When someone dies because of another person’s negligence, the surviving family is left with a loss that reaches far beyond immediate financial expenses. You may be grieving while also dealing with funeral arrangements, lost household income, insurance questions, and uncertainty about how your family will manage without the support your loved one provided.
Demas Law Group, P.C. represents families in Stockton and throughout Northern California after preventable deaths. Our wrongful death attorneys can investigate what led to the fatal incident, preserve evidence, communicate with insurers and responsible parties, and pursue the compensation California law makes available to qualifying survivors.
We recognize that legal action cannot restore what your family has lost. Our goal is to handle the legal responsibilities with care while giving you clear information, protecting your rights, and pursuing accountability for the conduct that caused your loved one’s death.
Did you lose a family member because of someone else’s negligence? Contact a Stockton wrongful death lawyer at Demas Law Group, P.C. Call (916) 444-0100 for a free consultation. There are no upfront attorney fees, and you pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for your family.
How Our Stockton Wrongful Death Lawyers Can Help Your Family
The days and weeks following an unexpected death can be overwhelming. While your family is grieving, insurance companies and other parties may already be investigating the incident, obtaining statements, reviewing evidence, and preparing their response to a potential claim.
Our attorneys can take responsibility for the legal work and allow your family to focus on each other. Depending on what happened, we can:
- Investigate the cause of your loved one’s death — We examine the circumstances and conduct that resulted in your loved one’s fatal injuries.
- Secure important evidence — We gather available records, photographs, videos, witness statements, and other information before it is lost.
- Determine who may be responsible — We investigate the individuals, companies, or entities whose conduct contributed to the death.
- Communicate with insurance companies — We manage insurer communications and negotiations on your family’s behalf.
- Calculate economic losses — We evaluate lost earnings, household contributions, funeral costs, and other financial consequences.
- Document personal losses — We present evidence of the companionship, guidance, care, and support your loved one provided.
- Bring in appropriate experts — We can consult reconstruction specialists, economists, medical professionals, and other experts when needed.
- Prepare for litigation — We build serious wrongful death claims with the possibility of trial in mind from the beginning.
No two families experience a loss in exactly the same way. We learn about your loved one’s role within your household and the relationships they shared with surviving family members so we can present the consequences of their death accurately.
Financial concerns should not prevent your family from seeking legal guidance. Demas Law Group handles wrongful death claims on a contingency fee basis, which means our attorney fee depends on successfully obtaining compensation for you.
Why Choose Demas Law Group for Your Stockton Wrongful Death Claim
Wrongful death claims can involve significant financial and personal losses, making them especially likely to face close scrutiny from insurers and defendants. Your family deserves attorneys who can prepare the case thoroughly while recognizing the deeply personal circumstances behind it.
Demas Law Group brings more than 30 years of personal injury experience to families across Northern California. We combine careful case preparation with direct communication and the resources to pursue complex claims through litigation when necessary.
- More than 30 years of experience — Decades spent representing injured Californians and families after preventable deaths.
- Significant wrongful death recoveries — Our case history includes multimillion-dollar results for grieving families.
- Insurance defense insight — Former insurance defense attorneys understand how insurers investigate and challenge substantial claims.
- Qualified expert resources — We can work with investigators, economists, reconstruction specialists, and other professionals.
- Personalized representation — We learn about your loved one and the particular losses your family has experienced.
- Multilingual assistance — Our team can serve clients in English, Spanish, Greek, Filipino, and Polish.
- Ready for trial — We prepare to litigate when defendants or insurers refuse an appropriate resolution.
- No attorney fees unless we win — Your family does not pay attorney fees upfront.
We understand that you may want answers without allowing a legal case to dominate your family’s life. Our attorneys manage the investigation, paperwork, insurance communications, and negotiations while keeping you informed about important developments.
If responsibility or damages are contested, we can continue developing the evidence necessary for trial. Every decision we make is guided by the circumstances of your case and the losses your family has experienced.
Significant Wrongful Death Results for California Families
Demas Law Group has pursued substantial recoveries for families after fatal motor vehicle accidents and other preventable incidents. Representative results include:
- $32.16 million verdict in a wrongful death case brought by children who lost their father after a pedestrian collision.
- $9.75 million settlement for parents whose 9-month-old infant died following a freeway collision involving an unmarked police vehicle.
- $5 million settlement for a family after a fatal collision involving a tractor-trailer entering an intersection.
