Louisiana Wrongful Death Lawyers

Louisiana Wrongful Death Law Under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2

Louisiana's Wrongful Death Action is created by La. C.C. Art. 2315.2. This statute gives surviving family members the right to recover damages when someone dies because of another person's fault. The claim belongs to the surviving beneficiaries directly. It does not belong to the estate.

This is an important distinction. In most states, wrongful death operates through common law precedent. Louisiana is different. Our civil code tradition means the wrongful death action is a statutory creation with specific rules about who can file, what they can recover, and when the claim expires.

The wrongful death action compensates survivors for their own losses. Your grief. Your lost financial support. Your loss of companionship. A separate claim called the Survival Action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1 recovers what the deceased person themselves suffered before death. Both claims can be filed together in the same lawsuit. Most Louisiana personal injury lawyers who handle wrongful death will file both.

Ask any attorney you are considering whether they understand the difference between Art. 2315.1 and Art. 2315.2. An attorney who conflates the two claims may not understand the damages structure well enough to maximize your recovery.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Louisiana?

Louisiana law establishes a strict hierarchy for who can file a wrongful death claim. Not everyone with a connection to the deceased person qualifies. The statute creates four classes of beneficiaries, and a higher class excludes all lower classes from recovery.

Class 1: Surviving spouse and children. This includes adopted children. If a surviving spouse or child exists, they are the only people who can bring the claim. All Class 1 beneficiaries share the recovery.

Class 2: Surviving parents. Parents can file only if there is no surviving spouse and no surviving children.

Class 3: Surviving siblings. Brothers and sisters can file only if there are no Class 1 or Class 2 beneficiaries.

Class 4: Surviving grandparents. Grandparents can file only if no one in any higher class survives.

Stepchildren are not recognized as beneficiaries under Art. 2315.2. Neither are in-laws. This catches many families off guard. A stepchild raised by the deceased person for 20 years has no right to file if they were never legally adopted. Current Louisiana law does not recognize that relationship for wrongful death purposes.

When multiple beneficiaries exist within the same class, they share the recovery. A surviving spouse and three children would all be Class 1 beneficiaries. The court divides the recovery among them based on their individual losses.

Ask your attorney how they handle cases with multiple beneficiaries. Coordinating claims among family members requires careful management. If siblings or a spouse and children disagree about strategy, the case can stall. Morris & Dewett assigns a dedicated case manager to wrongful death cases with multiple beneficiaries to keep communication clear and prevent internal conflicts from delaying the claim.

Survival Action Under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1

The survival action is a separate legal claim that exists alongside the wrongful death action. It recovers a different category of damages.

Where wrongful death compensates the survivors for their losses, the survival action recovers what the deceased person experienced. The pain and suffering between the moment of injury and the moment of death. Medical bills incurred before death. Lost wages from the date of injury to the date of death. These are the decedent's own damages, and they pass to the same beneficiary hierarchy.

Both claims can and should be filed together. They travel in the same lawsuit but produce separate damage awards. An attorney who files only the wrongful death claim and ignores the survival action is leaving money on the table.

The survival action exists even when death is instantaneous. Louisiana courts have recognized survival damages in cases where the decedent lived only moments after the injury. The damages are limited in those cases, but the claim still has value. If you are interviewing attorneys, ask whether they routinely file the survival action alongside every wrongful death claim. At Morris & Dewett, we do. Every case gets both. It is standard practice for catastrophic injury cases that result in death.

The One-Year Prescriptive Period

Louisiana gives wrongful death beneficiaries one year from the date of death to file a lawsuit. This deadline is set by La. C.C. Art. 3492. Louisiana calls this the Prescriptive Period.

One year. Not two. This is a critical point. Louisiana extended the general personal injury prescriptive period to two years effective July 1, 2024 under La. C.C. Art. 3493.11. But wrongful death has its own one-year deadline under Art. 3492. If someone tells you that you have two years to file a wrongful death claim in Louisiana, they are wrong. That is not the attorney for your case.

The survival action also carries a one-year prescriptive period. Both deadlines run from the date of death, not the date of injury.

There is a narrow legal doctrine called contra non valentem that can suspend the prescriptive period in limited situations. This applies when the cause of death was concealed or when a continuing tort prevented the beneficiary from knowing about the claim. These exceptions are rare and heavily litigated. Do not rely on them.

