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El Paso Wrongful Death Lawyer
El Paso Wrongful Death Attorneys
When a sudden death is caused by someone else’s carelessness, the family left behind has to make decisions no one ever prepared them for. They arrive at the worst possible time, tangled up with grief, funeral arrangements, and a house that feels too quiet. An El Paso wrongful death lawyer carries the legal decisions so your family can focus on each other.
This page walks through those decisions in the order most families face them. There is no pressure here, only clear information for when you are ready to use it.
Call (512) 254-4424 any hour, day or night.
Legally reviewed by Matthew Kotzen
A former insurance-defense trial attorney, Matthew Kotzen spent the early part of his career representing insurance companies before switching sides to fight for injured people. He earned his J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University, is a Lifetime Member of Best Attorneys of America, and is admitted to the State Bar of Texas.
“I spent years building cases for insurance companies. Now I use that same playbook to make sure they pay what they actually owe.”
Goldberg & Loren Fights for Maximum Compensation
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Texas Injury Law at a Glance
| Deadline to file a lawsuit | Two years from the date of death. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003 |
| Who can bring a wrongful death claim | The surviving spouse, children, or parents of the person who died. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.004 |
| Survival claim | Brought by the estate for what the person suffered between injury and death. § 71.021 |
| Punitive (exemplary) damages | Available only on clear and convincing evidence of gross negligence, malice, or fraud. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.003 |
The First Decisions an El Paso Family Faces After a Wrongful Death
A wrongful death claim is never really about money for the family bringing it. It is about accountability, and about the security that helps a family keep going after losing the person they counted on. Even so, the legal system does not pause for grief, and certain decisions have to be made while the loss is still raw. The attorneys at Goldberg & Loren take those decisions off the family’s shoulders.
The sections below are not a to-do list you must tackle today. They are a map of what lies ahead, so nothing important slips away while your family grieves. When you are ready, a lawyer can handle each step for you, at whatever pace feels right.
Deciding Who Can File the El Paso Wrongful Death Claim
Texas does not let just anyone bring a wrongful death claim. The law names specific family members who hold that right, and sorting out who among them will file is usually the first legal question. Getting it right early prevents confusion and conflict down the road.
In most families the answer is clear, but blended families and estranged relationships can make it harder. A lawyer helps the family understand who qualifies and how they can act together rather than at cross purposes.
The Family Members the Law Puts First
Under Texas law, the surviving spouse, the children, and the parents of the person who died are the ones who may bring a wrongful death claim. They can file together, or one can file on behalf of them all. Siblings, no matter how close they were, are not included, which surprises many families and is one more reason to seek early guidance.
When the Estate Brings the Claim Instead
If none of those family members files within a few months, the personal representative of the estate may bring the claim, unless the family asks them not to. This matters most when there is no surviving spouse, child, or parent available to act. We help identify who has the right to proceed so the claim is filed by the proper person from the start.
Filing as One Family Instead of Against Each Other
Because several relatives can share the right to file, disputes sometimes arise about who leads and how any recovery is divided. Handled well, the family files as a single united claim, and the court apportions the result fairly among them. We work to keep families together through the process rather than letting the legal system drive a wedge between grieving relatives.
Deciding What to Preserve Before the Evidence Is Gone
This decision is urgent even when nothing else feels like it can be. The proof that shows how your loved one died begins disappearing almost immediately, and once it is gone it usually cannot be recovered. Acting quickly is one of the few things that genuinely protects the claim.
You do not have to gather everything yourself. A short call lets a lawyer send the preservation demands, but knowing what matters helps your family protect it in the meantime.
- The vehicle or equipment involved, kept intact and not repaired or scrapped.
- Any event data recorder, phone, or dashcam that logged what happened.
- Photographs of the scene, the vehicles, and the conditions at the time.
- Medical records and, where one exists, the autopsy report.
- The names and numbers of anyone who witnessed the incident.
Each item helps reconstruct the truth of what happened while the other side builds its own version. The sooner these are secured, the harder it becomes for anyone to rewrite the story later.
