Wrongful Death

Compassion and Clear Guidance when your family needs answers

No lawsuit can undo a death or place a value on a person's life. A wrongful-death case can, however, determine whether another person or business is legally responsible, preserve evidence of what happened, and seek financial accountability for the losses Louisiana law recognizes.

Shirer Law helps families investigate preventable deaths without turning grief into a sales pitch. We identify the people legally entitled to bring the claims, distinguish the family's wrongful-death damages from the deceased person's survival damages, examine causation and available insurance, and give candid advice about the evidence, deadlines, and likely path forward.

Call 504-499-1010 to schedule a confidential consultation about a wrongful death.

What is a wrongful-death claim in Louisiana?

Louisiana Civil Code article 2315.2 provides a wrongful-death action when a person dies because of another's fault. “Fault” may involve negligence, an intentional act, professional malpractice, a defective product, or another legally recognized basis of responsibility.

The fact that a death followed an accident or medical event does not by itself prove liability. The claimant must establish the applicable duty or standard, a breach of that duty, a legally sufficient causal connection to the death, and the damages sustained by the proper beneficiaries.

Claims may arise from circumstances such as:

Fatal car, commercial-vehicle, bicycle, or pedestrian collisions
Medical malpractice and loss-of-chance cases
Unsafe property conditions or negligent security
Defective products
Nursing-home abuse or neglect
Workplace incidents involving a legally responsible third party
Intentional acts

Each category involves different statutes, defenses, evidence, and potential defendants. The investigation must be built around the actual cause of death rather than a generic wrongful-death checklist.

Wrongful death and survival are two different claims

Louisiana law may permit two related but distinct actions.

The wrongful-death action belongs to the beneficiaries

The wrongful-death claim compensates the statutorily eligible family members for losses they sustained because of the death. Depending on the evidence and governing law, damages may include grief and mental anguish; loss of love, affection, companionship, guidance, support, or services; funeral expenses; and other proven economic losses.

The relationship, frequency of contact, mutual support, age and health of the parties, household circumstances, and other evidence may affect the evaluation. There is no responsible formula based only on the deceased person's age or income.

The survival action preserves the deceased person's claim

Louisiana Civil Code article 2315.1 preserves certain damages the deceased person could have claimed from the time of injury until death. Depending on the facts, those damages may include conscious physical pain, mental anguish, fear of impending death, medical expenses, lost earnings before death, and property loss.

The duration between injury and death, evidence of consciousness, medical records, witness observations, and expert testimony may be important. If death was immediate and there is no evidence of conscious suffering, some survival-damage categories may not be available.

Who may bring the claims?

Louisiana uses an exclusive hierarchy rather than allowing every relative or heir to sue:

The surviving spouse and children, or either the spouse or children;
If there is no surviving spouse or child, the surviving parents, or either parent;
If there is no surviving spouse, child, or parent, the surviving siblings, or any of them;
If none of those relatives survives, the surviving grandparents, or any of them.

Adoption is addressed by statute. A parent who abandoned the deceased during minority may be treated as not having survived for these purposes. If no statutory beneficiary exists, the succession representative may assert the survival action, but that does not create a wrongful-death claimant outside the statutory classes.

Determining the proper plaintiffs at the beginning avoids conflicts, omitted claims, and challenges to the right of action later.

The filing deadline requires claim-specific analysis

The current page's universal one-year statement is no longer complete.

For non-medical-malpractice claims governed by the amendment effective August 1, 2025, Louisiana Civil Code articles 2315.1 and 2315.2 generally provide a period of one year from the death or two years from the day the injury or damage was sustained, whichever is longer.

Different rules remain important:

A medical-malpractice wrongful-death action prescribes one year from death.
A medical-malpractice survival action is governed by Louisiana Revised Statute 9:5628, including its discovery and three-year provisions.
A survival claim ordinarily depends on a viable claim held by the deceased; death does not necessarily revive a claim that had already prescribed.
Claims involving governmental bodies, federal law, workers' compensation, or other specialized statutes may involve additional procedures or limitations.

No family should calculate the deadline from a general website statement. Early review also matters because video, electronic data, vehicles, products, medical evidence, witness memory, and other proof may be lost well before prescription runs.