Missing the one-year deadline extinguishes the claim permanently. The court will dismiss it. No exceptions for good intentions or lack of knowledge about the deadline.

Common Causes of Wrongful Death in Louisiana

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of wrongful death claims in Louisiana. Alcohol-impaired driving causes more fatalities in Louisiana than the national average. Car accidents, truck accidents, and motorcycle crashes all generate wrongful death claims when a collision proves fatal.

Medical malpractice is another significant source. When a healthcare provider's negligence causes a patient's death, the family can bring a wrongful death action. However, medical malpractice wrongful death claims in Louisiana are subject to a $500,000 damages cap under the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act (La. R.S. 40:1231.2). This cap applies to claims against qualified healthcare providers who have paid into the Patient's Compensation Fund.

Workplace and industrial accidents account for a substantial number of wrongful death cases. Louisiana's offshore operations, construction sites, and trucking industry present elevated risks. Fatal workplace accidents can involve third-party negligence claims in addition to workers' compensation benefits.

Defective products cause deaths when manufacturers release dangerous goods into the market. Premises liability incidents, including falls and structural failures, also produce wrongful death claims. Criminal acts create civil liability regardless of whether the responsible person faces criminal prosecution.

Each cause of death involves different evidence requirements, different potentially liable parties, and different legal theories. Ask any attorney you are considering about their specific experience with the type of incident that caused your family member's death. A lawyer who handles mostly car accident cases may not have the expertise needed for a medical malpractice wrongful death claim.

What Compensation Does Louisiana Law Allow in Wrongful Death Cases?

Louisiana wrongful death damages compensate the surviving beneficiaries for what they lost when their family member died. These are the survivors' own damages, not the deceased person's damages.

The wrongful death action allows recovery for several categories of damages. These include loss of love and affection, loss of companionship, and loss of services the deceased provided. Financial support (past and future), funeral and burial expenses, and the mental anguish of survivors are also recoverable.

There is no cap on wrongful death damages in Louisiana for most cases. The one exception is medical malpractice. Wrongful death claims against qualified healthcare providers under the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act are capped at $500,000 under La. R.S. 40:1231.2. Outside of medical malpractice, a jury can award whatever amount the evidence supports.

The survival action adds a separate damages category. It recovers the decedent's pain and suffering between injury and death, the decedent's medical expenses, and the decedent's lost wages before death.

Calculating future lost financial support requires expert testimony. An economist will project the deceased person's future earnings using their employment history, education, age, and health status. They apply life expectancy tables and discount the amount to present value. The household services the deceased provided (cooking, maintenance, childcare) also have calculable economic value. Ask your attorney what experts they retain for damages calculations. Morris & Dewett works with forensic economists and vocational experts to build comprehensive damages models. Without expert testimony, you are guessing at numbers. Juries want data.

Proving a Wrongful Death Claim in Louisiana

A wrongful death claim requires proof of four elements. Duty. Breach. Causation. Damages. Each element must be established by a standard called preponderance of the evidence. That means more likely than not. It is a lower standard than the criminal "beyond a reasonable doubt" threshold.

Duty refers to the legal obligation the defendant had toward the deceased. Drivers owe a duty of care to other people on the road. Property owners owe a duty to visitors. Healthcare providers owe a duty to patients. Employers owe a duty to maintain safe working conditions.

Breach means the defendant violated that duty. A driver who was texting breached their duty. A doctor who misread a scan breached their duty. The question is whether the defendant's conduct fell below what a reasonable person would have done in the same situation.

Causation is often the most contested element. You must prove the defendant's breach was both the cause-in-fact and the legal cause of death. Cause-in-fact asks: would the death have occurred but for the defendant's conduct? Legal cause asks: was the death a foreseeable consequence of that conduct? Expert witnesses play a central role here. Accident reconstructionists, medical experts, and forensic specialists provide the technical evidence that connects the defendant's breach to the death.

A criminal conviction is admissible as evidence in a civil wrongful death case, but it is not required. You can win a wrongful death claim even if the responsible party was never criminally charged.

