Arizona's wrongful death law, A.R.S. §§ 12-611 through 12-613, gives surviving family members the right to sue the person or entity whose negligence caused their loved one's death. That right exists independently of any criminal case. The standard of proof is a preponderance of the evidence, not the "beyond a reasonable doubt" threshold prosecutors face. That distinction matters: a driver who avoids criminal conviction can still be held civilly liable for the same conduct.
Only one lawsuit gets filed
Under A.R.S. § 12-612, the law establishes a strict priority for who may bring the action:
- The surviving spouse has first right to file.
- The children if there is no surviving spouse.
- The parents of the deceased if there is no spouse and no children.
- The personal representative of the estate if none of the above family members exist, the representative files on behalf of the estate itself.
One lawsuit, not several. The statute consolidates all claims into a single action, which prevents competing lawsuits from different family members. Once the case settles or goes to verdict, the damages are distributed among the statutory beneficiaries: the spouse, children, and parents, as A.R.S. § 12-612(A) describes. A judge or the parties themselves work out how those proceeds are divided if the family can't agree.
What beneficiaries can recover
The damages in a wrongful death case go beyond funeral bills. The law allows recovery for the loss of love, affection, companionship, and guidance, what the deceased would have given to a spouse, child, or parent over the course of a full life. Financial losses count too: the income, benefits, and household contributions the deceased would have earned. A surviving spouse can also claim loss of consortium. Courts consider the age and health of the deceased, their earning history and trajectory, and the depth of their relationships with each beneficiary.
The estate's share of damages can include medical expenses from the final injury and any pain and suffering the deceased endured before death. That piece of the case flows through a separate mechanism, the survival action, which A.R.S. § 14-3110 governs. The estate's personal representative files the survival action, either alongside the wrongful death claim or in coordination with it. Together, the two claims capture both what the family lost and what the deceased personally suffered.
The survival action and why it's filed separately
The survival action (A.R.S. § 14-3110) belongs to the estate, not to individual family members. It recovers damages the deceased had a right to claim before they died, specifically, the pain and suffering they experienced between the injury and death, and medical expenses incurred during that period. In cases involving extended hospitalization or a prolonged period of consciousness after a serious injury, those pre-death damages can be substantial. The personal representative, typically the executor or administrator of the estate, brings this claim, and the proceeds pass through the estate and are subject to creditors before distribution to heirs.
Families often don't realize these two distinct claims exist. Pursuing only the wrongful death action without a survival action can leave real money on the table, particularly in cases where the deceased lived for days or weeks after the accident.
The two-year filing deadline
Arizona's general statute of limitations for wrongful death claims is two years from the date of death, under A.R.S. § 12-542. The clock starts when the person dies, not when the accident happened, a distinction that sometimes matters in delayed-death cases.
Cases involving a government entity as the liable party run on a tighter timeline. A Notice of Claim must be filed within 180 days of the death before any lawsuit can proceed. Missing that deadline generally bars the claim entirely. Government vehicles, government-employed drivers, and dangerous road conditions caused by a public agency all fall under this requirement. See our post on the Arizona personal injury statute of limitations for more on how these deadlines apply.
Our wrongful death attorneys handle claims throughout Arizona on a contingency fee basis. No fee unless we win. Call (480) 418-SHER (7437) or reach out online.