How Shirer Law develops a wrongful-death case

Identify the claims and parties. We determine the eligible beneficiaries, whether succession involvement is needed, who may be responsible, and what insurance or other resources may be available.
Preserve and reconstruct the event. Relevant proof may include photographs, video, 911 records, vehicle data, safety records, medical records, pathology or autopsy findings, products, electronic communications, complaints, and witnesses.
Prove causation—not merely a mistake. The evidence must connect actionable conduct to the death or, in an appropriate medical case, a lost chance of survival. Pre-existing disease, intervening events, and competing explanations must be addressed.
Document the individual losses. We examine the family relationships, caregiving, household services, financial contributions, work history, benefits, and expected support. Experts are used when warranted.
Prepare for the actual forum. If litigation is necessary, the case may involve discovery, depositions, experts, motions, mediation, and trial. We explain offers, risks, costs, and timing; the clients decide whether to settle.

Special issues that can change a wrongful-death case

Medical malpractice

A death involving medical care may require a medical-review panel, qualified expert proof, and special prescriptive periods. Claims against qualified providers are subject to the Medical Malpractice Act's limitation structure. A poor outcome alone does not establish malpractice or causation.

Workplace deaths

Workers' compensation is generally the exclusive remedy against an employer for a covered death, subject to limited exceptions. A separate tort claim may exist against a responsible driver, manufacturer, property owner, contractor, or other third party. Compensation liens must also be evaluated.

Governmental defendants

Claims against the State of Louisiana, a parish, municipality, or other public entity involve special procedural and damages rules. Louisiana Revised Statute 13:5106 limits specified wrongful-death damages against public entities while separately addressing certain economic losses.

Comparative fault

The defense may seek to assign fault to the deceased or another person. For claims governed by Louisiana Civil Code article 2323 as amended effective January 1, 2026, negligence of 51% or more attributable to the person suffering the injury, death, or loss bars recovery; a lower percentage reduces recovery proportionally. Different law may govern an earlier event, and the statute provides a separate rule for intentional torts.

Damages and practical sources of recovery

There is no universal “average wrongful-death settlement.” Evaluation may depend on:

The strength of liability and causation evidence
Comparative fault
The applicable beneficiary relationships
Conscious survival and the time between injury and death
Lost support, services, earnings, and benefits
Funeral and medical expenses
Available insurance, responsible parties, and collectability
Statutory caps, immunities, liens, and venue

The current page's statement that Louisiana wrongful-death damages are generally uncapped except for medical malpractice is too broad. Qualified-provider medical-malpractice claims have a statutory limitation structure, and claims against public entities have separate limits. Other statutes, insurance limits, and employer immunity may also materially affect the available recovery.

Frequently asked questions

Do we need to open a succession before bringing a claim?

Not always. The wrongful-death and survival rights generally belong directly to the highest eligible statutory beneficiary class. A succession representative may assert the survival action when no beneficiary class exists, and succession involvement may be needed for other estate matters. The family structure and claims should be reviewed before filing.

Can a case proceed if no criminal charges were filed?

Potentially. Civil responsibility is separate from criminal prosecution and uses different standards. A police decision not to arrest or a prosecutor's decision not to charge does not necessarily decide negligence or civil causation. An active criminal investigation may, however, affect evidence access and litigation strategy.

What if the deceased was partly at fault?

Comparative fault may reduce or, under current law, potentially bar recovery. The allocation should be based on admissible evidence, not merely a citation, preliminary report, or insurer's initial position.

What does it cost to hire Shirer Law?

Wrongful-death cases are generally handled under a written contingency-fee agreement, so an attorney fee is owed only if there is a recovery. The agreement will explain the percentage and whether the clients may be responsible for case costs or expenses. The terms are reviewed before representation begins.

Talk with Shirer Law about a preventable death

You do not need to know the correct legal theory before calling. The first task is to understand the event, identify the eligible family members and deadlines, and determine what evidence must be preserved.

Contact Shirer Law for a free, confidential consultation. We will listen, explain the immediate issues, and tell you candidly whether we believe we can help.