Ask any attorney how they build the causation element of a wrongful death case. This is where cases are won or lost. Morris & Dewett brings in expert witnesses early. We do not wait until trial. Expert analysis starts during the investigation phase so we can build the strongest possible case before the insurance company ever sees a demand.

Comparative Fault in Wrongful Death Cases

Louisiana's Comparative Fault rule under La. C.C. Art. 2323 applies to wrongful death cases. As of January 1, 2026, Louisiana uses a modified comparative fault system with a 51% bar. If the deceased person was 51% or more at fault for the incident that caused their death, the surviving beneficiaries recover nothing.

This is a hard cutoff. At 50% fault, you can recover. At 51%, you get zero. There is no sliding scale above the bar.

Before January 2026, Louisiana used a pure comparative fault system. A person who was 90% at fault could still recover 10% of their damages. That system no longer exists for injuries occurring after January 1, 2026.

Insurance companies use comparative fault aggressively in wrongful death cases. The deceased person cannot testify. They cannot explain what happened or defend their actions. Adjusters know this. They build narratives that push the decedent's fault percentage above 50%.

Ask any attorney you are considering how they handle comparative fault when the injured person is deceased and cannot give their account. This is a specific challenge in wrongful death cases that does not exist in standard personal injury claims. Morris & Dewett's approach starts with the evidence. Accident reconstruction, witness statements, physical evidence, and electronic data all establish what happened without relying on the decedent's testimony.

Wrongful Death vs. Criminal Prosecution

A wrongful death claim and a criminal prosecution are independent legal proceedings. They happen in separate courts with separate rules. A criminal case is brought by the state. A wrongful death case is brought by the family.

The burden of proof is different. Criminal cases require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Wrongful death cases require only a preponderance of the evidence. This means families can and do win wrongful death claims even when the defendant was acquitted in criminal court.

A criminal conviction can be used as evidence in the civil case. It is powerful evidence. But an acquittal does not prevent the family from pursuing the wrongful death claim. The O.J. Simpson case is the most famous example of this principle. Acquitted criminally, found liable civilly.

Families do not need to wait for criminal proceedings to finish before filing a wrongful death claim. Given the one-year prescriptive period, waiting could extinguish the claim entirely. File the civil case. The criminal case proceeds on its own timeline.

If an attorney tells you to wait for the criminal case to finish before filing the civil claim, consider that a red flag. The prescriptive period does not pause for criminal proceedings.

What to Do After a Fatal Accident in Louisiana

The one-year prescriptive period starts running from the date of death. Every day matters. There are practical steps families should take to protect the wrongful death claim.

Preserve evidence immediately. Photograph the accident scene if possible. Obtain the police report. Collect contact information for witnesses. If the death occurred in a workplace or industrial setting, the employer will have internal investigation documents that can disappear.

Obtain the death certificate and all medical records. Medical records document the treatment between injury and death, which is the foundation of the survival action damages. The death certificate establishes the official cause of death.

Do not give recorded statements to any insurance company without speaking to an attorney first. Insurance adjusters contact families quickly after a fatal accident. They are polite and sympathetic. They are also building their file to minimize the payout. Anything you say in a recorded statement can be used to establish comparative fault or reduce damages.

Contact an attorney promptly. The one-year deadline leaves less time than people expect, especially when expert investigations and evidence gathering are needed. Morris & Dewett begins evidence preservation on the day of engagement. We send preservation letters to companies, request surveillance footage before it is overwritten, and retain accident reconstruction experts while the physical evidence is still intact.

How Morris & Dewett Handles Wrongful Death Cases

Morris & Dewett has represented families in wrongful death cases across Louisiana for over 25 years. Our attorneys have handled claims arising from motor vehicle accidents, industrial incidents, medical negligence, and defective products.

Evidence preservation is the first priority on every case. On the day we are retained, we send preservation demands to all potentially liable parties. This locks down accident scene evidence, surveillance footage, electronic data, and corporate records before anything can be deleted or overwritten.

We retain forensic experts, economists, and life care planners early in the case. Damages calculations in wrongful death are complex. Future lost income projections, household services valuations, and present-value calculations all require qualified experts. We build the damages model before sending a demand, not after.

Morris & Dewett attorneys hold an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and have been recognized by Super Lawyers. The firm has earned over 1,500 five-star Google reviews from clients across Louisiana. You can view our case results and read client reviews to evaluate our track record. Our attorneys are available for consultation on wrongful death matters.

