Who has standing for wrongful death claims?

Question

A person's estate, relatives, and dependents generally have standing to sue for damages under wrongful death statutes.

Do any other persons or entities have standing to sue for damages under those or any similar or analogous statutes? For example:

1. A decedent's employer who has lost income due to business disruption from the unexpected loss of the employee?
2. An employee of the person who reasonably expected long-term employment? E.g., a nurse who provided care for a chronic health condition of the decedent?

Answer 1

In the United States, wrongful death is generally a statutory cause of action, rather than a common law tort, so the potential plaintiffs are generally limited to those specifically identified in the relevant statute.

In California, for instance, California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.60 limits the action to the following plaintiffs:

• The decedent’s surviving spouse, domestic partner, children, and issue of deceased children

• If there is no surviving issue of the decedent, the persons, including the surviving spouse or domestic partner, who would be entitled to the property of the decedent by intestate succession.

• If they were dependent on the decedent, the putative spouse, children of the putative spouse, stepchildren, or parents.

• A minor who resided for the previous 180 days in the decedent’s household and was dependent on the decedent for one-half or more of the minor’s support.

In the absence of a constitutional problem (an equal protection violation, most likely), courts have no authority to extend standing to anyone outside the statutorily designated categories. Ferry v. De Longhi Am. Inc., 276 F. Supp. 3d 940, 948 (N.D. Cal. 2017) (“The decision of the Legislature as to just how far to extend a statutorily created right of action ‘is conclusive, unless it appears beyond rational doubt that an arbitrary discrimination between persons or classes similarly situated has been made without any reasonable cause therefor.’”)