California wrongful death laws are easily accessible through the internet. You can research and understand the basics by scouring through them. However, there are a few rules that might not be easily understood by an average citizen. These laws become crucial if you are looking to file a wrongful death lawsuit after the death of someone close to you. Below are some of the lesser known facts about the wrongful death laws in California.

You Can Only File A Wrongful Death Lawsuit In A Combined Way

One of the different and unexpected features of the wrongful death law of California is that all the claimants involved in a wrongful death case should file a lawsuit together.

This law is to make sure that there is no more than one legal action against the party responsible for the offense. Wrongful death lawyers in California say that this rule enforces California’s “one action rule.” This law also makes sure that the party accused of causing the deaths do not have to worry about facing multiple lawsuits at the same time.

Furthermore, this removes the possibility of incurring inconsistent court decisions and legal outcomes. For instance, different members of the same family might get different outcomes in the same death related incident if there were multiple lawsuits allowed. This would only compound the outcomes of the lawsuit.

According to the “one action rule” of California, the claimant has to include all the heirs within the lawsuit. Bear in mind that this is a difficult task. It is advisable that you consult wrongful death lawyers to seek guidance in such cases.

Death Of Child Yet To Be Born, Or Suicide Does Not Count

Not every case of death allows the family members to register a wrongful death claim. According to the wrongful death laws of California, people are not entitled to file a lawsuit over the death of a fetus or an unborn child. An unborn child is not included in the range of a person when it comes to the wrongful death statute of the state, according to the law.

If there are deaths arising from an enforced homicide, there is no possibility of filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the party that caused it.

Similarly, suicides are not included in the wrongful death laws of California. Note that if the family of the deceased are able to prove the duty of care owed by the responsible party to the deceased, there is a possibility of claiming compensation for the death.