Serious Personal Injury

Wrongful Death.

When an injury takes a life, Texas law provides a wrongful death claim for the family and a survival claim for the estate.

No case can undo a death. What the law can do is hold the responsible party fully to account, for the family left behind and for what the person themselves endured.

Texas provides two claims when a wrongful act causes a death. A wrongful death claim belongs to the surviving spouse, children, and parents, for their own losses: the companionship, the guidance, the financial support, and the future that was taken from them. A survival claim belongs to the person's estate, for what they suffered between the injury and death, including their own pain and their final medical costs. The two claims run together and answer for the whole of the harm.

As with any injury case, the deadline is generally two years, and the evidence begins slipping away immediately. These are the hardest cases a family will ever face, and they are handled with the care that fact demands, while the proof of fault is preserved and built before it can fade.

Texas wrongful death and survival claims are governed by Chapter 71 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and the two-year limitations period of Section 16.003 generally applies.
From The Night Docket

On harm, cause, and foreseeability:

Foreseeable
When a death is the consequence a wrongdoer should have to answer for.
Proximate Cause
Connecting the wrongful act to the loss.
Common Questions
Who can file a wrongful death claim in Texas?
The surviving spouse, children, and parents may bring a wrongful death claim for their own losses. If they do not file within a set time, the estate's representative may. A separate survival claim belongs to the estate for what the person endured before death.
What is the difference between wrongful death and survival claims?
A wrongful death claim compensates the family for their losses from the death. A survival claim compensates the estate for what the person themselves suffered before dying. Texas allows both, and together they address the full harm.

Tell me what happened.

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Contact Orlando Rodriguez

(713) 239-2300