WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIMS
Denver Wrongful Death Lawyer
A wrongful death claim belongs to the people Colorado law names, on the timetable Colorado law sets.
Colorado’s wrongful-death cause of action exists by statute, not common law. C.R.S. §§ 13-21-201 through 13-21-204 determine who may bring the claim, when different family members may act, what damages may be recovered, and when the action must be filed.
Those rules matter immediately. A family can agree about what happened and still have different legal rights during the first and second years after the death.
The Statute Chooses Plaintiffs.
In the first year after death, a surviving spouse has the primary statutory position. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-201(1)(a), the spouse may bring the action alone. By written election, the spouse may instead bring it with the decedent’s heir or heirs, or permit the heir or heirs to bring it without the spouse.
If there is no surviving spouse, the statute permits the heir or heirs, or a qualifying designated beneficiary, to proceed. “Designated beneficiary” here refers to the formal status recognized under article 22 of title 15, not simply anyone named as a beneficiary on a will, insurance policy, or account. Separate provisions address parents of an unmarried person without descendants and permit siblings or their heirs to sue in specified circumstances when the closer categories identified by the statute do not exist.
The second year changes the structure. The spouse may sue, the heir or heirs may sue, or they may sue together. A qualifying designated beneficiary may proceed with the heirs as provided by the statute. If heirs commence the action in the second year, the spouse or qualifying designated beneficiary can move to join within ninety days after service of written notice of the action. Colorado permits only one civil action under the Wrongful Death Act for the death of one person.
Prove the Underlying Wrong.
Death does not eliminate the need to prove the conduct that caused it. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-202, the wrongful-death claim exists when the wrongful act, neglect, or default would have allowed the injured person to maintain an action had death not occurred.
The evidence therefore depends on the event. A fatal car crash on I-70 may require vehicle data, scene evidence, witness testimony, phone records, and reconstruction analysis. A fatal fall on unsafe property may turn on surveillance, inspection practices, maintenance records, and notice. A defective product claim can require preservation of the product and technical evidence about how it failed.
A criminal prosecution is separate. A traffic charge, dismissal, conviction, or acquittal does not by itself decide the civil wrongful-death case. Civil liability is determined under civil law and its burden of proof.
Preserve Two Records.
A wrongful-death case requires evidence about both the event and the person who died.
The first record explains what happened. Vehicles are repaired or destroyed. Surveillance is overwritten. Physical products are discarded. Roadway conditions change. Witness memories fade. Phone data, photographs, electronic vehicle data, incident reports, and other evidence need to be identified before ordinary business and repair processes erase them.
The second record explains what was lost. Tax returns, wage history, employment benefits, retirement contributions, business records, household responsibilities, and evidence of financial support can matter to economic damages. Photographs, messages, calendars, family testimony, and evidence of the relationships the decedent maintained can matter to noneconomic loss. That record is built from an actual life, not from a generic estimate.
Identify Every Coverage Source.
The first liability policy is not necessarily the complete insurance picture. A fatal collision involving an employee can raise questions about commercial coverage and employer liability. A vehicle owner may have separate coverage. Umbrella or excess policies may exist. A dangerous-property case can involve an owner, operator, contractor, or other entity with different insurance.
When death results from a motor-vehicle crash and available liability coverage is insufficient, uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may also matter depending on the policy, the insured relationships, and the circumstances. Auto Insurance and UM/UIM Claims addresses those issues separately and may provide an injured person with additional insurance coverage.
The reason to identify every legally responsible party is not to multiply defendants. It is to determine who caused the death and what resources legally apply before a claim is valued or released.
Releases Require Context.
An insurer may seek to resolve a claim while the family is still determining who has authority to act. Colorado’s sequencing rules make that different from an ordinary injury claim. Before a release is signed, the statutory plaintiffs, any estate representative, the existence of a separate survival claim, and the available insurance should be understood.
Damages can also be difficult to evaluate early. Financial loss is not limited to the income missing from the first few paychecks after death. The record may include expected financial support, employment benefits, services, and other losses extending over years. Noneconomic damages raise a different question: the loss to the people entitled to recover under the statute.
A number presented early can be concrete. The evidence needed to evaluate it may not be.
Death Starts the Clock.
Colorado generally imposes a two-year limitations period on wrongful-death actions. C.R.S. §§ 13-21-204 and 13-80-102(1)(d). Unlike an ordinary injury claim that may accrue when the injury and its cause are known or should be known, C.R.S. § 13-80-108(2) expressly provides that a wrongful-death cause of action accrues on the date of death.
That distinction matters when the person survives the underlying injury for days, weeks, or months. The wrongful-death clock begins with the death, not the earlier accident or injury.
The two-year rule is not universal. C.R.S. § 13-80-102(2) provides a four-year period for a wrongful-death action against a defendant who committed vehicular homicide and, as part of the same criminal episode, left the scene of an accident that resulted in death. Claims involving governmental entities can also carry separate and substantially shorter notice requirements, including the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act’s 182-day written notice provision under C.R.S. § 24-10-109(1), which forever bars the action if it is missed.
Measure the Family’s Loss.
Colorado wrongful-death damages can include economic losses and noneconomic losses. Economic damages can include reasonable final-disposition expenses and the net financial benefit the statutory claimants could reasonably have expected to receive had the decedent lived. Noneconomic damages include grief, loss of companionship, pain and suffering, emotional stress, and related losses recognized by C.R.S. § 13-21-203.
