A fatal collision, fall, medical event, or equipment failure can leave a family with an incident report and many unanswered questions. A wrongful-death investigation asks whether someone’s legally actionable fault caused the death, who may bring the claim, and what evidence can establish the family’s losses.
The type of incident shapes that investigation. A truck crash may require electronic driving records; a care-facility death may require medication and nursing records. The following examples describe possible claim settings, not a finding that every death in those settings resulted from negligence.
Wrongful death and survival are different claims
Civil Code article 2315.2 authorizes specified family members to seek damages they sustain because of a wrongful death. A survival action under article 2315.1 concerns the deceased person’s own damages. Both may require investigation, but their claimants, damages, and timing should not be treated as interchangeable.
The general principle of responsibility for damage caused by fault appears in article 2315. The particular duty and proof required depend on the circumstances. Our article on who can sue for wrongful death addresses the family-priority rules.
Road crashes
Passenger-vehicle crashes may involve impaired or distracted driving, unsafe speed, poor visibility, roadway conditions, or a vehicle problem. The investigation should examine the available evidence rather than assume that the first description of the collision is complete. Witness accounts, photographs, video, and vehicle data may answer different parts of the question.
Truck and other commercial-vehicle crashes can add driver logs, dispatch communications, load information, maintenance records, and company safety procedures. Identify the company and vehicle if that information is available. Our guide to obtaining and checking a crash report explains how that initial record fits with other evidence.
Workplace incidents and falls
OSHA identifies falls, struck-by incidents, caught-in or caught-between incidents, and electrocutions as the four leading construction-fatality hazards. Workplace investigations may involve equipment, training, site conditions, and the roles of several companies. The available claim and procedure need to be identified for the particular work setting.
Falls can also occur on stairs, balconies, docks, and walkways outside a workplace. Relevant questions include the condition of the property, who controlled it, what was known about the hazard, and what inspections or repairs occurred. Preserve existing photographs and reports without entering an unsafe location.
Medical care and nursing-home care
A claim may arise from a preventable error in diagnosis, medication, a procedure, or follow-up care. A poor outcome alone does not establish an error. The records must show what was reported, what information was available, what care was provided, and how any failure relates to the death.
In a nursing-home investigation, useful records may include care plans, medication administration records, staffing information, incident reports, and communications about changes in condition. Falls, infection, dehydration, or aspiration may prompt questions about care, but the cause and preventability require careful medical review.
Keep discharge instructions, portal messages, and other records already available to the family. Identify the facilities and providers involved so that the complete medical chronology can be requested.
Drowning, fires, and exposure events
Drowning investigations can involve supervision, barriers, warnings, water conditions, and the response to an emergency. CDC’s drowning data describes the broader public-health burden; the facts at the particular pool, property, or boating location determine the civil investigation.
Fires and explosions may require an origin-and-cause investigation, maintenance records, and examination of electrical components, appliances, or safety systems. Toxic-exposure cases may require a history extending well before the death. Do not handle hazardous material or enter a damaged structure to collect proof. Tell counsel what may exist so preservation can be coordinated safely.
Violence and equipment failures
When a death results from third-party violence, a potential negligent-security claim depends on the circumstances and applicable duty. Prior incidents, lighting, access controls, surveillance, staffing, and the response may be relevant. The fact that violence occurred at a business does not, by itself, resolve its responsibility.
Product and equipment claims may concern a failed vehicle component, industrial machine, consumer product, or safety device. If an item may be relevant, identify who has it and whether repair, disposal, or testing is planned. Preserve it safely through appropriate arrangements; altering it can make the cause harder to determine.
What a family can gather
Start with the incident date and location, report numbers, witness names, photographs, messages, and the names of hospitals or facilities involved. Keep original files and paperwork. Note where other evidence may exist, including cameras or company records, without trying to obtain private records yourself.
You do not need to reconstruct the entire event before requesting advice. Video may be overwritten and physical conditions may change, so identifying the records and their custodians can be useful even when much remains uncertain.
Check the claim and deadline together
Wrongful-death and survival rights have their own statutory timing provisions. The general two-year rule in article 3493.1 applies to covered delictual actions arising from incidents on or after July 1, 2024; it should not be used as a universal deadline for every death claim.
Federal involvement may require administrative presentment before suit under 28 U.S.C. § 2675. The Justice Department explains Standard Form 95 and the presentment process. The correct agency, claimant, paperwork, and time limits need review.
Fault allocation also matters. Article 2323 includes the 51-percent bar effective January 1, 2026, with proportional reduction below that threshold. The law governing the relevant incident must be checked.
Our wrongful-death and survival practice can assess the incident, eligible claimants, evidence, and deadlines together. Call (225) 500-5000 or use the form below with the information you have.