Common Causes of Wrongful Death Cases in Beverly Hills
Most Beverly Hills wrongful death cases stem from preventable negligence — fatal motor-vehicle collisions, medical errors, unsafe premises, defective products, and workplace incidents. The circumstances differ, but the cause is always the same: someone’s carelessness, recklessness, or wrongful conduct cost your family a life that should still be here.
Fatal incidents in Beverly Hills often involve high-traffic corridors, commercial properties, medical facilities, and residential areas. Data from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the CDC’s WISQARS system confirms that unintentional-injury deaths remain a leading cause of preventable loss in Los Angeles County.
- Fatal motor vehicle collisions, including multi-vehicle crashes, single-vehicle crashes, and commercial vehicle accidents on high-traffic corridors like Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Sunset Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, and Olympic Boulevard. Our Beverly Hills car accident lawyer page covers motor vehicle claims in detail.
- Pedestrian fatalities at intersections, crosswalks, parking areas, and commercial corridors along Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Drive, and Canon Drive.
- Bicyclist, e-bike, and e-scooter deaths involving driver negligence, unsafe road conditions, or device defects. Our Beverly Hills bicycle accident lawyer page addresses these cases.
- Rideshare fatalities involving Uber and Lyft drivers. Our Uber accident lawyer Beverly Hills page covers rideshare liability.
- Medical malpractice, including surgical errors, misdiagnosis, delayed treatment, and medication mistakes at local hospitals and surgical centers.
- Unsafe premises, including falls, structural failures, swimming pool drownings, and hazardous conditions at commercial or residential properties.
- Negligent security, including assaults, robberies, or violent crimes at hotels, parking structures, retail locations, or apartment complexes where inadequate security contributed to the death.
- Defective products, including vehicle defects, medical device failures, pharmaceutical injuries, and consumer product hazards.
- Workplace fatalities in construction, hospitality, and service industries.
- DUI, drug-impaired driving, and hit-and-run fatalities where the driver’s conduct may also support punitive damage claims.
The evidence needed to prove your family’s case depends on the type of incident. BHPD reports, Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner records, hospital records from Cedars-Sinai or UCLA Health, CHP SWITRS crash data, surveillance footage from nearby businesses, and expert accident reconstruction all play different roles depending on the circumstances.
If your family lost someone in Beverly Hills, call (310) 220-0066 to speak with an attorney.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Under California Law?
California Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60 limits who may file a wrongful death lawsuit — and the list is narrower than many families realize.
Eligible parties under CCP § 377.60:
- Surviving spouse or registered domestic partner.
- Children of the decedent — and issue of deceased children (grandchildren).
- If no surviving issue: heirs entitled to the decedent’s property by intestate succession.
- Putative spouse (a person who believed in good faith that they were legally married to the decedent).
- Children of a putative spouse.
- Stepchildren who were financially dependent on the decedent.
- Parents who were financially dependent on the decedent.
- Legal guardians in limited circumstances.
- A qualifying dependent minor who lived in the decedent’s household for the prior 180 days and depended on the decedent for at least half of their support.
Under California’s one-action rule, all eligible family members generally need to join a single wrongful death lawsuit, or a personal representative can file on behalf of everyone. If family members file separately, the court may consolidate or dismiss claims, which costs time and can weaken the case. An experienced wrongful death attorney helps coordinate among family members to protect everyone’s interests.
If you are unsure whether your relationship to the deceased person qualifies you to file, call (310) 220-0066 and an attorney can help identify all eligible family members.
How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in California?
Filing deadlines vary depending on the type of case:
- Most wrongful death claims: You generally have two years from the date of death under CCP § 335.1.
- Medical malpractice wrongful death claims: Different timing rules apply under CCP § 340.5, which sets the deadline at the earlier of three years from the act or one year from discovery.
- Government defendant claims: If a public entity like the City of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, or Caltrans may be responsible, you generally need to file a government claim within six months under Government Code § 911.2.
Your family should not wait to explore your options. Evidence, records, and witness memory all become harder to preserve over time, and shorter deadlines can close before you expect them to.
Damages Recoverable in a Beverly Hills Wrongful Death Case
A California wrongful death claim can recover both economic losses (funeral costs, lost financial support) and non-economic losses (loss of companionship, care, and guidance). California also recognizes a survival action that allows the estate to recover separate damages. Knowing which losses belong to your family and which belong to the estate affects how the entire case is structured.
Wrongful Death Action vs. Survival Action
| Claim Type |
Who Brings It |
What It Covers |
Key California Law |
Important Notes |
| Wrongful Death Action |
Eligible family members or a personal representative on behalf of the family |
Losses the family personally suffered, including financial support and companionship |
CCP § 377.60 |
Focuses on surviving family members’ losses |
| Survival Action |
Estate, personal representative, or successor in interest |
Claims the decedent could have brought if they had survived |
CCP §§ 377.30 and 377.34 |
Can include pre-death losses and potential punitive damages where legally supported |
Economic Damages (Wrongful Death Action):
- Funeral and burial expenses.