Understanding the Two Claims El Paso Law Allows
Most families do not realize that a single death can give rise to two different claims. Texas keeps them separate because they compensate for different losses, and a full recovery usually involves both. Chapter 71 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code sets out both of them.
Understanding the difference helps a family see that the law recognizes both their loss and what their loved one personally endured. Each claim answers a different question about the harm the death caused.
The Wrongful Death Claim for the Family's Losses
The wrongful death claim compensates the surviving family for what they lost when their loved one was taken. That includes lost financial support, lost companionship and guidance, and the mental anguish of the loss. It looks forward, at the years of support and presence the family will now go without.
The Survival Claim for What Your Loved One Endured
The survival claim belongs to the estate and covers what the person who died experienced before passing. That can include their conscious pain, their medical bills, and their funeral expenses. It looks at the harm to your loved one directly, rather than at the family’s forward-looking losses.
How the Two Claims Fit Together
The two claims run side by side and are usually pursued at the same time. Together they account for the full weight of the loss, both what your loved one suffered and what the family will carry forward. Keeping them straight makes sure nothing the law allows is left uncompensated.
Acting Before the El Paso Filing Deadline
Texas law generally gives a family two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit. That window can feel both impossibly long and impossibly short during grief, yet the deadline is firm, and missing it usually ends the claim for good.
The deadline shrinks when a government entity may be responsible, since those claims demand formal notice far sooner. Speaking with a lawyer early makes sure the right deadline is met, no matter who is at fault, without adding pressure to a family that is still grieving.
Table of Contents
El Paso Practice Areas
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Bus Accidents
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Car Accidents
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Dog Bites
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Motorcycle Accidents
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Pedestrian Accidents
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Personal Injury
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Premises Liability
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Rideshare Accidents
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Truck Accidents
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Wrongful Death
Deciding What Accountability Looks Like for Your Family
No claim can undo what happened, and no honest lawyer would pretend otherwise. What a wrongful death claim can do is hold the responsible party accountable and provide the financial security that helps a family move forward. For many families, that accountability matters as much as the recovery itself.
A resolution can cover the income your family depended on, the cost of the loss, and the value of a presence that cannot be replaced. It can also bring a measure of closure, a formal acknowledgment that the death was wrong and that someone answered for it. That is a decision each family reaches in its own time.
The Losses a Wrongful Death Recovery Can Cover
A recovery can account for lost earning capacity, lost household services, and the loss of inheritance the family would otherwise have received. It can also cover medical bills from the final injury and funeral and burial costs. Putting real numbers to these losses takes care, and we work with the family to make sure none of them are overlooked.
Non-Economic Losses the Law Recognizes
The law does not measure a life in receipts alone. Texas allows recovery for lost companionship, lost love and guidance, and the mental anguish the family carries. These losses are harder to quantify, but they are real, and a serious claim gives them the weight they deserve.
The El Paso Cases That Become Wrongful Death Claims
Wrongful death is not a single kind of case. It is any death caused by another party’s negligence or wrongful act, and it grows out of the same situations that cause serious injuries every day in El Paso. Recognizing when a death qualifies is the first step toward accountability for the family left behind.
The cause of death shapes the investigation and the parties involved, but the family’s right to a claim stays the same. These are the situations that most often become wrongful death cases.
Fatal Crashes on El Paso Roads
Traffic is the most common source of these claims. A fatal crash on I-10, a pedestrian killed crossing a busy arterial, a motorcyclist struck by a careless driver, or a commercial truck collision can all support a wrongful death claim. The same rules that govern injury crashes apply, with the added weight of a life lost. We investigate these cases the way we would a serious injury crash, then account for the far greater loss.
Cross-border traffic and the heavy freight moving through El Paso raise the stakes on the interstate in particular. A collision with a fully loaded truck is far more likely to be fatal, and those cases bring the added complexity of commercial carriers and their insurers. The investigation has to move quickly to preserve the evidence these companies control.
Deaths From Unsafe Property and Other Negligence
Not every wrongful death comes from a vehicle. A drowning at an unsecured pool, a fatal fall in a neglected building, a deadly assault at a business that ignored security, or a workplace tragedy can each give rise to a claim. What ties them together is a death that a reasonable, careful party could have prevented. Identifying that party is the heart of the case.
