Sacramento Wrongful Death Lawyer

Attorney Michael Rehm — (916) 233-7346

Attorney Michael Rehm represents families who have lost a loved one due to another person's negligence in Sacramento and throughout Sacramento County. Wrongful death cases are among the most legally complex personal injury claims — the damages are often substantial, but the actual recovery depends almost entirely on the insurance coverage that can be located. These cases are handled on a contingency fee basis. No fee without a recovery. Call (916) 233-7346 for a free consultation.

Two Separate Claims: Wrongful Death and Survival Action

When someone is killed by another's negligence, California law creates two separate causes of action that are almost always filed together. Understanding the distinction matters because the damages flow to different parties.

The first is a wrongful death claim under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60. This claim belongs to the surviving heirs — a spouse, children, parents, or other eligible family members. It compensates the heirs for what they lost: financial support, household services, and the loss of love, companionship, and guidance. The damages recovered in a wrongful death action belong to the heirs personally — they are not part of the decedent's estate and do not pass through probate.

The second is a survival action under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.30. This claim belongs to the estate and is brought by the estate's personal representative or successor in interest. It recovers what the decedent could have recovered had they lived: medical expenses incurred before death, lost earnings from the date of injury through death, and — under certain circumstances — pre-death pain and suffering. These damages go to the estate.

Both claims arise from the same negligent act. Both are typically filed together in Sacramento County Superior Court. The strategic question from day one is which claims are available and what evidence is needed to support each.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim

Under CCP § 377.60, standing to bring a wrongful death claim is limited to specific categories of heirs:

Surviving spouse or registered domestic partner
Children of the decedent, including children born outside of marriage who can establish parentage
Issue of deceased children — meaning grandchildren if the decedent's own child also predeceased them
Parents or siblings of the decedent, if there is no surviving spouse, domestic partner, or children
Any minor who was both a member of the decedent's household and was dependent on the decedent at the time of death

Standing disputes — over whether a particular family member qualifies as a claimant — are more common in wrongful death cases than in any other personal injury context. Former spouses, unmarried partners who do not meet the dependency test, and stepchildren without formal adoption may not have standing. If there is any question about who can file, that issue needs to be resolved before the claim proceeds.

What Wrongful Death and Survival Action Damages Cover

Wrongful Death Damages — Available to the Heirs

Under California law, the damages available to heirs are defined by CACI 3921 and 3922. CACI — the California Civil Jury Instructions — are the standardized instructions judges read to juries in civil trials. They define the legal elements a plaintiff must prove and the categories of damages a jury is permitted to award. CACI 3921 covers wrongful death damages for the death of an adult; CACI 3922 covers the death of a minor. Heirs in a wrongful death action may recover:

Financial support the decedent would have provided over their life expectancy — including necessities and any financial contributions decedent would reasonably have made
Loss of household services, advice, and training — the value of what a parent, spouse, or partner provided in running a household and raising children
Loss of love, companionship, comfort, affection, society, solace, and moral support — compensable even when no measurable financial loss can be shown
Funeral and burial expenses

There is no legal requirement to prove the decedent had a formal obligation to support the claimant. What matters is a reasonable expectation of continued benefit — shown through the pattern of financial contribution or caregiving before the death. Steed v. Imperial Airlines (1974) 12 Cal.3d 115, 126.

One limit worth understanding: wrongful death claimants cannot recover for their personal grief, sorrow, or mental anguish from the loss itself. California law draws a firm line between non-compensable grief and compensable loss of the relationship. The loss of companionship and support is compensable; the emotional pain of bereavement is not.

Survival Action Damages — Available to the Estate

Medical expenses incurred from the time of injury through death
Lost earnings from injury to death
Pre-death pain and suffering — recoverable during the SB 447 window (see below)
Punitive damages, if the tortfeasor is still alive and the conduct meets the standard under Civil Code § 3294

Insurance Limits and the Reality of Recovery

Wrongful death damages are often substantial. Recovery is not always — and the gap is almost always an insurance problem, not a liability problem.

