12 News reported that two people died after a high-speed boat crash on Lake Havasu, according to the Mohave County Sheriff's Office. The crash remains under investigation. No determination of fault has been made, and nothing in the reporting establishes what caused it.
In Arizona, a death caused by another party's wrongful act, neglect, or default gives rise to a wrongful death claim under A.R.S. § 12-611. The statute limits who may file: the surviving spouse, a child, a parent or guardian, or the personal representative of the estate, filing on behalf of those survivors under A.R.S. § 12-612. Damages recoverable under A.R.S. § 12-613 include the survivors' loss of companionship, guidance, and financial support, along with their grief and the expenses of burial. A separate survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 belongs to the estate and covers losses the person suffered before death, such as medical bills and lost earnings. Most wrongful death actions must be filed within two years under A.R.S. § 12-542. Fault is apportioned under A.R.S. § 12-2505, Arizona's pure comparative fault rule, so a survivor's recovery is reduced by the decedent's share of responsibility but not eliminated by it.
Who Can File, and Who Actually Receives the Money
Arizona does not let every grieving relative file. A.R.S. § 12-612 restricts the claim to a surviving spouse, a child, a parent or guardian, or the personal representative of the estate acting for those people. Siblings, cousins, fiancees, and long-term partners who are not spouses generally cannot bring the claim in their own name.
The distinction that confuses families most: a wrongful death claim under A.R.S. § 12-611 belongs to the survivors and compensates their loss, while a survival action under A.R.S. § 14-3110 belongs to the estate and compensates what the person who died experienced before death. Both can often be brought together. Survival action proceeds pass through the estate and can be reached by creditors; wrongful death proceeds under A.R.S. § 12-613 are distributed to the survivors in proportion to their damages and are treated differently. If no spouse, child, or parent survives, opening an estate and appointing a personal representative becomes the necessary first step, and that takes time in probate court.
Deadlines That Can End a Claim Before Anyone Files
The general deadline is two years under A.R.S. § 12-542. For a wrongful death claim, that clock typically runs from the date of death.
There is a much shorter deadline that catches families off guard. If any claim would be against a public entity or a public employee, A.R.S. § 12-821.01 requires a written notice of claim served within 180 days of when the claim accrues, and the notice must state a specific dollar amount that will settle the claim. Miss that 180 days and the claim against that entity is barred, no matter how much time remains on the two-year statute. Whether a public entity has any role in a given incident is not something you can assess from a news report; it depends on who owned or operated what, who was responsible for the waterway, and what the investigation finds. That is a reason to have the question looked at early rather than at the 18-month mark.
Practical Steps While an Investigation Is Open
An open investigation means the official report is not available yet, and that is normal. It does not mean a family has to sit still.
- Request the incident report in writing and keep asking. Reports on water incidents can take weeks or months to close.
- Preserve the vessels. Boats get repaired, salvaged, or sold. A written preservation demand to whoever holds the vessels, sent early, matters more here than in a car case because there is no body shop paper trail.
- Collect what existed before the incident. Photos, texts, launch records, rental or charter paperwork, marina receipts, and any video from nearby vessels or shoreline cameras. Private video is usually overwritten within days.
- Identify every insurance policy. Watercraft liability coverage, homeowners policies that extend to boats, umbrella policies, and commercial policies if a business owned or operated a vessel.
- Say nothing recorded to an insurer until you know what the investigation shows. Under A.R.S. § 12-2505, anything that sounds like an admission will be used to shift a percentage of fault onto the person who died.
- Do not wait on the estate. If a personal representative will be needed, starting probate early prevents a scramble against the two-year deadline in A.R.S. § 12-542.
Families in Mohave County dealing with a fatal incident on the water can learn more about how these claims are built on our Arizona wrongful death practice page.