- Lost financial support the decedent would have provided over their expected lifetime.
- Lost household services the decedent contributed.
- Loss of expected inheritance.
Non-Economic Damages (Wrongful Death Action):
- Loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, affection, society, and moral support.
- Loss of guidance and training for children.
- Loss of consortium for a surviving spouse.
Survival Action Damages (CCP §§ 377.30 and 377.34, CACI 3919):
- Pre-death medical expenses.
- Lost earnings between injury and death.
- Property damage.
- Punitive damages under California Civil Code § 3294 where the defendant’s conduct involved malice, fraud, or oppression.
Whether your family can recover pre-death pain and suffering through a survival action depends on your filing date and the current status of SB 447 and CCP § 377.34. SB 447 temporarily allowed recovery of the decedent’s pain, suffering, and disfigurement in survival actions filed between January 1, 2022 and January 1, 2026. For cases filed on or after January 1, 2026, those pre-death pain-and-suffering damages are no longer recoverable unless the Legislature further extends the statute. Because this area of law has changed in recent years, we recommend confirming how it applies to your family’s case based on your specific filing date.
If your case involves medical malpractice, MICRA and AB 35 may limit non-economic damages. The cap amounts vary by claim type and filing date under AB 35’s phased increases, so we recommend speaking with an attorney to confirm the current applicable figure.
What Damages Can You Recover in a California Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
The damages your family can recover generally fall into financial losses and relationship-based losses. Financial losses include funeral expenses, lost income and financial support, lost household services, and loss of inheritance. Relationship-based losses include loss of love, companionship, comfort, moral support, guidance, and consortium. If your family lost a high-income earner, business owner, or primary caregiver, forensic economists and life-care planners may be needed to calculate the full scope of your financial losses. Some cases also involve a separate survival action on behalf of the estate, which covers claims your loved one could have brought had they survived.
How to Prove a Wrongful Death Claim in California
To succeed in a California wrongful death case, the plaintiff must prove four elements by a preponderance of the evidence — meaning it is more likely than not that each element is true.
- Duty of Care: The defendant owed your loved one a legal duty, such as the duty to drive safely, provide competent medical care, or maintain safe property conditions.
- Breach of Duty: The defendant failed to meet that duty through negligence, recklessness, or wrongful conduct.
- Causation: The breach was a substantial factor in causing the death.
- Damages: Surviving family members and/or the estate suffered legally recognized losses as a result.
The evidence we gather for your case may include BHPD reports, CHP SWITRS crash records, and Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner autopsy records. We may also use medical records from Cedars-Sinai or UCLA Health, employment and earnings records, surveillance footage from local businesses, and witness statements. Accident reconstruction analysis, forensic economist testimony, and life-care planning evidence are often critical in calculating the full value of your family’s losses.
Under California’s pure comparative negligence rule, your family may still recover damages even if your loved one was partly at fault. The recovery is reduced by their percentage of responsibility, but it is not eliminated.
If your family is considering a wrongful death claim, call (310) 220-0066 to discuss the evidence in your case.
Speak With a Beverly Hills Wrongful Death Lawyer at The Injury Partners Today
If your family lost a loved one to someone’s negligence in Beverly Hills, The Injury Partners offer a free, confidential consultation 24/7, and you pay nothing unless we win.
We understand that no legal outcome will undo what your family has been through. But a wrongful death claim exists for a reason: to hold the responsible party accountable and to provide your family with the financial security your loved one would have wanted you to have. Pursuing that claim is not about litigation for its own sake. It is about making sure that the person or company whose negligence took someone from you bears the full weight of that responsibility.
At The Injury Partners, every wrongful death case is handled personally by a founding attorney. Our co-founder Omeed Hakimianpour is a Super Lawyers® Rising Stars honoree for both 2025 and 2026, a distinction earned by fewer than 2.5% of California attorneys. We limit the number of wrongful death cases we accept at any given time so that every family receives the attention, communication, and care that a case of this magnitude demands. You will never feel like a file number in our office.
Our contingency fee commitment means your family carries no financial burden throughout this process. There are no retainers, no hourly fees, and no costs of any kind unless we secure a recovery on your behalf. We advance all case expenses ourselves because we believe that a family’s ability to seek justice should never depend on its ability to write a check.
California Code of Civil Procedure §335.1 imposes a two-year statute of limitations on most wrongful death claims, and the timeline can be even shorter when a government entity is involved. Meanwhile, the evidence your case relies on — surveillance footage, employer safety records, vehicle data, maintenance logs — is subject to routine deletion and overwriting. Preserving that evidence early is essential, and it is something we can begin immediately.
If you are not ready to call, that is completely understandable. You can
submit a confidential inquiry through our secure form, email info@theinjurypartners.com, or text us at (310) 220-0066.
If you’d prefer, you can visit us in person. The Injury Partners is located at 499 N. Canon Dr., Suite B1 Beverly Hills, CA 90210.
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