Usually, yes. A Riverside wrongful death lawyer often brings two claims in one lawsuit. The wrongful death claim under California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 pays the family for its own losses. The survival action under section 377.30 belongs to the estate and recovers what your loved one lost before death, such as hospital bills and wages.
Robert Hindin & Associates is a West Los Angeles personal injury firm that represents families after fatal crashes throughout California, Riverside included. The firm works only for injured people and the families of people killed in crashes, never for insurance companies. Robert Hindin has practiced law in California since 1975. His son and partner, Kyle Hindin, has represented only injured clients since he joined the bar in 2016, and the office helps families in Spanish.
Did you lose someone in a crash on State Route 91, Interstate 215 or a Riverside city street? Call Robert Hindin & Associates at (310) 473-0337 for a free case review, and you pay no legal fees unless the firm wins.
How Is a Wrongful Death Claim Different From a Survival Action in California?
The two claims pay different people for different losses. California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 gives the wrongful death claim to certain family members, and section 377.30 passes the survival action to the estate. The wrongful death attorneys in California at Robert Hindin & Associates usually plead both, because section 377.62 lets the two claims be joined in one action.
Here is how the split works in real life. Say a driver runs a red light, and your father survives three weeks in the hospital before he dies. The bills from those three weeks and the paychecks he missed belong to his survival action. The support he would have given your mother for years, and the loss of his company, belong to the family’s wrongful death claim. Which claims fit your loss turns on facts a lawyer reviews with you, starting with the timeline from crash to death.
The Wrongful Death Claim Pays the Family for Its Own Loss
A wrongful death claim compensates the people the statute names for what the death took from them. Section 377.61 allows damages that are “just” under all the circumstances. It also bars the family from recovering, in this claim, anything that belongs to the survival action. The same section tells the court to decide how an award is shared among the people entitled to it. So the family brings one claim together, and the judge divides the result.
The Survival Action Carries Your Loved One’s Own Claim Forward
Your loved one had a claim against the at-fault driver from the moment of the crash. Section 377.20 says that claim is not lost because the person died. It survives, and section 377.30 lets the personal representative or, if there is none, the successor in interest bring it. Section 377.34 limits the damages to loss the person sustained before death. The money goes to the estate’s beneficiaries under the will or under intestate succession, as section 377.10 describes.
Who Can Bring a Wrongful Death Claim After a Riverside Crash?
Section 377.60 of the Code of Civil Procedure lists who may sue, and the list is narrower than many families expect. A spouse, registered domestic partner and children come first. The personal injury attorneys in Riverside at Robert Hindin & Associates check standing before anything else, because a claim filed by the wrong person can stall.
The statute sorts people into groups. Someone outside every group has no wrongful death claim, however close the relationship felt.
- The surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, the children and the descendants of a child who already died can sue.
- If the person left no surviving children or other descendants, the people who would inherit under intestate succession can sue.
- A putative spouse, that spouse’s children, stepchildren and parents can sue if they depended on the person who died.
- A minor can sue after living in the household for the previous 180 days and depending on the person for half or more of the minor’s support.
The domestic partner rule is strict. Section 377.60 requires a registered domestic partnership under Family Code section 297, so living together for years without registering does not qualify.
When Parents Have a Claim for an Adult Child
Parents of an adult who died often assume they can sue. Under section 377.60, that depends on who else survived. If your son left a wife and two children, they hold the claim, and you qualify only if you depended on him. If he left no spouse and no children, Probate Code section 6402 makes his parents his heirs. When no parent survives either, his brothers and sisters are next in line.
Why the Whole Family Files One Lawsuit
Each eligible family member has a personal claim, but California courts ordinarily require the heirs to litigate together. The Judicial Council’s jury instruction for adult wrongful death, CACI No. 3921, notes that rule. The instruction also lets the jury return a single amount for all plaintiffs, which the judge then divides. So a lawyer identifies every eligible heir early, before anyone files alone.
What Can the Estate Recover Through a Survival Action in 2026?
For a survival action filed today, the estate recovers the economic losses your loved one had before death, plus any punitive damages. It no longer recovers pain and suffering. California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34 allowed pain, suffering and disfigurement damages only for actions filed from January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2025, or granted a trial preference before 2022.
That date matters more than most families are told. Several high-ranking California pages still list pre-death pain and suffering as survival damages with no cutoff, one of them reviewed in March 2026. What your family can claim depends on the filing date and the records, which a lawyer checks first.
Losses Your Loved One Had Before Death
The Judicial Council’s survival damages instruction, CACI No. 3919, lists what a jury can award. It covers the cost of reasonably necessary medical care, earnings lost before death, and the cost of care the person would have given a family member before death. The same instruction bars any award for the shortened life span itself. The first two items work like this in a crash case.
Hospital and Ambulance Bills From the Days After the Crash
When someone survives a crash for hours or weeks, the medical bills can be large. CACI No. 3919 lets the estate recover the reasonable cost of reasonably necessary care received before death. Ambulance, emergency room, surgery and intensive care charges all fit that description. A death at the scene usually leaves little in this category. In that case, the family’s wrongful death claim holds most of the damages.
