San Mateo Survival Actions Lawyer
The Claim Your Loved One Would Have Brought Still Deserves a Voice.
When someone lives for a time after being injured and then dies, their right to seek compensation passes to their estate. Our wrongful death attorneys help San Mateo families pursue that survival action together with the family’s own wrongful death claim.
$75+ million
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What Happened Between the Injury and the Loss Matters
Many fatal accidents don’t end at the scene. A loved one may spend days or weeks in the hospital, go through surgeries, miss work, and suffer, before their injuries finally take their life. Those losses were theirs, and California doesn’t let them disappear when they pass.
A survival action lets your loved one’s estate recover what they could have sued for if they had lived. It is related to a wrongful death claim, but it rests on a different legal footing:
It recovers your loved one's losses, while the wrongful death claim recovers your family's losses
It's brought by the estate's personal representative, not by each family member
It depends on a period of time between the injury and the death
The two claims work best side by side, and often the strongest recovery comes from pursuing both. We’ll explain how they apply to your family, gently and without pressure. The consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we win.
Getting a Survival Action Started
Find out whether an estate representative exists.
If your loved one named an executor, or the court has appointed an administrator, that person brings the claim. If no one has been appointed, we’ll talk through the next step.
Map out the timeline.
The date of the accident, each hospital admission and surgery, and the date of death. A survival action is built on this period.
Request the treatment records.
Records from every hospital, doctor, and care facility show what your loved one went through and what it cost.
Collect the unpaid bills.
Medical charges for care between the injury and death are part of the estate’s claim, even if nobody has paid them yet.
Document their lost income and property.
Pay records for the time they missed work, and photos or estimates for a damaged vehicle or belongings.
Talk to a lawyer before any deadline approaches.
A survival action’s deadline is calculated differently from the wrongful death deadline, and an early call keeps both open.
What the Estate Can Recover
Medical bills after the injury
The cost of the treatment your loved one received between the accident and their death, from emergency care to hospital stays and surgery.
Lost earnings during treatment
The income they lost while hospitalized or recovering and unable to work.
Damaged or lost property
The vehicle, phone, and other personal belongings damaged or lost in the accident.
Pain and suffering, where the law allows
California has allowed an estate to recover for a person’s pain and suffering before death in certain cases, depending on when the case was filed. We’ll check whether it applies to your loved one’s claim.
Two Claims, One Coordinated Case
A survival action and a wrongful death claim come from the same accident, so they share much of the same evidence: the police report, the witnesses, the scene photos, and the medical records that explain your loved one’s injuries. We investigate once, thoroughly, and use that proof for both.
What we keep carefully separate is the losses. The estate’s claim is about your loved one’s experience: the treatment they endured, the wages they lost, and the belongings that were destroyed. Your family’s claim is about what you have lost: their support, their help at home, and their companionship. Drawing the line clearly keeps insurers from arguing that a loss has been counted twice, and makes sure none is left out.
Because the estate’s representative and the family may not be the same people, we keep everyone informed and on the same page, and we handle every conversation with the insurers ourselves.
Survival Actions Under California Law
A claim that outlives the person
A survival action continues the claim your loved one could have brought themselves. The estate stands in their place and seeks the losses they suffered before death.
There usually has to be time between injury and death
When death is instantaneous, there may be little or nothing for a survival action to recover, and the family’s wrongful death claim carries the case. Where there was any gap, the estate’s representative may pursue it.
Its deadline is calculated differently
A survival action generally must be filed by the later of six months after the death or the deadline that would have applied if your loved one had lived, usually two years from the injury. That can differ from the wrongful death deadline of two years from the date of death.
Punishment belongs here, not in the wrongful death claim
In limited cases, where there is clear and convincing evidence of malice, oppression, or fraud, punitive damages may be sought in a survival action. They are generally not available in the family’s wrongful death claim.
What Our Clients Say
I met with lawyers at other law offices, but after talking to Jimin, I decided to go with her because she was not only smart, honest, but also super caring.…
Annie Y.
Jimin from the start was very professional and accommodating. She came out to east bay to meet with me. We met once, she ask for the background of the incident…
Ethan Vu
From start to finish Jimin has been on my case and very informative about where they are in the process of things... every time it seems like I thought about…
Dominick M.
San Mateo Survival Action FAQs
What does a survival action recover?
The losses your loved one suffered between the injury and death: medical bills, lost earnings, damaged property, and in certain cases their pain and suffering.
Who files a survival action?
The personal representative of your loved one’s estate, such as an executor named in a will or an administrator appointed by a court. Family members bring the wrongful death claim separately.
Is a survival action the same as a wrongful death claim?
No. The wrongful death claim compensates the family for its own losses. The survival action compensates the estate for your loved one’s losses. They can be pursued together.
What if our loved one died at the scene of the accident?
A survival action may not be possible, or may recover very little, when death was instantaneous. The family’s wrongful death claim remains available.
How long does the estate have to file?
Generally the later of six months after the death or the deadline that would have applied had your loved one lived. Because the rules differ from the wrongful death deadline, call us early so we can confirm both.
Can a survival action include punitive damages?
In limited cases, when there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with malice, oppression, or fraud. That’s one way survival actions differ from the family’s wrongful death claim.
Who receives the money from a survival action?
It goes to the estate and is distributed under your loved one’s will or California’s inheritance rules. We’ll explain how that works for your family.
What does it cost to bring a survival action?
Nothing upfront. We work on contingency and advance case costs; you pay a fee only if we recover.
Get Your Free, Confidential Case Review, 24/7
Your loved one’s losses and your family’s losses both deserve to be heard. Call or send the form when you’re ready; we respond 24/7, in English, Spanish, or Korean. Your consultation is free and confidential, 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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