Washington Wrongful Death Attorney
Injury Law Group NW represents families across King County and the greater Seattle area after a preventable death, whether it came from a highway crash, a hospital error, a collapsed trench, or a hazard on someone else’s property. A Washington wrongful death attorney does more than file paperwork on a family’s behalf. The work involves figuring out who is legally allowed to bring the claim, which of several overlapping statutes applies, and how to prove what a life was worth to the people left behind.
Washington splits these claims across more than one law, and families are often surprised by that. One statute governs the claim for the survivors’ own losses, another preserves what the person who died could have recovered had they lived, and a separate provision gives parents their own cause of action when a child is hurt or killed. Which of these fits depends on who died, who survives, and how the death happened. Getting that framework wrong early can shrink a case before it ever reaches an insurance adjuster.
Who Can Bring a Wrongful Death Claim in Washington
Under RCW 4.20.010, the lawsuit is brought by the personal representative of the estate, but it is brought for the benefit of specific family members. RCW 4.20.020 names the spouse or state registered domestic partner and the children, including stepchildren, as the primary beneficiaries. If the person who died left no spouse, partner, or child, the claim can be maintained for the benefit of parents or siblings instead.
That tiered structure matters in practice. Adult children, a surviving spouse, and a sibling who lived with the decedent may all have strong feelings about the case, but the statute decides who actually recovers. Someone has to be appointed personal representative, and when a family disagrees about who that should be, the dispute can delay a case that already has a clock running. We help families sort out the appointment early so the claim is not held up by internal questions.
The related survival statutes add another layer. RCW 4.20.046 is the general survival statute, and RCW 4.20.060 is the special survival provision for situations where an injury causes death, following the same beneficiary tiers. These provisions let the estate pursue losses the decedent themselves suffered between the injury and death. Parents of a child who was injured or killed may also have a separate claim under RCW 4.24.010. A well-built case identifies every claim available to every eligible person rather than defaulting to a single count.
Why Families Choose Injury Law Group NW for Wrongful Death Cases
Injury Law Group NW is a personal injury firm serving King County, the Eastside, Seattle, and the broader Puget Sound region. Our attorneys spent decades defending insurance companies before they began representing injured people and grieving families, and that history shapes how we handle a death case. We know what records an adjuster pulls first, how a claim gets valued internally, and what signals an insurer is preparing to fight rather than settle. We prepare every claim as though it will go to trial, because insurers tend to pay more fairly when the lawyer across the table is ready to try the case. Consultations are free and confidential, and we work on a contingency fee basis, so there is no attorney fee unless we recover money for your family.
Troy Hunter, our founding partner, spent 16 years in insurance defense litigation, mostly as a partner at Floyd, Pflueger & Ringer, defending insurers and corporate clients against wrongful death, personal injury, fire loss, and construction defect claims. He also serves as a dispute mediator. David D. Mordekhov spent two decades at Gardner Trabolsi & Mordekhov, a Seattle defense firm, trying wrongful death, catastrophic injury, and product liability cases before judges and juries across Washington. Both Troy and David are rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. David has been selected to the Super Lawyers list and teaches trial and deposition skills as faculty at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. Our attorneys have argued at every level of the Washington court system, from district court to the Washington Supreme Court, and the firm is a member of the Washington State Association for Justice. Warren Barreiro and Hannah Shergold are associate attorneys on the team, and Warren speaks Spanish. David is fluent in Russian and has represented Russian and Ukrainian speaking families.
Our results reflect the kinds of death cases we take on. We recovered more than $1 million for parents whose newborn died after a hospital failed to adequately test for Group B Strep, and that case also led the hospital to change its procedures. We secured a mid-six-figure settlement for an elderly woman struck by a transit bus in a downtown Seattle crosswalk and another for a family of five whose minivan was forced into the I-5 center barrier by a semi-truck. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a future outcome.
Clients tend to describe the same things in reviews: lawyers who respond quickly, explain what is happening in plain terms, and treat the family with respect while the case moves forward. Our case managers return calls and texts promptly, and if grief or injury makes travel hard, we will meet you at home or at the hospital.
Situations That Lead to Wrongful Death Claims in King County
- Car, Truck, and Motorcycle Crashes: Fatal collisions on I-5, I-90, and I-405 are a leading source of these claims, especially when a commercial truck, an impaired driver, or a distracted driver is involved. Washington’s DUI statute treats an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher within two hours of driving as a violation, and a driver’s impairment can bear directly on liability and on what the insurer is willing to pay.