We work on a Contingency Fee basis. You pay nothing upfront. We are paid a percentage of the recovery only if we obtain compensation for you. If we do not recover, you owe us nothing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in Louisiana?

[La. C.C. Art. 2315.2](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109386) establishes four classes of beneficiaries in a strict hierarchy. Class 1 is the surviving spouse and children (including adopted children). Class 2 is parents, but only if no Class 1 beneficiaries exist. Class 3 is siblings, and Class 4 is grandparents. A higher class excludes all lower classes. Stepchildren and in-laws are not recognized beneficiaries under this statute.

What is the deadline to file a wrongful death claim in Louisiana?

One year from the date of death under La. C.C. Art. 3492. This is shorter than the two-year general personal injury prescriptive period under La. C.C. Art. 3493.11. Missing the one-year deadline permanently extinguishes the claim. The survival action under Art. 2315.1 also has a one-year prescriptive period running from the date of death.

What is the difference between a wrongful death claim and a survival action?

A wrongful death claim under [La. C.C. Art. 2315.2](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109386) recovers the survivors' own damages: loss of love, companionship, financial support, and funeral expenses. A survival action under [La. C.C. Art. 2315.1](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109385) recovers the decedent's own damages: their pain and suffering before death, their medical bills, and their lost wages. Both claims can and should be filed together in the same lawsuit.

Can I file a wrongful death claim if the person responsible was not charged with a crime?

Yes. A wrongful death claim is a civil proceeding that operates independently from criminal prosecution. The burden of proof in a civil case is preponderance of the evidence, which is a lower standard than criminal beyond a reasonable doubt. Families win wrongful death claims even when the defendant was never charged or was acquitted criminally.

How does comparative fault affect a wrongful death case in Louisiana?

As of January 1, 2026, Louisiana uses a modified comparative fault system under [La. C.C. Art. 2323](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=109376). If the deceased person was 51% or more at fault, the surviving beneficiaries recover nothing. Below 51% fault, the recovery is reduced by the decedent's fault percentage. Insurance companies often try to shift fault to the deceased person, who cannot testify in their own defense.

What compensation is available in a Louisiana wrongful death case?

Louisiana wrongful death damages include loss of love and affection, loss of companionship, loss of financial support (past and future), loss of services, funeral and burial expenses, and mental anguish of the survivors. There is no cap on wrongful death damages in most cases. The exception is medical malpractice, which is capped at $500,000 under La. R.S. 40:1231.2. The survival action adds the decedent's own pain and suffering, medical bills, and lost wages before death.

Do I need a lawyer to file a wrongful death claim?

You can file without an attorney, but wrongful death claims involve complex evidence gathering, expert witness coordination, damages calculations, and statutory deadlines. Most wrongful death attorneys in Louisiana work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing upfront and owe no attorney fees unless the case results in a recovery.

How long does a wrongful death case take to resolve?

Timelines vary depending on the complexity of the case, the number of defendants, and whether the case settles or goes to trial. Straightforward cases with clear liability may resolve in 12 to 18 months. Complex cases involving multiple defendants, disputed causation, or corporate negligence can take two to four years. The one-year prescriptive period for filing does not limit how long the case takes to resolve after the lawsuit is filed.

How much does a wrongful death lawyer cost in Louisiana?

Most Louisiana wrongful death attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. The attorney is paid a percentage of the recovery, and only if there is a recovery. If the case is unsuccessful, you owe no attorney fees. This arrangement makes legal representation accessible regardless of your financial situation. Costs for expert witnesses and case expenses are typically advanced by the firm and repaid from the recovery.

Is there a cap on wrongful death damages in Louisiana?

For most wrongful death cases, there is no cap on damages in Louisiana. Juries can award whatever amount the evidence supports for loss of love and affection, loss of financial support, funeral expenses, and mental anguish. The one exception is medical malpractice. Wrongful death claims against qualified healthcare providers under the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act are capped at $500,000 under La. R.S. 40:1231.2.

These answers reflect Louisiana law as of January 2026. For case specific advice, consult with a Louisiana personal injury attorney who can evaluate your particular circumstances.