Wrongful Death Lawyer in Texas

Texas's wrongful death statute is the Texas Wrongful Death Act, codified at Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.002 et seq. The action must be filed within two years of the date of death under § 16.003(b). The survival action — the decedent's own claims that survive to the estate — is governed by § 71.021 and runs on the same two-year deadline. Both actions are typically filed together as a single complaint.

Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.004 sets out who has standing: the surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased. They may file individually or collectively, for the benefit of all statutory beneficiaries. If none of those beneficiaries files within three months of the death, the executor or administrator of the estate may file under § 71.004(c) — unless requested not to by all entitled beneficiaries. Texas standing is broader than New York's personal-representative-only rule and more flexible than Pennsylvania's six-month exclusivity window.

Texas allows broad damages in the wrongful death action itself. Recoverable categories include pecuniary loss (loss of financial support), mental anguish, loss of companionship and society, loss of inheritance, loss of household services, and pre-death funeral expenses. Texas is also one of the few states where punitive damages are available in the wrongful death action itself, not just in a separate survival action — but only when the defendant's conduct was grossly negligent or intentional. Punitive damages are capped under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.008 at the greater of $200,000 or two times economic damages plus an equal amount of non-economic damages, with a hard ceiling of $750,000.

Texas's 51% modified comparative fault rule under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 33.001 applies to wrongful death cases. If the decedent is found more than 50% at fault for the underlying event, recovery is barred entirely. Government defendants are subject to the Texas Tort Claims Act caps under § 101.023 — $250,000 per person and $500,000 per occurrence for state claims, $100,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for municipal claims — and tight notice deadlines that can be as short as 30 days under some city charters. Early evaluation and rapid notice filings are critical when government defendants are involved.