These cases sometimes involve a government body, like a death in a public building or a park, which brings the shorter notice deadline into play. That makes early legal help even more important when public property is involved. We identify those deadlines immediately so a claim is never lost to a technicality.
Deaths That Follow Days or Weeks After the Injury
A wrongful death claim does not require an instant death. When a person survives a crash or a fall for days or weeks and then dies from those injuries, the family may still bring both a wrongful death and a survival claim. The time between the injury and the death often adds significant medical costs and conscious suffering to the survival claim. We account for that entire period, not just the final day.
How an El Paso Wrongful Death Case Moves Forward
Families often hesitate to call a lawyer because they imagine a long, draining court case at the worst possible time. The reality is usually far gentler. Most wrongful death claims are resolved through investigation and negotiation, and a good lawyer carries that weight so the family does not have to.
Knowing what to expect can ease some of the uncertainty. The process generally moves through a few clear stages, each handled by your legal team rather than by you.
The Investigation That Builds the Case
The first stage is gathering proof of what happened and who was responsible. That means securing physical evidence, obtaining records, interviewing witnesses, and often working with experts who can reconstruct the event. A thorough investigation early is what gives the claim its strength when it is time to demand accountability.
Speed matters here as much as in any injury case. Vehicles get repaired, scenes change, and witnesses scatter, so the sooner the investigation begins, the more of the truth survives. We move early to preserve what the responsible party might prefer to see disappear.
Resolving the Claim Without Adding Strain
With the evidence in hand, most cases move into negotiation with the responsible party’s insurer. Many resolve there, through a settlement that provides for the family without the strain of a trial. When an insurer refuses to offer what the loss is worth, the case can proceed to court, and preparing it properly from the start is what makes that option credible.
When a Case Goes to Trial
A small number of wrongful death cases do reach a courtroom, usually because the other side will not accept fair responsibility. Even then, the family is guided through each step rather than left to face it alone. The goal throughout stays the same: a result that holds the responsible party accountable and secures the family’s future.
How Long an El Paso Wrongful Death Case Takes
There is no single timeline, since a straightforward claim can resolve in months while a disputed one may take longer. The strength of the evidence, the number of parties, and the insurer’s willingness to deal all affect the pace. We keep families informed at every stage so the process never feels like a mystery, and we never rush a claim toward a cheap resolution just to close it.
Who Receives the Recovery in a Wrongful Death Case
When a wrongful death claim succeeds, the recovery is divided among the surviving family members the law recognizes, usually the spouse, children, and parents. A court apportions the amount based on each person’s relationship to and reliance on the one who died. The survival claim’s recovery, by contrast, passes through the estate.
Sorting out that division fairly is part of the work, especially in blended families. We help families understand how a recovery is shared so the process brings resolution rather than new conflict.
Talk to an El Paso Wrongful Death Lawyer When Your Family Is Ready
There is no need to have every answer today. When your family is ready, someone who handles these cases with care can explain your options and take on the legal weight so you do not have to carry it alone.
Our firm handles El Paso wrongful death claims with patience and respect, pursuing both claims the law allows and every source of accountability. The consultation is free and confidential, and you pay nothing unless we win your case.
Call (512) 254-4424 any hour, or reach us through our contact page. Talk to an El Paso wrongful death lawyer when the time is right for your family.
Legal Sources & References
The Texas laws described on this page are cited to the official statutes published by the Texas Legislature and were last reviewed on August 13, 2026.
- Statute of limitations (2 years), Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003
- Wrongful death beneficiaries, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.004
- Survival action, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.021
- Exemplary (punitive) damages, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.003
- Texas crash data, Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
Goldberg & Loren
211 Ranch Rd 620 S, Suite #230
Lakeway, TX 78734
(512) 254-4424
A family that just lost someone is asked to make decisions about evidence and deadlines in the worst week of their life. That is not a burden they should be carrying. I handle the claim so they can handle everything else. I represent El Paso families in wrongful death cases, and it costs you nothing unless we win.