When a family member is killed in a commercial truck accident, the loss is immediate and complete. No legal process addresses what that means for the people left behind. But your family may face a second set of questions alongside the grief — questions about what happened, who bears responsibility, and whether Texas law gives you any recourse. Those are questions we can answer. Patterson Law Group takes wrongful death truck accident cases with the weight they deserve, because every one of these cases is a family looking for accountability and a path forward.
Texas law gives the surviving spouse, children, and parents of someone killed in a truck accident the right to pursue compensation for the losses that death has caused. This page explains how that process works in Fort Worth and Tarrant County, who can file a claim, and what your family may be able to recover.
The Texas Wrongful Death Act
Texas wrongful death claims are governed by the Texas Wrongful Death Act, found at The Act establishes that when a person’s death results from another party’s wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, or default, qualifying surviving family members have the legal right to seek compensation.
To establish a wrongful death claim, surviving family members must prove the same elements the deceased would have had to prove in a personal injury lawsuit: that the defendant owed a duty of care, that the defendant breached it, and that the breach caused the death. In a Fort Worth truck accident case, this typically means demonstrating that the truck driver, the trucking company, or another party in the chain of responsibility acted negligently.
Who can file a wrongful death claim in Texas?
The Texas Wrongful Death Act designates the following as having standing to file:
Surviving spouse
Children (including adult children)
Parents
Siblings, grandparents, and other extended family members do not have standing under Texas law, regardless of the depth of the relationship or any financial dependence on the deceased. If none of the qualifying family members files within three months of the death, the executor or administrator of the estate may file on behalf of the estate.
If you lost a loved one in a Fort Worth truck accident — what to do in the days after the crash
The period immediately following a fatal truck accident is disorienting and painful. These steps can protect your family’s legal rights during that time:
Request the official police crash report and the medical examiner’s report as soon as they are released — both are essential to any claim
Do not sign anything from the trucking company or its insurer — this includes releases, authorizations, and anything described as a routine claim form
Do not authorize repairs to or release of the deceased’s vehicle until an attorney has assessed it — it may contain critical evidence
Record the names and contact information of any witnesses present at or near the crash scene
Contact a wrongful death attorney before giving any statement to the trucking company’s insurer or a third-party adjustor — those conversations are not neutral, and what is said can be used to diminish your family’s recovery
Wrongful death claims vs. survival claims
Texas recognizes two distinct types of claims that arise from a fatal truck accident. Both can be pursued simultaneously:
Wrongful death claims are brought by the surviving family members for the losses they personally suffered as a result of the death — what losing this person cost them in concrete and human terms.
Survival claims are brought on behalf of the deceased’s estate for the losses the deceased experienced between the time of the accident and the moment of death. When death was immediate, the survival claim may be limited. When the victim survived for hours or days — experiencing pain, fear, and medical intervention — the survival claim can be significant. An attorney ensures both types of claims are fully developed and presented.
What compensation can surviving families recover?
Wrongful death damages in Texas truck accident cases are not confined to out-of-pocket expenses. Surviving family members may recover:
Pecuniary losses — the financial contributions the deceased would have made to the family over their lifetime, including earnings, benefits, and the economic value of services such as childcare, household management, and financial guidance
Loss of companionship and society — the loss of the love, comfort, counsel, and presence the deceased provided, which is a recognized compensable loss for surviving spouses, children, and parents under Texas law
Mental anguish — the grief and emotional suffering each qualifying family member has experienced and will experience as a result of the loss
Loss of inheritance — what the family could reasonably have expected to inherit had the deceased lived a normal lifespan
Funeral and burial expenses — reasonable costs associated with final arrangements
In Fort Worth truck accident wrongful death cases where the carrier’s or driver’s conduct was especially reckless — deploying a driver known to be fatigued or impaired, ignoring documented safety deficiencies, or operating a truck with known mechanical defects — punitive (exemplary) damages may be available in addition to compensatory damages.
If your family lost someone in a Fort Worth truck accident, we are ready to help. Call Patterson Law Group at 817-784-2000 or contact us online for a free, confidential consultation. There is no fee unless we recover compensation for your family.
