Wrongful death claims are governed by the Texas Wrongful Death and Survival statute. The statute only allows recovery for a specific group of people: the surviving spouse, any surviving children, any surviving parents, and the deceased’s estate.
While these categories may seem simple, there are several issues associated for each. For example, a surviving spouse includes not only a spouse by formal marriage, but also a spouse by common law marriage. For children, a suit can be brought by natural and adopted children, but not by step-children. For parents, suit can be brought by natural and adoptive parents, but not by step-parents, foster parents, or others who raised the child without going through the formal adoptive process.
You may notice some significant omissions. Sadly, a sibling may not bring a wrongful death claim even though the loss of a sibling can be devastating. Similarly, grandparents are not listed in the statute and cannot bring wrongful death claims.
If you fall in the catagory in which you would like to seek more advice please give us a call at the Burnett Law Firm. It will not cost you a dime to give us a call 800.501.2091
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The stories and situations mentioned on this blog are for informational purposes only. The Burnett Law Firm does not claim to represent any party referenced in this post. This blog exists to raise public awareness of the very real dangers we face every day and to serve as a central location where information and opinions can be exchanged with regard to the way that the situations mentioned on this site are impacted by existing legal statutes.
