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Wrongful death claims in Texas

Two claims arise when a death was caused by negligence: the family’s own losses, and the claim the person who died would have had. Both belong to you, and they are handled together.

Under the Texas Wrongful Death Act, a surviving spouse, children and parents may recover for lost earning capacity and inheritance, lost care, counsel and companionship, and their own mental anguish. The survival claim, brought through the estate, carries the medical expenses, funeral costs and the conscious pain and suffering before death. Presented as one case, they account for everything that was taken; presented carelessly, they leave money on the table.

These cases are also where insurers work hardest to shift blame onto the person who died, because that person cannot answer. We reconstruct the event with engineers, economists and the defendant’s own records — and we handle the practical matters, from administering the estate to apportionment among the beneficiaries, so a grieving family is not also doing procedure.

What the claim covers

  • Lost earnings and lost inheritance, valued by a forensic economist rather than a round number
  • Loss of care, counsel, companionship and society
  • The family’s mental anguish, past and future
  • Medical, funeral and burial expenses through the survival claim
  • Exemplary damages where the conduct was grossly negligent

The record

recovered for clients since 2011
$212M+
cases taken to verdict
60+
trying cases in Harris County
19 years

How a case moves

  1. Investigation

    We move fast on the evidence: black-box data, driver logs, plant records, scene documentation and witnesses — preserved before it disappears.

  2. Demand

    A documented demand built on medical evidence and proven losses. Insurers respond to files that are ready for a courtroom, not letters that hope for one.

  3. Litigation

    Suit, discovery and depositions in Texas state or federal court. Every deadline is ours to hit; every deposition builds the trial record.

  4. Trial

    If the offer never matches the harm, we pick a jury. You decide whether to settle — at every stage, with the numbers in front of you.

Questions

Who is allowed to bring the claim?

The surviving spouse, children and parents, individually or together. If none of them files within three months of the death, the personal representative of the estate may — and must, unless every eligible family member asks in writing that they not.

How long do we have?

Generally two years from the date of death, with narrow exceptions. Claims against a governmental unit require formal written notice far sooner, often within six months.

Will we have to testify about him?

Usually yes, and it is the part families dread. We prepare you for it thoroughly, and we keep the case built on records and experts so the burden of proof does not rest on your worst day.

The insurer started building its file the day it happened

Texas deadlines can end a claim before you know it exists. The call costs nothing.

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