A fatal crash against a minimum-limits driver illustrates the issue directly. California's mandatory minimum auto liability limits are $30,000 per person and $60,000 per occurrence for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, under Vehicle Code § 16056. Those limits are inadequate for a wrongful death claim in nearly every case. When the at-fault driver's policy pays its limit, the question is what other coverage exists.

Finding every available source of recovery is a core part of the representation. In a wrongful death case, that means investigating:

The at-fault driver's liability policy — the starting point, but limits often run out before full damages are covered
The vehicle owner's policy, if different from the driver — Vehicle Code § 17150 makes the owner vicariously liable for a permissive user's negligence
An employer's commercial liability policy, if the at-fault driver was operating within the course and scope of employment at the time of the crash
The family's own UM/UIM coverage under Insurance Code § 11580.2 — uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage applies when the at-fault driver carries no insurance or insufficient limits; it applies to wrongful death claims and protects the insured as a person, not just as a vehicle occupant
Umbrella policies held by any individual defendant — often overlooked, sometimes substantial
Rideshare coverage layers (Lyft, Uber, or other TNC platforms) under Public Utilities Code § 5431 et seq., if a rideshare driver was involved — coverage varies by whether the app was active and the driver's status at the time of the crash
Government entity coverage, if a public agency contributed to the crash through a dangerous road condition, failed signal, or inadequate signage — subject to the Government Claims Act filing requirements

Sacramento County's uninsured driver rate is approximately 15.1 percent. UM/UIM coverage under the family's own auto policy is frequently the most significant available source of additional recovery after the at-fault driver's limits are exhausted. Attorney Rehm identifies and pursues every applicable policy from the first day of the case.

The SB 447 Window: Pre-Death Pain and Suffering

California law generally bars the estate from recovering damages for a decedent's pre-death pain and suffering in a survival action. That rule was temporarily changed by SB 447. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.34(b), pre-death pain, suffering, and disfigurement are recoverable in survival actions for deaths that occurred on or after January 1, 2022 and before January 1, 2026.

For Sacramento families: if your family member died from their injuries between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2025, the estate can recover compensation for what the decedent endured before they died. That adds a meaningful category of damages to the survival action. Cases involving deaths within that window that have not yet been filed still have access to this expanded recovery — provided the statute of limitations has not run.

Sacramento Wrongful Death Data

Sacramento's traffic fatality record over the past several years produces a steady volume of wrongful death claims — and reflects an enforcement and infrastructure problem that has not been solved despite years of official commitments.

Between 55 and 57 people were killed on Sacramento city streets in 2023 — an all-time high — with 5,070 additional people injured in 3,564 crashes, according to the City of Sacramento's Vision Zero crash data
Sacramento ranked #2 of the 15 largest California cities for total fatal and injury crash victims in 2023, with 4,214 total victims, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety
40 percent of Sacramento's fatal crashes involve pedestrians
More than 265 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed within Sacramento city limits since Vision Zero was adopted in 2017 through September 2024, according to UC Berkeley TIMS data — a program that promised zero deaths by 2027
38 percent of pedestrian and cyclist deaths in Sacramento between 2020 and 2024 involved hit-and-run drivers — the third-highest rate among California's ten largest cities
Sacramento's High Injury Network — the small fraction of streets producing the majority of fatal and severe crashes — includes Stockton Boulevard, Marysville Boulevard, El Camino Avenue, Florin Road, and Broadway
Sacramento ranked #1 of 15 largest California cities for alcohol-involved crash victims in 2023, with 454 alcohol-involved victims, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety

Filing a Wrongful Death Claim in Sacramento County

Wrongful death claims arising from crashes in Sacramento County are filed in the Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Superior Court, located at 720 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814. Sacramento County Superior Court processed 2,232 motor vehicle personal injury filings in fiscal year 2023–2024.

Free Consultation — No Fee Without a Recovery

Attorney Michael Rehm handles wrongful death cases throughout Sacramento County on a contingency fee basis. No fee without a recovery. Call (916) 233-7346 for a free consultation — home visits, and hospital visits available.