Colorado also limits noneconomic wrongful-death damages by statute under C.R.S. § 13-21-203. The limit is adjusted for inflation on a schedule set by statute, so the figure that applies depends on when the claim accrued. The limit does not apply where the statutory felonious-killing exception is established, and different limits apply to medical-malpractice wrongful-death claims and to claims against public entities.
C.R.S. § 13-21-203.5 creates another option: the eligible claimants may make a written election for the statutory solatium instead of proving noneconomic damages. The solatium is $50,000. It is additional to economic damages and reasonable final-disposition expenses and is awarded upon a finding or admission of liability.
The election gives up the ordinary noneconomic-damages claim in exchange for the statutory amount. Whether that makes sense depends on the evidence, the relationships involved, the liability issues, and the law applicable to the particular death. It is a strategic decision, not a smaller version of the same claim.
Separate the Survival Claim.
Wrongful death and survival are different claims. The wrongful-death action compensates the people identified by the Wrongful Death Act for losses resulting from the death. A survival action under C.R.S. § 13-20-101 preserves the decedent’s own cause of action and may be brought or continued by the personal representative.
In a personal-injury survival action, recoverable damages after the injured person’s death are limited by statute to losses such as earnings and expenses sustained or incurred before death. Section 13-20-101 excludes damages for the decedent’s pain, suffering, disfigurement, and prospective earnings after death. The statute expressly provides that a survival action does not preclude a separate wrongful-death action.
If someone was hospitalized for weeks after a Colorado crash and later died from the injuries, both sets of questions can therefore matter: what losses accrued to the injured person before death, and what losses the death caused to the statutory wrongful-death claimants.
One Case, Direct Counsel.
Rex Legal works through the statutory plaintiffs, liability evidence, insurance, survival issues, and damages as parts of the same case. Michael Rex remains directly involved from evaluation through resolution.
Wrongful Death Questions.
Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in Colorado?
Colorado statute decides who may sue. A surviving spouse has the primary position during the first year after death, subject to written elections that can permit heirs to participate or to proceed without the spouse. If there is no spouse, heirs or a qualifying designated beneficiary may have the right to sue. Separate rules address parents and, in limited circumstances, siblings. The rights change during the second year under C.R.S. § 13-21-201.
What is Colorado’s first-year spouse rule?
During the first year after death, the surviving spouse may bring the wrongful-death action alone. The spouse can make a written election allowing the spouse and heirs to sue together, or allowing the heirs to sue without the spouse. If there is no surviving spouse, the statute provides different rights to heirs and to a qualifying designated beneficiary. The second year expands who may independently bring the action.
What damages are available in a Colorado wrongful death case?
Colorado permits economic and noneconomic damages. Economic losses can include reasonable final-disposition expenses and the net financial benefit the claimants reasonably could have expected from the decedent. Noneconomic damages can include grief, loss of companionship, pain and suffering, and emotional stress. C.R.S. § 13-21-203 limits noneconomic damages in many cases, with separate rules for felonious killings, medical malpractice, and governmental defendants.
What is solatium in a Colorado wrongful death case?
Solatium is a statutory alternative to proving ordinary noneconomic damages. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-203.5, eligible claimants may elect it in writing, and the amount is $50,000. It is awarded upon a finding or admission of wrongful-death liability and is additional to economic damages and reasonable final-disposition expenses. Choosing it replaces the ordinary noneconomic-damages claim, so the election should be evaluated against the evidence rather than treated as automatic.
How long do I have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Colorado?
Most Colorado wrongful-death actions must be filed within two years under C.R.S. §§ 13-21-204 and 13-80-102(1)(d). Under § 13-80-108(2), the claim accrues on the date of death rather than the date of the injury. Exceptions exist, including a four-year period for the vehicular-homicide-and-leaving-the-scene circumstance described in § 13-80-102(2), and separate notice requirements can apply to governmental defendants.
How is a survival action different from a wrongful death claim?
A wrongful-death claim seeks losses suffered by the people Colorado statute authorizes to recover because of the death. A survival action under C.R.S. § 13-20-101 preserves the decedent’s own pre-death claim and is pursued by the personal representative. In a personal-injury survival action, the statute limits recoverable damages after death and excludes the decedent’s pain, suffering, disfigurement, and prospective post-death earnings.
What happens to a wrongful death claim if there is a criminal case?
The civil claim does not require a criminal conviction. A prosecution and a wrongful-death lawsuit are separate proceedings with different legal issues and different burdens of proof, so an acquittal or a dismissal does not by itself end the civil claim. The evidence developed in a criminal case can still be relevant, and the timing of the two proceedings often has to be managed together.
Is there a wrongful death claim if the person died days or weeks after the injury?
There can be. The question is whether the evidence proves that the wrongful act, neglect, or default caused the later death. Colorado’s wrongful-death claim accrues on the date of death under C.R.S. § 13-80-108(2), even when the underlying injury occurred earlier. A separate survival action may also address certain losses the injured person sustained between the injury and death.
Tell Us What Happened.
If a death may have resulted from another person’s or company’s conduct, Michael Rex can review who has the right to bring the claim, what deadlines apply, what evidence remains, and whether a separate survival action exists. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.