- Pedestrian and Transit Bus Collisions: Crosswalk deaths in dense parts of Seattle and the Eastside often involve buses, delivery vehicles, or drivers turning into a pedestrian’s path. Cases against a public transit agency carry special claim-filing rules that run before any lawsuit can begin.
- Medical Malpractice Deaths: Missed diagnoses, surgical errors, medication mistakes, and failures in newborn care can end in a death that should not have happened. These cases require qualified medical experts and follow their own timing rules under RCW 4.16.350.
- Construction Site Fatalities: Falls from scaffolds and ladders, trench collapses, electrocution, and crane or forklift accidents kill workers and bystanders. Third-party claims against property owners, general contractors, or equipment makers can provide recovery beyond what workers’ compensation offers.
- Premises and Retail Hazards: Deaths can follow falls on broken stairs, icy entryways, or poorly maintained walkways, and an owner’s failure to repair or warn about a known hazard is the heart of the claim.
- Defective Products: When a vehicle part, tool, or consumer product fails and kills someone, the claim may run against the manufacturer or seller. Washington’s product liability law has its own presumptions about a product’s useful safe life, including one that arises when harm occurs more than twelve years after delivery.
- Dog Attacks: Washington’s dog bite statute, RCW 16.08.040, holds an owner liable when the dog bites someone in a public place or lawfully on private property, without requiring proof that the owner knew the dog was dangerous.
- Traumatic Brain Injury Deaths: Some people survive the initial event but die weeks or months later from a brain injury that was missed, underdiagnosed, or poorly treated, which raises both negligence and medical causation questions.
What to Do in the Weeks After a Loved One Dies From Someone Else’s Negligence
The first priority is the family, and nobody expects you to start building a lawsuit during the first days of grief. But a few things are worth doing early because they are hard to repair later. Keep anything that documents the incident: photographs, the names of witnesses, the crash report number, hospital paperwork, and any letters or calls from an insurance company. If an adjuster contacts you, you are generally not required to give a recorded statement to the at-fault party’s insurer, and it is wise to talk with a lawyer before you do. Adjusters ask questions designed to narrow the claim or shift blame onto the person who died.
Think about the deadline early, even if you are not ready to act. Washington wrongful death claims generally must be filed within three years, counted from the date of death. An action is commenced by filing or by service, but the other step must follow within 90 days or the action is treated as not commenced for purposes of stopping the clock. Cases involving a death in a hospital or a clinic have separate timing under RCW 4.16.350, with a three-year limit, a one-year discovery rule, and an eight-year outer limit. A written, good-faith request for mediation before filing can pause that limitations period for one year under RCW 7.70.110.
If a government body may share responsibility, the rules are stricter. A claim against the state must be presented to the Office of Risk Management in the Department of Enterprise Services, and no suit can start until sixty calendar days afterward. Claims against cities, counties, school districts, and other local governments must be presented to the entity’s designated agent on the standard tort claim form, and email or fax generally does not count as valid presentment. The limitations period is paused during the sixty-day waiting period, but a missed or defective claim can end the case. Because this is where families lose valid claims, it is a reason to call a lawyer sooner rather than later.
Where the case ultimately gets filed depends on the facts. King County Superior Court is the general jurisdiction trial court, with the King County Courthouse in Seattle and the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. Wrongful death cases involve claims well beyond the dollar ceiling of King County District Court, so they typically belong in Superior Court, and cases with federal issues can end up in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. Meanwhile, we handle practical burdens for you: gathering medical and employment records, preserving evidence before it disappears, working with accident reconstruction or medical experts, and sorting out funeral and medical bills so they do not pile up while the claim is pending.
How Washington Values the Loss of a Life
The law lets surviving family members seek both economic and noneconomic damages. Economic losses include medical and funeral expenses, the income and benefits the person would have provided over a working lifetime, and the value of household services they performed. Noneconomic damages address the loss of love, companionship, guidance, and care, which is often the largest component when a parent, spouse, or child is lost. These are the harder losses to prove, and they are where an insurer’s valuation tends to diverge most from reality.
