Wrongful Death Claims in Louisiana: What Families Need to Know
Fontenot Law is a Lake Charles personal injury firm representing surviving families in wrongful death cases throughout Calcasieu Parish. Losing a family member because of someone else's negligence is devastating. Pursuing a wrongful death claim does not make that loss easier — but it does hold the responsible party accountable and provides compensation that can support a family through an impossible transition.
Louisiana wrongful death law is governed by La. Civ. Code Art. 2315.2, which gives specific categories of survivors the right to pursue claims for their own losses. Crucially, Louisiana law also preserves the deceased person's own claim for the pain and suffering they experienced before death through a separate survival action under Art. 2315.1 — meaning both the family's losses and the decedent's own damages can be pursued simultaneously.
Louisiana's one-year prescriptive period applies to wrongful death claims, running from the date of death. In cases where death did not occur immediately after the incident, the survival action deadline may be calculated differently. Our firm analyzes the applicable deadlines from the first consultation to ensure no claim is lost to timing.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Louisiana
Louisiana law creates a specific order of priority for wrongful death claimants. Each category of claimant has exclusive rights — meaning a higher-priority claimant's existence typically prevents lower-priority claimants from filing. The categories in order of priority are:
- The surviving spouse and children of the deceased
- The surviving parents of the deceased (when there is no surviving spouse or children)
- The surviving siblings of the deceased (when there are no surviving parents)
- The surviving grandparents of the deceased (when there are no surviving siblings)
Each eligible claimant recovers for their own losses — not for the decedent's estate. This distinction matters because wrongful death damages in Louisiana are personal to the surviving family member, not estate assets subject to creditor claims or estate distribution rules.
What Damages Are Available in a Louisiana Wrongful Death Case
Surviving family members can recover for losses they personally suffered as a result of the death. These damages include:
- Loss of love, affection, and companionship — the loss of the relationship itself, which is the most significant element of wrongful death damages in most cases
- Loss of financial support — the income and financial contributions the deceased would have provided to the family over the remainder of their working life
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Medical expenses incurred in the period between the incident and the death
- The survival action — the deceased's own claim for pain, suffering, and medical bills from the moment of injury to the moment of death, which passes to the eligible survivors
Our firm engages economic experts to calculate the full value of financial losses over a working lifetime — including projected earnings, retirement benefits, and household services — and works with medical providers to document the treatment and suffering in the final period before death.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Louisiana law establishes a specific priority order for wrongful death claimants. The surviving spouse and children have the primary right. If there is no surviving spouse or children, the parents may file. If there are no parents, siblings may file. This priority system means that the existence of a higher-priority claimant prevents lower-priority claimants from pursuing a claim. Each eligible claimant recovers for their own personal losses from the death.
A wrongful death claim is brought by surviving family members for their own losses — the grief, the lost companionship, and the lost financial support they personally suffer. A survival action is the deceased person's own claim for the pain, suffering, and damages they experienced from the time of injury until death, which passes to the eligible survivors. Both claims can be pursued simultaneously and are separate in terms of the damages they seek.
Louisiana's wrongful death prescriptive period is one year from the date of death. The survival action period is one year from the date of injury — which matters in cases where the deceased lived for some period after the incident. These deadlines cannot be extended by ongoing settlement negotiations. Contact an attorney as soon as possible after a loved one's death to protect both claims.
Yes. Louisiana's pure comparative fault system applies to wrongful death claims — the damages are reduced by the decedent's percentage of fault, but they are not eliminated. If your loved one was found 30% at fault for the accident that caused their death, surviving family members can still recover 70% of the full damages. Our firm investigates the full circumstances of the death to contest any fault allocation that is not supported by the evidence.
If the responsible party lacks insurance or sufficient assets, other sources of recovery may be available — including underinsured motorist coverage from your own auto policy, employer liability if the responsible party was acting in the course of employment, or third-party claims against other negligent parties whose conduct contributed to the death. Our firm investigates all available sources of recovery from the first consultation.