Burbank, California
California's wrongful death statute names who may sue: generally the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and the children, and where there are none, those who would inherit by intestate succession along with certain dependent family members (Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60). The estate's own separate claim is the survival action. In Burbank, whether the death happened on a freeway, a city street or an employer's premises changes who investigates and who may be responsible.
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The wrongful death claim compensates the family for lost financial support, household services and the loss of the relationship (Code of Civil Procedure § 377.61). The survival action under § 377.30 belongs to the estate and carries the claim the person had while alive.
Both are ordinarily brought together. Deciding who is named and who acts as successor in interest at the outset avoids amending the case later.
The general period is two years from the death (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1); a public entity defendant triggers the six-month claim requirement in Government Code § 911.2; a death following medical care is governed by § 340.5.
Where the death happened at work, workers' compensation is usually the exclusive remedy against the employer (Labor Code § 3602), but a claim against a third party who caused the death — another driver, a contractor, an equipment manufacturer — generally remains available. That distinction is worth checking before assuming there is nothing to pursue.
Against the employer, usually yes (Labor Code § 3602). But if someone other than the employer caused the death — another driver, a contractor on site, an equipment maker — a separate civil claim generally remains available alongside the workers' compensation benefits.
It changes who investigated — the California Highway Patrol rather than Burbank PD — and it raises the possibility that roadway or ramp condition is part of the case, which would mean a claim against Caltrans on the six-month deadline in Government Code § 911.2.
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