Washington follows comparative fault. Under RCW 4.22.005, if the person who died is found partly responsible, damages are reduced by that percentage but recovery is not barred. Insurers frequently use this rule to blame the deceased, who cannot respond. Because we spent years on the defense side, we know how those arguments are assembled and how to meet them with physical evidence, witness accounts, and expert analysis. Our job is to show the full picture of how the death happened and who actually carried the responsibility.
Questions Families Ask About Washington Wrongful Death Claims
How long do we have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Washington?
Most wrongful death claims must be filed within three years of the date of death under RCW 4.16.080. Medical malpractice deaths follow RCW 4.16.350, which has its own three-year, one-year discovery, and eight-year outer limits. Claims against government entities require a formal claim first, followed by a sixty-day wait.
Who actually receives the money from a wrongful death recovery?
The statute directs recovery to specific beneficiaries: the spouse or state registered domestic partner and the children, including stepchildren. If none of them survive, the claim can be pursued for parents or siblings. The estate also pursues separate survival claims for losses the decedent suffered before death.
What is the difference between a wrongful death claim and a survival claim?
The wrongful death claim compensates the surviving family for their own losses, such as lost support and companionship. A survival claim belongs to the estate and covers what the person who died could have recovered had they lived, including their medical costs and suffering before death. A well-prepared case pursues both where the facts support them.
Can we still recover if our loved one was partly to blame?
Yes. Washington’s comparative fault rule reduces the recovery by the percentage assigned to the person who died but does not bar the claim. Insurers often overstate that share, so the evidence about how the incident happened deserves close review.
What if the death happened in a hospital?
Medical negligence cases require expert review to show the care fell below the accepted standard. They also have unique timing rules, and the discovery rule may extend the window if the family did not learn the cause until later. A written request for mediation can pause the clock for one year.
Do we need to open a probate case to bring the claim?
A personal representative must be appointed to bring the action. Whether that requires a full probate depends on the estate, and we can explain how the appointment works in your situation and help move it along so the case is not delayed.
The at-fault driver was charged with DUI. Does that help our civil case?
It can, because impairment is strong evidence of negligence, but the criminal case and the civil case are separate. A criminal outcome does not decide the wrongful death claim, and we build the civil case on its own evidence, including blood or breath results and driving records where available.
How long does a wrongful death case take in King County?
There is no fixed timeline. Cases with clear liability and cooperative insurers can resolve through settlement, while cases involving disputed fault, multiple defendants, or medical experts take longer. We prepare as though the case will be tried, which tends to move settlement discussions along.
Can we sue if the death involved a city bus or a government vehicle?
Yes, but a formal claim must be presented on the standard form before suit is allowed, and the sixty-day waiting period applies. Missing that step can jeopardize the case, which is why these claims should be reviewed quickly.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the insurance company has already made an offer?
Early offers are usually made before the full extent of the family’s losses is understood, and accepting one typically ends the claim. We evaluate offers the way an insurer would, so we can tell you whether it reflects the real value of the case. The first consultation costs nothing.
What if the product that killed our family member was old?
Washington law presumes a product’s useful safe life has expired when harm occurs more than twelve years after delivery, though that presumption can be rebutted with evidence. Age is a defense argument to expect, not necessarily the end of the claim.
Do you work with families who speak Russian or Spanish?
Yes. David Mordekhov is fluent in Russian and has represented Russian and Ukrainian speaking families, and Warren Barreiro speaks Spanish.
Serving Wrongful Death Families Across King County and the Puget Sound Region
Injury Law Group NW represents families throughout King County, from Issaquah and Sammamish on the Eastside to Bellevue, Redmond, and Kirkland. We handle cases for families in Seattle and its neighborhoods, in Kent and Renton to the south, and in communities across the greater Seattle area. Cases arising from crashes on I-90, I-405, and I-5, from hospitals across the region, and from construction sites and commercial properties throughout the Puget Sound area all fall within our work. If a death has left your family unable to travel, we will come to you at home or at the hospital.
Speak With a Washington Wrongful Death Attorney Today
A death caused by someone else’s carelessness leaves families with grief, financial strain, and a deadline they never asked to think about. A Washington wrongful death attorney at Injury Law Group NW can explain who has a claim, what the law allows, and how your family’s case would be built. Call or text us to schedule a free, confidential consultation. We will listen to what happened, answer your questions, and tell you honestly what we see. We give hope. We get results.
