A wrongful death case starts with the worst phone call a family will ever get. By the time someone is reading this page, the funeral is either coming up or already over, and somebody — usually a spouse or a parent — is trying to figure out what to do next. This guide answers the questions Texas families actually ask in those first weeks, in the order they ask them.
What counts as a wrongful death in Texas
Under Texas law, a wrongful death claim exists any time a person dies because of someone else’s negligent, careless, or wrongful act. That covers the obvious — drunk drivers, semi-truck crashes, fatal motorcycle wrecks, construction accidents — and the less obvious, like a doctor’s preventable error or a defective product. The legal test is straightforward: if the person who died could have sued for their injuries had they lived, their family can sue for their death now. The statute that controls this is Chapter 71 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, called the Texas Wrongful Death Act.
The act creates two parallel claims that almost always travel together:
A wrongful death claim belongs to the family members and compensates them for what they lost when their loved one died — income, companionship, guidance, future inheritance, and the mental anguish of losing the person.
A survival claim belongs to the deceased person’s estate and compensates for what the deceased themselves suffered before dying — medical bills, pain and conscious suffering between the injury and death, and funeral expenses.
Most cases involve both. Most families don’t realize they’re entitled to both.
Who can file a wrongful death claim in Texas
Texas limits standing to three categories of statutory beneficiaries:
The surviving spouse, the children of the deceased (biological and legally adopted), and the parents of the deceased can each bring a wrongful death claim. That’s it. Siblings cannot file in Texas, even if they were extraordinarily close to the deceased. Grandchildren and grandparents cannot file. Cousins, partners not legally married, in-laws, stepparents who never adopted — none of them have standing under the act.
Any one beneficiary can file on behalf of all of them, but if no beneficiary files within nine months of the death, the executor or administrator of the estate is required to file unless every beneficiary specifically asks them not to.
If the deceased had no spouse, no children, and no living parents, the survival action still belongs to the estate — but the wrongful death claim itself has no eligible plaintiffs and dies with the victim. That is one of the harder conversations our firm has to have, and it’s a conversation about Texas statute, not about the merits of the case.
What damages a Fort Worth family can recover
Texas wrongful death damages are broader than most families expect. The categories that come up in a typical case:
Pecuniary loss. The money the family would have received from the deceased had they lived — lost income, lost benefits (health insurance, retirement contributions), the value of household services like childcare, yard work, and home maintenance. For a 40-year-old breadwinner with 25 working years left, this is often the largest category.
Mental anguish. Compensation for the emotional pain the surviving family member experienced and will continue to experience because of the death. Texas juries understand this category and award meaningful amounts when the loss is documented properly.
Loss of companionship and society. The value of the relationship itself — the comfort, attention, advice, counsel, and care the family member received from the deceased. This is separate from mental anguish and is awarded in addition to it.
Loss of inheritance. What the deceased would likely have left to their beneficiaries had they lived a full life. This is calculated by an economist and typically requires tax returns, retirement account information, and earning trajectory analysis.
Survival damages. Through the estate, the family can also recover the medical bills the deceased incurred between the injury and death, conscious pain and suffering during that window, and funeral and burial expenses.
Exemplary (punitive) damages. Available when the conduct that caused the death rose to gross negligence — drunk drivers, hours-of-service violations by trucking companies that knew their driver was fatigued, malicious or criminal conduct. Exemplary damages are capped under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 41.008 at the greater of $200,000 or two times economic damages plus non-economic damages up to $750,000.
The two-year deadline you cannot miss
The Texas wrongful death statute of limitations is two years from the date of death. Two years. There are very narrow exceptions for minor beneficiaries (tolling until age 18) and for cases involving fraudulent concealment, but the general rule applies to almost every case we see. Families who wait until eighteen months out to start interviewing attorneys are already in trouble: by then, witnesses have moved, vehicles have been crushed, surveillance footage has been overwritten, and the insurance company has had eighteen months to build its file.
The other deadline that quietly destroys cases is the evidence-preservation window. In a fatal trucking case, the electronic control module data, driver logs, dashcam footage, and post-crash inspection records all need to be preserved within days, not months. We send formal preservation letters within 48 hours of being retained on a serious trucking case for exactly this reason. If your family loses someone in a commercial vehicle crash, the clock that matters is days long, not years.