The statute of limitations for wrongful death in Texas
In most Texas wrongful death cases, families have two years from the date of death to file a lawsuit. Missing that deadline will almost certainly end your family’s legal claim permanently — regardless of the strength of the underlying case.
Do not let the two-year window suggest that waiting is safe. Evidence in commercial truck accident cases — ELD data, black box recordings, driver qualification files, maintenance logs, and surveillance footage — can be overwritten, lost, or deliberately concealed within days or weeks of a crash. The trucking company’s legal and claims teams begin working to protect the carrier’s interests the moment the crash is reported. Your family needs an attorney working with the same urgency on your side.
Why Fort Worth truck wrongful death cases are complex
Fatal truck crashes involve a level of legal complexity that most other wrongful death cases do not. Multiple parties may share liability — the driver, the carrier, a cargo loading company, a parts manufacturer, or a third-party maintenance contractor. Multiple insurance policies may be in play, with each insurer structured to minimize its share of a payout.
Federal regulations govern nearly every aspect of how a commercial truck must be operated and maintained. Violations of those regulations are central to establishing negligence. And on high-volume freight stretches like the I-820/I-35W junction or the US-287 corridor through Tarrant County — where commercial traffic is constant — crashes can involve multiple contributing factors that require careful reconstruction to untangle.
When these cases go to litigation, they are heard in Tarrant County courts. Patterson Law Group is based in Fort Worth and tries cases in Tarrant County regularly. We understand how Tarrant County juries evaluate evidence of carrier negligence and trucking company conduct.
How Patterson Law Group works with grieving families
We know that no financial outcome restores what a family loses when someone they love is killed in a truck accident. We are not in the business of making that claim. What we can do is hold the responsible parties fully accountable and ensure that your family has the financial resources to move forward without compounding hardship.
When Patterson Law Group handles a wrongful death truck accident case in Fort Worth, we:
Act immediately to preserve evidence — issuing spoliation letters, securing ELD and black box data, and demanding driver qualification files, maintenance records, and safety inspection documents before they can be altered or destroyed
Thoroughly investigate the cause of the crash and identify every party responsible
Engage economic and vocational experts to calculate the full value of the financial contributions your loved one would have made over a normal lifetime
Handle all communication with the trucking company, its insurer, and defense attorneys so your family does not have to interact with them directly
Keep you informed throughout every stage of the process without adding unnecessary burden during an already devastating time
Prepare the case for trial in Tarrant County if the responsible parties do not offer full and fair compensation
We handle wrongful death truck accident cases on a contingency fee basis. You pay no attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for your family.
Ready to speak with a Fort Worth wrongful death lawyer? Call Patterson Law Group at 817-784-2000 or . Consultations are free and confidential. No fee unless we win.
Frequently asked questions
Can all qualifying family members file separate claims? Each qualifying family member — surviving spouse, children, parents — has an independent right to file under the Texas Wrongful Death Act. In practice, all claims arising from the same death are typically consolidated into a single lawsuit, with damages allocated among the qualifying family members based on each person’s individual losses. We work with all qualifying family members from the outset to make sure every loss is fully documented.
What if the truck driver was also killed in the crash? The driver’s death does not close the legal case. The trucking company remains liable under respondeat superior for the driver’s conduct and may face additional direct claims for its own failures — inadequate hiring, training, supervision, and maintenance practices. Other potentially responsible parties such as cargo loaders, manufacturers, and maintenance contractors remain available defendants as well.
How is loss of companionship calculated in Texas? There is no fixed formula. Tarrant County juries have broad discretion to award damages for loss of companionship and society, based on evidence of the relationship between the deceased and the surviving family members. Testimony from family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and community members — together with documentation of the role the person played in the family’s daily life — supports a meaningful award. This is an area where experienced representation produces consistently better outcomes.
Talk to a Fort Worth wrongful death lawyer today
If you lost a family member in a truck accident in Fort Worth or anywhere in Tarrant County, you do not need to navigate this alone. Patterson Law Group offers free, confidential consultations and will come to you if travel is not possible. Call us at 817-784-2000 or . There is no fee unless we recover compensation for your family.
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For more information, visit our main Fort Worth Truck Accident Lawyer page.