Wrongful Death Attorney in Sacramento

Most people arrive at this page in the worst week of their lives, or not long after it. So before anything about law: we're sorry. Whatever brought you here, you didn't deserve it, and you don't have to do anything with this information today. Nothing on this page expires this week. When you're ready — whether that's now or in a few months — this is the map.

What a wrongful death claim actually is, in plain words

When a person dies because someone else was careless or worse — a driver, a doctor, a trucking company, a property owner, a manufacturer — California gives the family the right to bring a civil claim in their loved one's place. It is not a criminal case, and it doesn't depend on one: a family can bring a wrongful death claim whether or not anyone is ever charged, and the standards are different. The claim is also not about putting a price on a person — nothing could. It's about the specific, real losses the law recognizes: the income and support that stopped, the funeral costs that arrived, and the presence that is gone from your family's daily life.

Who is allowed to file in California

California law (Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60) sets the order. First in line: the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, and the children. If there are none, the right passes to those who would inherit — often parents or siblings — and it can also include others who were financially dependent, like a stepchild or a putative spouse. One practical point that matters: all eligible family members are generally part of a single case, not separate ones. Part of our job, quietly, is keeping that process from becoming one more source of family friction.

What a claim can — and cannot — recover

• Funeral and burial or cremation costs.
• The financial support your loved one would have provided over their expected lifetime.
• The value of household services they contributed — childcare, home maintenance, the work of daily life.
• The loss of their love, companionship, comfort, care, protection, and guidance. In California this is real and compensable, and in most wrongful death cases it is not capped.
• Medical bills from the final injury or illness are typically part of a related 'survival' claim brought by the estate — we usually handle both together.

What the law does not cover is the family's own grief and sorrow — a hard line, and one we'll always be honest about. One important exception to know: if the death involved medical malpractice, special caps apply — in 2026, non-economic damages in a malpractice death case are limited to $650,000, and the deadlines are shorter. We sort out which rules apply in the first conversation.

The deadlines that run quietly in the background

Grief has no schedule, but the law unfortunately has one. Most wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of the death. Two traps catch families: claims against government entities — a dangerous road, a public vehicle, a county hospital — require a written claim within six months; and malpractice-related deaths follow the one-year malpractice clock. Six months arrives faster than anyone expects. This is the only reason we ever mention timing to a grieving family: not to rush you, but to keep the door from closing before you've had the chance to decide whether you want to walk through it.

The Sacramento part

Wrongful death cases arising in Sacramento County are filed at the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse on 9th Street; Placer County cases go to the Bill Santucci Justice Center in Roseville. Locally, the cases we see most often grow out of truck and highway crashes on I-5, I-80, and Highway 99; deaths in hospitals and nursing facilities; dangerous road conditions; and workplace incidents. Each has its own playbook — a trucking case starts with preserving the truck's electronic data, a hospital case with the chart, a road case with the six-month government claim. Knowing which playbook applies in week one is most of the battle.

What working with us actually looks like

Families deserve to know the texture of this, not just the law. It starts with a conversation — you talk, we listen, and we tell you honestly whether there's a case. If there is, we take over the parts that shouldn't be on your plate: the insurance companies, the records requests, the filings, the experts, the deadlines. You'll work directly with Joe, not a case manager. Most cases resolve without a trial, and no settlement decision is ever made without you. The fee is contingency — the family pays nothing up front and nothing at all unless there's a recovery. Your job is your family. The rest is ours.