How wrongful death cases actually get paid
Most Texas wrongful death cases are paid by an insurance company, not by the at-fault party personally. That means the case is fundamentally about insurance policy limits and the insurance company’s willingness to pay them.
In a typical fatal car crash, the at-fault driver may carry $30,000 or $60,000 in liability coverage — Texas state minimums or close to it. Those limits get exhausted almost immediately in a death case, and the family’s recovery often depends on underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage carried by the deceased or by family members in the same household. UIM coverage on the deceased’s own policy and on resident relatives’ policies “stacks” in some scenarios, which means a family with $100,000 UIM on three vehicles in the household may have $300,000 available beyond the at-fault driver’s limits. This is the question that determines whether the family is fighting over $60,000 or over $360,000, and it gets answered correctly only when an attorney pulls every household policy.
In fatal trucking cases, the math is different and much more favorable. Federal regulations require interstate motor carriers to carry minimum $750,000 to $5,000,000 in liability coverage depending on cargo type, and most large carriers carry significantly more in layered excess policies. A commercial trucking death case worth presenting on full damages is rarely capped by insurance — it’s a question of how much the carrier and its insurer can be made to pay.
When an insurer refuses to pay reasonable policy limits and the case ultimately results in a judgment greater than the policy, Texas’s Stowers doctrine can force the insurance company to pay the entire excess judgment regardless of policy limits. Stowers is one of the most powerful tools in a Texas plaintiff’s toolkit, and it changes how serious wrongful death cases are negotiated from the very first demand letter.
What to do in the first thirty days
Three things matter most in the first month after a fatal accident.
First, do not give a recorded statement to the at-fault driver’s insurance company. They will call. They will be polite. They are not on your family’s side, and anything you say will be used to reduce the value of the claim. Their adjuster’s job is to settle the case fast and cheap before the family knows what the case is worth. The right answer to that phone call is “I’m not prepared to discuss this — please direct further communication to my attorney” and then hang up. You do not owe them a statement, even if they suggest otherwise.
Second, preserve everything. Do not let the deceased’s vehicle be repaired, salvaged, or scrapped. Do not let the deceased’s phone be wiped or returned to the carrier. Keep medical records, EMS run sheets, police reports, and any photographs taken at the scene or at the hospital. If anyone witnessed the crash, write down their names and contact information. This evidence shapes the entire case.
Third, call a Fort Worth wrongful death attorney before signing anything. Insurance companies sometimes send “settlement offers” within the first week or two — sometimes with a check attached. Cashing that check or signing the release ends the family’s claim. Forever. For pennies on the dollar of what the case is actually worth. Talking to a lawyer costs nothing, and most wrongful death attorneys (including our firm) work on contingency — no fee unless and until the family recovers.
Frequently asked questions
Can siblings file a wrongful death claim in Texas? No. Texas limits standing to surviving spouses, children, and parents. Siblings, no matter how close they were to the deceased, do not have standing under the Texas Wrongful Death Act.
How long does a Texas wrongful death case take? Most cases resolve in 12 to 24 months. Cases that settle before suit is filed can wrap up in 6 to 12 months. Cases that go to trial typically take 18 to 36 months. Trucking cases and medical malpractice cases generally take longer because of the volume of records and experts involved.
Is there a cap on wrongful death damages in Texas? No general cap. Exemplary (punitive) damages are capped under § 41.008 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, but compensatory damages — pecuniary loss, mental anguish, loss of companionship, and loss of inheritance — are not capped in private-defendant cases. Cases against governmental units are subject to Texas Tort Claims Act caps, which are dramatically lower.
How much does it cost to hire a wrongful death attorney? Our firm and most reputable Fort Worth wrongful death firms work on contingency. The family pays nothing upfront. The firm advances all case costs — filing fees, expert witnesses, depositions, accident reconstruction — and recovers a percentage of the settlement or verdict only if the case results in a recovery. If the case loses, the family owes nothing.
Talk to a Fort Worth wrongful death lawyer
If your family lost someone in a Fort Worth, Arlington, or North Texas crash and you’re trying to figure out what to do next, our Fort Worth wrongful death attorneys will sit down with you, review the facts, and tell you honestly whether you have a case worth pursuing. The consultation is free. The conversation is private. You decide whether to move forward.
Call Patterson Law Group at the number at the top of this page, or use the contact form below. We answer the phone, including evenings and weekends, because the families we represent rarely call during business hours.