FOX 10 Phoenix reported in its Nightly Roundup that flooding in Arizona prompted an emergency declaration, and that a family was killed in a plane crash in Florida. No further details about either event were included in the report. Nothing here assigns blame for anything; no investigation has been described as complete, and no one has been found responsible for either event.
Under Arizona law, a wrongful death claim does not belong to everyone who grieves. A.R.S. § 12-611 through A.R.S. § 12-613 limit the claim to the surviving spouse, a child, a parent or guardian of the person who died, or the personal representative of the estate, filing on behalf of those statutory beneficiaries. A separate survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 lets the estate recover for losses the person suffered before death, such as medical expenses and pain endured. Most wrongful death actions must be filed within two years under A.R.S. § 12-542, and that clock generally runs from the date of death rather than the date of the injury. If a city, county, or state agency may share responsibility, A.R.S. § 12-821.01 requires a written notice of claim served within 180 days of when the claim accrues, and missing that deadline bars the claim entirely.
The Deadlines That Can End a Case Before Anyone Reviews the Facts
Two deadlines matter more than any other in a fatal-incident case in Arizona. The first is the two-year limitations period in A.R.S. § 12-542. The second, and the one families miss most often, is the 180-day notice of claim in A.R.S. § 12-821.01. That notice applies when a public entity or a public employee may be a defendant; think a government road authority, a county, a city, or a state agency. The notice must be served on the right people, must describe the facts, and must state a specific sum that would settle the claim. Courts enforce it strictly. A family that waits a year to decide whether to pursue a claim against a public entity will usually find the question already answered for them.
Deadlines can also turn on when an estate is opened. If no personal representative has been appointed, the survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 has no one to bring it. Opening a probate file takes time, so starting that process early protects the claim.
Steps That Protect a Claim in the First Weeks
These are practical, not legal strategy, and they help whether or not a family ever files anything.
- Request the official report from whichever agency investigated, and keep the report number. Reports are often not available for days or weeks.
- Preserve physical evidence. A vehicle, equipment, or clothing can be scrapped or repaired quickly once an insurer takes possession. A written request to preserve it, sent early, carries weight later.
- Keep every bill, invoice, and receipt, including funeral and burial costs.
- Write down what you remember while it is fresh, including who you spoke with and when.
- Do not give a recorded statement to another party's insurer before you understand what the claim involves. You are not required to.
- Note that events outside Arizona, including crashes in another state, are usually governed by that state's law and its own filing deadlines, which may be shorter.
Fault Is Rarely All on One Side, and Arizona Accounts for That
Arizona uses pure comparative fault under A.R.S. § 12-2505. A recovery is reduced by the percentage of fault assigned to the person who was injured or killed, but it is not eliminated, even if that percentage is large. That matters because insurers often frame an early blame narrative, particularly in weather-related incidents, and families assume that narrative closes the door. It does not. A finding that the person who died bore some share of responsibility reduces damages proportionally; it does not bar the claim.
Damages in a wrongful death action under A.R.S. § 12-613 are measured by the losses to the surviving family members, including lost financial support, lost companionship, and the grief and sorrow of the survivors. The survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 covers a different category of loss belonging to the estate. The two are often filed together, and keeping them separate in the pleadings matters for how damages are calculated and who receives them.
If your family is weighing what comes next, our Arizona wrongful death practice page explains who can file, what damages the statutes allow, and how the deadlines run.