Wrongful Death Lawyer in Tennessee

Tennessee's statute of limitations for wrongful death is one year from the date of death, applying the same T.C.A. § 28-3-104(a)(1)(A) deadline that governs all personal injury actions. This is the shortest wrongful death SOL in the country. Under T.C.A. § 20-5-107(a), the action may be filed by the personal representative, the surviving spouse, or — if no surviving spouse — by the children or next of kin. The priority structure matters because multiple eligible plaintiffs may dispute standing, and probate appointment delays consume time from the one-year window. Families grieving a sudden death rarely think about legal deadlines within the first months, and by the time they consult an attorney, a significant portion of the window has already closed.

Tennessee's wrongful death statute at T.C.A. § 20-5-106(a) consolidates the survival cause of action with the wrongful death cause of action. The decedent's right of action 'shall not abate or be extinguished by the person's death' but passes to the statutory beneficiaries. This means the pre-death pain and suffering (survival component) and the surviving family's losses (wrongful death component) are brought in a single action — Tennessee does not bifurcate these claims the way some states do. Both economic damages (lost earning capacity, medical costs, funeral expenses) and non-economic damages (loss of companionship, consortium, guidance) are recoverable.

The strict 50% comparative fault bar from McIntyre v. Balentine (833 S.W.2d 52, Tenn. 1992) applies to wrongful death with full force. If the decedent is assigned 50% or more of the fault, the family recovers nothing. In wrongful death cases, the decedent cannot testify, which gives the defense latitude to construct a fault narrative. In motorcycle fatalities, the helmet defense. In pedestrian deaths, the crosswalk argument. In workplace fatalities, the assumption-of-risk argument. The family's attorney must build the counternarrative from physical evidence, witnesses, expert reconstruction, and electronic data — all within a one-year deadline.

T.C.A. § 20-5-107(b)-(c) contains a distinctive restriction: a parent is barred from recovering through the wrongful death action if the parent has child-support arrearages, has intentionally refused or neglected to pay support, failed to contact the child, or failed to exercise visitation for two years when subject to a court support order. This provision can eliminate a parent's standing entirely. Punitive damages are available in Tennessee wrongful death actions when the defendant's conduct was intentional, reckless, fraudulent, or grossly negligent, subject to the statutory cap on punitive damages under T.C.A. § 29-39-104.