When Negligence Causes a Death: Nevada Wrongful Death Law
Losing a family member to someone else’s negligence is a devastating experience — made more complicated by the legal, financial, and logistical realities that follow a wrongful death. Medical bills, funeral expenses, lost income, and the profound loss of a loved one’s presence in your life all demand attention at the worst possible time. Nevada law gives surviving family members and estates the right to seek compensation from those whose negligence caused the death, and the attorneys at Marathon Law Group are here to help you exercise that right.
Our Las Vegas wrongful death attorneys bring 45 years of combined experience to these difficult and consequential cases. We handle wrongful death claims throughout Clark County on a contingency fee basis — no fee unless we win. We will handle every aspect of the legal process so you can focus on your family during this unbearable time.
Nevada’s Wrongful Death Statute
Nevada’s wrongful death statute is codified at Nevada Revised Statutes Sections 41.085 through 41.100. Under Nevada law, a wrongful death claim may be brought when a person’s death is caused by the “wrongful act or neglect” of another party. This includes deaths resulting from car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, medical malpractice, premises liability (including slip and falls at casinos and hotels), defective products, and workplace accidents, among other causes.
Nevada’s wrongful death law allows two types of claims to be brought: the wrongful death claim itself (for the losses suffered by survivors) and the survival action (which preserves the deceased person’s own personal injury claims, including for pain and suffering experienced before death). Both may be brought as part of the same lawsuit, and understanding the distinction matters significantly when calculating the full value of a wrongful death case.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Nevada?
Under NRS 41.085, a wrongful death action may be brought by the surviving spouse, the surviving children or other heirs of the deceased, or the personal representative of the estate. The surviving spouse generally has the primary right to bring the claim. In cases where there is no surviving spouse, the right passes to the children, and then to other heirs. When the deceased did not have a spouse or children, parents or siblings may have standing to bring a claim. The estate’s personal representative may bring a survival action on behalf of the estate regardless of whether other family members are filing a wrongful death claim.
Wrongful Death Claims on Behalf of Children
When a child is killed due to negligence, both parents may have claims for the loss of the child’s companionship, comfort, and society, as well as for funeral and burial expenses. These cases are among the most emotionally demanding that our attorneys handle, and we approach them with the sensitivity and commitment they require.
Damages Available in a Nevada Wrongful Death Case
Nevada wrongful death law allows recovery for a broad range of damages. Economic damages include funeral and burial expenses, medical expenses incurred from the time of injury to death, the deceased’s lost earnings and the financial contributions they would have made to their family over their working lifetime, and the value of services the deceased provided to the household. Non-economic damages include grief and sorrow, loss of companionship, comfort, care, and society, and in the survival action component, the deceased’s own pain and suffering endured between the injury and death.
In cases involving particularly egregious conduct — such as a drunk driver who killed someone or a company that knowingly placed a defective product in service — punitive damages may also be available. These damages are designed not to compensate but to punish the defendant and deter future misconduct.
Wrongful Death vs. Survival Action: Understanding the Difference
A wrongful death claim compensates the survivors for their own losses resulting from the death — the financial and emotional impact on those left behind. A survival action, by contrast, compensates the estate for what the deceased person themselves lost: the pain and suffering they experienced before death, any medical expenses they incurred, and their own lost earnings. Both claims can and typically should be brought together in Nevada wrongful death litigation. An experienced attorney will evaluate both components carefully when assessing the full value of a case.
The Two-Year Deadline for Wrongful Death Claims
Nevada’s statute of limitations for wrongful death claims is two years from the date of death. This is a hard deadline — miss it, and the right to sue is almost certainly lost. While two years may seem like a long time, wrongful death cases require extensive investigation, expert consultation, and preparation. Waiting to retain an attorney means less time to gather evidence, preserve witness memories, and build the strongest possible case. Contact our team as soon as possible after a wrongful death to protect the family’s rights. For related information, visit our car accident page.
How Wrongful Death Cases Are Valued
Valuing a wrongful death case requires an analysis of multiple factors: the deceased’s age, health, earnings history, expected future earnings, the nature of the family relationships at issue, and the specific circumstances of the death. Economic damages are often supported by expert testimony from economists and vocational experts. Non-economic damages require careful presentation of the human impact — the void left in children’s lives, in a spouse’s daily existence, in the fabric of a family. Our attorneys work with leading experts and are skilled at presenting the full scope of a family’s loss to insurance companies and, when necessary, to juries. Visit our personal injury page to learn more.
Contact Marathon Law Group — Free Wrongful Death Consultation
If your family has lost a loved one due to another person’s or company’s negligence in Las Vegas or anywhere in Clark County, Marathon Law Group is ready to help you pursue justice and the compensation your family deserves. We handle these cases with the compassion and tenacity they demand, and we do not get paid unless we recover for you.
Call now for a free consultation: (702) 522-1808. No fee unless we win. Marathon Law Group · 2012 Hamilton Ln · Las Vegas, NV 89106 · marathonlawgroup.com.