Paychecks Missed Between the Crash and the Death
Wages lost while your loved one was in the hospital belong to the estate. CACI No. 3919 limits this item to income lost before death. The paychecks your loved one would have earned for decades afterward are a different loss. Those future earnings show up in the family’s wrongful death claim as the financial support the family would have received.
Pain and Suffering Now Turns on the Filing Date
Section 377.34 sets a firm line based on when the action was filed, not when the crash happened. Before 2022, California barred these damages in a survival action. Senate Bill 447 opened a temporary window, and that window has now closed for new cases. A crash in late 2025 with a lawsuit filed in 2026 gets no pain and suffering damages in the survival action.
Survival Actions Filed From 2022 Through 2025
Section 377.34(b) still applies to an action filed on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2026. In those cases, the estate may seek damages for the pain, suffering or disfigurement your loved one endured before death. If your family filed in that window, the claim keeps that category. A lawyer reviews the filing date and the medical records to show what your loved one experienced.
Survival Actions Filed on or After January 1, 2026
For any survival action filed on or after January 1, 2026, section 377.34(a) controls. The damages are limited to loss sustained before death, including punitive damages, and do not include pain, suffering or disfigurement. A Riverside family filing after a 2026 crash falls under this rule.
Why Senate Bill 29 Did Not Reopen the Window
Senate Bill 29 would have extended the pain and suffering window for survival actions. On September 13, 2025, it was ordered to the Assembly’s inactive file, and the legislative record shows no later action. The published text of section 377.34 still ends the window at January 1, 2026. So the old rule is back for new filings.
What the Cutoff Does Not Touch
The cutoff applies only to the survival action. The family’s own wrongful death claim still includes noneconomic damages, such as the loss of love, companionship, comfort and moral support. CACI No. 3921 lists those losses for the jury. So a family filing in 2026 still has a claim for what the death took from them.
Punitive Damages Belong to the Survival Action
Section 377.34(a) includes any punitive damages the person could have recovered if they had lived. Civil Code section 3294(a) requires clear and convincing evidence of oppression, fraud or malice. CACI No. 3921 notes that California bars punitive damages in the wrongful death claim itself. Civil Code section 3294(d) makes one exception, for a death from a homicide that led to a felony conviction. Whether punitive damages fit a crash depends on proof a lawyer has to weigh.
What Can the Family Recover in a Riverside Wrongful Death Claim?
The family recovers its own economic and noneconomic losses from the death. Section 377.61 sets the measure as damages that are just under all the circumstances, and CACI No. 3921 spells out the categories a jury considers. The amount depends on the person’s age, health, income and role in the family, which a lawyer reviews before forming any view.
The economic side is the part your family can prove with paper. CACI No. 3921 lists four categories.
- The financial support the person would have contributed during the shorter of the two life expectancies, theirs or yours.
- The gifts or benefits you would have expected to receive from the person.
- The funeral and burial expenses.
- The reasonable value of household services the person would have provided.
The noneconomic side covers the loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, protection, affection and moral support. For a child, it can include the loss of a parent’s training and guidance. CACI No. 3921 says no fixed standard exists for these damages, so the jury uses its judgment.
Some losses still cannot be awarded. The same instruction tells the jury not to consider the family’s grief, sorrow or mental anguish, or the person’s own pain and suffering. The law measures the relationship that was lost, not the sorrow that followed.
Who Files the Survival Action When No Probate Case Exists?
Section 377.30 gives the survival action to the personal representative, or to the successor in interest if there is no personal representative. Probate Code section 58 defines a personal representative to include an executor, an administrator and a special administrator. If no one has been appointed, the successor in interest brings the claim instead.
If probate is needed, the Superior Court of California, County of Riverside lists the Riverside Historic Courthouse at 4050 Main Street as serving civil and probate matters. The court notes that cases are sometimes moved to another region, and papers then go to the courthouse where the case is heard. Without probate, the successor in interest signs a declaration under section 377.32. It must include these items.
- The name of the person who died, with the date and place of death.
- A statement that no proceeding is pending in California to administer the estate.
- A statement that the declarant is the successor in interest, with supporting facts.
- A statement that no other person has a superior right to bring the action.
- A certified copy of the death certificate, attached to the declaration.
The death certificate ties this declaration to the coroner’s work. The records section below explains how that certificate gets filed.
How Long Does a Riverside Family Have to File Both Claims?
Two years is the general rule, but the two claims can run on different clocks. Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 sets two years for an action for the death of a person. The California Supreme Court held in Norgart v. Upjohn Co. (1999) 21 Cal.4th 383 that a wrongful death claim usually accrues on the date of death. Your exact deadline depends on the dates and the defendants, so confirm it with a lawyer. These clocks come up most often.
- A wrongful death lawsuit generally must be filed within two years of the death under section 335.1.
- A survival action must be filed by the later of six months after death or the original two-year deadline, under section 366.1.
