Determining Negligence in San Jose Wrongful Death Claims
Your Family Deserves to Know What Happened, and Who Is Responsible.
A wrongful death claim rests on proving negligence: that someone failed in a duty of care and that failure took your loved one’s life. Our San Jose wrongful death attorneys find the answers and build the proof.
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Anger and Unanswered Questions Are Part of Grief
After an accident takes someone you love, it’s natural to feel angry and confused, and to want to know how this could happen and who should be held responsible. Those questions matter, and the answers are also the foundation of your family’s claim.
Most wrongful death claims arising from accidents are built on negligence: someone failed to act with reasonable care, and that failure caused a death. They didn’t have to mean harm. A driver who was texting, speeding, or drunk, or a company that cut corners, can be held responsible even though the harm was unintentional.
Before negligence is even in question, two things have to be true:
The person bringing the claim is someone California allows to file
The claim is brought within the time limit
We can help your family with all of it: who can file, how much time you have, and what the evidence shows. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we win.
The Four Things a Negligence Claim Must Prove
A duty of care.
The person or company owed your loved one a duty to act reasonably. Every driver, for example, owes that duty to others on the road.
A breach of that duty.
They fell short, through something they did or failed to do, like running a red light, driving impaired, or ignoring a known hazard.
Causation.
That breach caused the accident and your loved one’s death, and no other intervening cause breaks the link.
Damages.
Your family suffered real losses as a result: lost financial support, final expenses, and the loss of your loved one’s love and companionship.
Evidence for each one.
Every element needs proof. That’s why preserving evidence early is so important.
How Proving Negligence Opens the Door to Recovery
The family's losses
Once negligence is proven, your family can recover the financial support your loved one would have provided, funeral and burial costs, medical expenses before death, and the loss of their love, companionship, and guidance.
Different from an injury claim
A wrongful death claim is based on the death itself, not on injuries to the family. It compensates the loss of the relationship and the support, rather than the family’s own medical bills or wages.
The estate's claim
The same proof of negligence supports a survival action for the losses your loved one suffered before death, such as medical bills and lost wages.
Every responsible party's insurance
Proving each party’s share of fault lets us pursue each one’s coverage, and your own uninsured motorist coverage if the at-fault driver had too little.
How We Investigate a Fatal Accident
Proving negligence starts with understanding exactly how the accident happened, whose actions or inaction caused it, and whether anything else contributed. We move quickly, before evidence disappears:
- Obtaining the police report, autopsy findings, and medical records
- Interviewing witnesses while their memories are fresh
- Gathering surveillance photos and video footage from the area
- Revisiting and documenting the accident scene
- Bringing in accident reconstruction and medical experts when the case needs them
- Identifying every party that may share responsibility, such as a negligent driver, their employer, or a vehicle manufacturer
Insurers often try to shift the blame onto the person who died, because the one person who could tell their side of the story can’t. We answer those arguments with evidence. And where more than one party is responsible, we make sure each one is held to account.
Who Can File, and When: The Rules That Come First
Who can bring the claim
Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.60, only people with certain relationships to the person who died can file: generally a spouse or domestic partner and the children or the children’s descendants. When there are none, those who would inherit under California law may qualify, as may certain minors who lived with and depended on the person for support. The personal representative of the estate can also bring the claim on the family’s behalf.
Two years from the date of death
California generally gives families two years from the date of death to file, and a claim involving a government entity can require notice within six months.
Shared fault doesn't end the claim
If the insurer argues your loved one was partly to blame, California’s pure comparative negligence rule reduces the recovery by that share; it doesn’t eliminate it.
The criminal case is separate
A driver may face criminal charges, but your family’s civil claim doesn’t depend on them. The civil case has a lower burden of proof, so it can succeed even without a conviction.
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Wrongful Death Negligence FAQs
What does "negligence" mean in a wrongful death case?
A failure to use reasonable care. To prove it, a family must show a duty of care, a breach of that duty, that the breach caused the death, and resulting damages.
Does the person responsible have to have meant to cause harm?
No. Most wrongful death claims involve unintentional conduct, such as careless driving. What matters is that they failed to act reasonably and that failure caused the death.
What evidence proves negligence?
Police and autopsy reports, medical records, witness statements, photos and video, the accident scene itself, and, where needed, expert reconstruction and medical testimony.
What if the insurer says our loved one was partly at fault?
That doesn’t end your family’s claim. Under California’s comparative negligence rule, a share of fault reduces the recovery; it doesn’t eliminate it. We answer blame-shifting with evidence.
Can more than one party be responsible?
Yes. A fatal crash can involve a negligent driver, their employer, and even a vehicle manufacturer. We identify every party that shares responsibility.
Do we need a criminal conviction to prove negligence?
No. The civil claim is separate, and its burden of proof is lower. Your family can bring a claim even if no charges are filed or the defendant is found not guilty.
Who is allowed to bring the claim?
Generally the spouse or domestic partner and the children, or others who would inherit if there are none, and certain dependent minors. The estate’s personal representative can also file. We confirm eligibility first.
How long do we have?
Generally two years from the date of death, and six months for a claim involving a government entity. Call early; evidence fades quickly.
Get Your Free, Confidential Case Review, 24/7
Your family deserves answers, and accountability. When you’re ready, call or send the form; we respond 24/7, in English, Spanish, or Korean. Your consultation is free and private, with no pressure to decide anything on the call. No fee unless we win.
Call (408) 256-2871Free Case Review
Solution Now Law Firm
1253 Park Ave
San Jose, CA 95126
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