Past results do not guarantee the outcome of a future claim. Every wrongful death case is different, and its value and outcome depend on the evidence, damages, responsible parties, insurance coverage, and other individual circumstances.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Stockton, CA?
Not every relative or person who was close to the deceased has legal standing to bring a California wrongful death action. California Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60 establishes who may qualify to pursue the claim.
Depending on the family situation, eligible parties may include:
- The deceased person’s surviving spouse
- The deceased person’s surviving domestic partner
- The deceased person’s children
- Certain descendants of a deceased child
- Individuals entitled to inherit through California intestate succession when applicable
- Certain other people who satisfy specific statutory requirements
Determining eligibility can require closer examination when the deceased had a blended family, unmarried partner, stepchildren, or other complicated family relationships. Questions can also arise when there is no surviving spouse, domestic partner, or child.
Our attorneys can examine your family circumstances and explain who may have the right to participate in the wrongful death action.
Wrongful Death Claims and Survival Actions Are Different
A wrongful death claim and a survival action may both result from the same fatal incident, but they belong to different parties and address different types of losses.
A wrongful death claim focuses on the losses experienced by eligible survivors. Depending on the circumstances, these can include lost financial support as well as the loss of companionship, love, care, assistance, protection, and guidance.
A survival action addresses certain claims the deceased person could have pursued if they had lived. Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 377.30, the decedent’s personal representative or, when applicable, successor in interest generally has authority to bring this type of action.
Some fatal accidents can support both claims. We can determine which causes of action may apply, who is entitled to bring them, and how they should be pursued.
Wrongful Death Claims Involving the Death of a Child
Losing a child is an immeasurable loss. Parents may be searching for answers about how the death happened while trying to process a future that has changed permanently.
California law permits qualifying survivors to pursue certain damages following the wrongful death of a child. Depending on the case, compensation may include:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Loss of love and affection
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of comfort and care
- Loss of assistance and protection
- Loss of society
- Loss of moral support
Demas Law Group has represented parents through this extraordinarily difficult type of case. In one significant matter, the firm represented the parents of a 9-month-old infant who died after an unmarked City of Sacramento police vehicle struck stopped freeway traffic at nearly 65 mph. Following years of disputed litigation, the case reached trial and resolved for $9.75 million.
There is no financial recovery that can compensate parents fully for losing a child. For families who decide to pursue a wrongful death case, legal action can provide an avenue for investigating the circumstances, seeking accountability, and pursuing the remedies California law provides.
Common Types of Wrongful Death Accidents We Handle in Stockton
Wrongful death claims can arise from many different circumstances. The central issue is whether negligent or otherwise wrongful conduct caused injuries that resulted in another person’s death.
Our attorneys can investigate fatal accidents involving:
- Car accidents resulting from distraction, speeding, impairment, unsafe turns, or other negligent conduct.
- Truck accidents involving commercial vehicles, negligent drivers, trucking companies, or unsafe operations.
- Motorcycle accidents caused by motorists who fail to yield or safely account for riders.
- Pedestrian accidents involving drivers who strike people at intersections, crosswalks, parking areas, or roadways.
- Bicycle accidents caused by dangerous passing, turning, distraction, or failure to yield.
- Dangerous property conditions that expose visitors or residents to hazards capable of causing fatal injuries.
- Defective products involving unsafe design, manufacturing defects, or other dangerous product conditions.
How we investigate the case depends on what caused the death. A fatal commercial truck accident, for example, may require very different evidence from a defective product or dangerous property claim.
Some incidents also involve more than one responsible person or business. We examine the evidence carefully to determine what caused the death and whose conduct may provide grounds for a wrongful death action.
Compensation We May Be Able to Recover After the Loss of a Family Member
Wrongful death damages cannot place a true monetary value on a person’s life. They are intended instead to compensate eligible survivors for certain financial and personal losses resulting from their loved one’s death.
Depending on the circumstances, economic damages may include:
- Lost financial support
- Funeral expenses
- Burial expenses
- Loss of household services
- Loss of expected gifts or benefits
Non-economic damages may include:
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of love and affection
- Loss of comfort
- Loss of care
- Loss of assistance
- Loss of protection
- Loss of moral support
- Loss of guidance and training
- Loss of consortium for a qualifying spouse or partner
The amount of compensation available depends on the individual circumstances of the family and the deceased person. Earnings, expected financial contributions, age, household responsibilities, relationships with survivors, and other relevant factors may all affect the damages analysis.
We work to document both the tangible and personal support your loved one contributed to the family so the claim reflects the extent of the loss you have experienced.
