	Usually none required	Often requires an appointed representative

How Long Does a Family Have to File in California?

The general deadline is two years from the date of death under California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. Two situations shorten it sharply. Claims against a city, county, transit agency, or the state usually require a written government claim within six months. Medical negligence claims follow their own shorter schedule.

The six-month rule under Government Code section 911.2 comes up often in San Francisco, where many potential defendants are public entities. Missing that window can end an otherwise strong case.

What Kinds of Cases Lead to San Francisco Wrongful Death Attorney Involvement?

Fatal claims here commonly arise from vehicle collisions, pedestrian and bicycle crashes, commercial truck and bus collisions, construction incidents, defective products, unsafe property conditions, and medical negligence. The legal theory differs by case type, and so do the deadlines and the insurance available.

San Francisco has its own risk patterns: dense pedestrian traffic downtown and along Market Street, steep grades, heavy delivery and rideshare volume, and commute corridors like US-101 and Interstate 280. Severely injured people are often taken to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center or UCSF Medical Center.

If your loss involved a vehicle, our car accident practice page explains how fault is established in those cases.

What Should Your Family Do in the First Weeks?

Focus on preserving evidence while you handle the practical arrangements. Insurance adjusters often call within days, and you are not required to give them a recorded statement. The steps below protect the record while details are still available and before physical evidence gets repaired, cleared, or discarded.

Request a certified copy of the death certificate and, if police investigated, the report number.
Write down the names and contact details of every witness while memories are fresh.
Photograph the scene, the vehicles, or the property condition before anything is repaired.
Keep every bill and receipt connected to the death, including funeral costs.
Do not sign a release, settlement, or medical authorization without having it reviewed.
Identify whether a public agency may be involved, since a six-month deadline may apply.

When Should You Contact a Wrongful Death Attorney in San Francisco?

Sooner is better, for practical reasons rather than dramatic ones. Surveillance video is often overwritten within weeks. Vehicles get repaired or scrapped. Witnesses move. A wrongful death lawyer in San Francisco can send preservation letters and open an investigation while that evidence still exists.

Consultations are typically free, and these cases are usually handled on contingency, so the fee comes from any recovery rather than from you up front.

How Does B&D Injury Law Group Handle San Francisco Cases?

We start by identifying every potentially responsible party and every insurance policy that might apply, then move quickly to preserve evidence. San Francisco civil cases are filed in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. We handle the filings, the deadlines, and the communication with insurers, and we explain your real options, including the weak points in a case.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is a wrongful death case worth in California?

There is no standard figure. Value depends on the person’s age, earnings and expected working years, the support they provided, the closeness of the family relationships, the strength of the liability evidence, and the insurance available. Two cases with similar facts can resolve very differently.

Do I need to open probate to bring a wrongful death claim?

Usually not for the wrongful death claim itself, since it belongs to the family members rather than the estate. A survival action is different. That claim belongs to the estate and generally requires an appointed personal representative, which often means opening probate.

What if my family member was partly at fault?

California follows pure comparative fault. A family can still recover even if the deceased shared responsibility, with the award reduced by that percentage. If a jury found the person twenty percent at fault, recovery drops by twenty percent. Insurers often push for a high percentage.

Can I still file if the death happened more than a year ago?

Possibly. The general California deadline is two years from the date of death, so a claim from a year ago may still be timely. Shorter deadlines apply when a government agency is involved or when the death resulted from medical negligence. Have the dates reviewed.

Will the case go to trial?

Most wrongful death claims resolve through settlement or mediation, but no one can promise how a particular case ends. Trials are more likely when fault is genuinely disputed, when multiple defendants blame each other, or when an insurer will not make a reasonable offer. Preparing as if a case will be tried usually improves the alternatives.

If your family lost someone in San Francisco, you can contact us for a free consultation. Learn more about our wrongful death representation, review our personal injury practice areas, or read our frequently asked questions.

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. If you have been injured, speak with a licensed attorney about your specific situation.