- A claim against a public entity must be presented within six months under Government Code section 911.2(a).
- After a written rejection of that claim, the lawsuit must follow within six months under Government Code section 945.6(a)(1).
The six-month public entity deadline is the shortest clock on this list, and missing it can end a claim against a city, county or state agency.
When Your Loved One Lived for Months After the Crash
The two-year clocks split when the injury and the death fall on different dates. Take a crash on March 1, 2026, and a death on July 1, 2026. The wrongful death claim runs from the death, to July 1, 2028. Under section 366.1, the survival action runs to the later of January 1, 2027, or March 1, 2028. So the estate’s deadline arrives four months before the family’s deadline.
When a City Vehicle, Bus or Road Defect Is Involved
A claim against the City of Riverside, the County of Riverside or the State of California starts with a written government claim, not a lawsuit. Government Code section 911.2(a) gives six months to present a claim for death or injury. Claims to the state’s Department of General Services carry a $25 filing fee under section 911.2(b) unless a fee waiver is granted. The firm’s article on government claim deadlines after a bicycle crash walks through the same rule in another city.
What a Riverside Wrongful Death Lawyer Gathers From Police and the Coroner
A Riverside wrongful death lawyer starts with the crash report and the coroner’s findings. Which police agency responded depends on where the crash happened. The Riverside Police Department handles city streets, while the California Highway Patrol’s Riverside Area office patrols the freeways.
Records build both claims, and some take weeks to arrive. Most families end up gathering the same set.
- The traffic collision report from the Riverside Police Department or the CHP.
- The coroner’s findings and a certified copy of the death certificate.
- Hospital and ambulance bills from the time between the crash and the death.
- Pay stubs, tax returns and funeral home receipts.
The car accident lawyers in Riverside at Robert Hindin & Associates request these records early.
Riverside Police Department Reports for City Streets
The Riverside Police Department’s traffic collision report page says reports are usually ready about 10 working days after the crash. Involved parties and their authorized representatives can request a copy for $20 at the front counter at 10540 Magnolia Avenue, Suite B. Most reports can also be bought online through LexisNexis eCrash for an added $10 convenience fee. A report involving a fatality is not available through LexisNexis and comes only from the department. The Records Bureau answers questions at (951) 826-5700, option 2.
CHP Riverside Area Reports for the 91, the 215 and the 60
A fatal crash on a freeway usually means a CHP report instead. The CHP Riverside Area office at 8118 Lincoln Avenue patrols Interstate 15, Interstate 215, State Route 60, State Route 71, State Route 74 and State Route 91. That office covers most of western Riverside County. If your loved one died on one of those routes, the CHP Riverside Area office, not the city, usually holds the report.
The Riverside County Coroner’s Findings
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Coroner’s Bureau, at 800 South Redlands Avenue in Perris, investigates violent, sudden or unusual deaths in the county. The bureau says it may list the manner of death as pending while its investigation continues. That lets the death certificate be filed within the eight-day state deadline. A certified copy of that certificate is what section 377.32 requires for the successor in interest declaration.
Questions Riverside Families Ask About Wrongful Death and Survival Claims
These questions come up after a fatal crash, usually in the first few weeks while the funeral is still being planned. Each answer gives the general rule and its source. How it applies to your family depends on facts a lawyer reviews, so treat each one as a starting point.
Can a Fiancé File a Wrongful Death Claim in California?
Usually not. Section 377.60 names spouses and registered domestic partners, not fiancés. If the couple had children together, those children hold their own claims under the same section.
Does the Survival Action Money Go Straight to the Family?
It goes to the estate’s beneficiaries, which is not always the same group. Section 377.10 looks to the will, or to intestate succession when there is no will. The family’s wrongful death recovery is divided separately by the court under section 377.61.
Is a Wrongful Death Award Split Equally Among the Children?
Not automatically. Section 377.61 directs the court to determine the respective rights of the people entitled to the award. Each heir’s share can reflect that person’s own loss.
Can We Recover Funeral Costs and Hospital Bills in the Same Case?
Yes, through the two claims together. CACI No. 3921 lists funeral and burial expenses as wrongful death damages, and CACI No. 3919 lists pre-death medical care as survival damages. Section 377.62 allows both claims in one action.
Talk to a Riverside Wrongful Death Lawyer Before the Two Clocks Split
A fatal crash can leave a family with two claims and two different deadlines. The survival action rules also changed for every case filed in 2026. Getting the filers and the dates right at the start protects what your family can recover.
A Riverside wrongful death lawyer at Robert Hindin & Associates can gather the police report, the coroner’s findings and the bills, then explain both claims in plain terms. Call (310) 473-0337 for a free consultation. You pay no legal fees unless the firm wins.
The office is at 11400 West Olympic Boulevard, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90064, and the firm represents families in Riverside and across California. Read about both attorneys on the About Robert Hindin & Associates page.
Would you rather write first? Use the firm’s contact page to describe the crash and who survived. No lawyer can promise an outcome, but a short conversation shows where your family stands before any deadline passes.