Under Arizona law, the statute of limitations for a wrongful death lawsuit is set by ARS 12-542(2). This statute gives the deceased person’s linear family members (like a surviving spouse, surviving child, surviving parent, or legal guardian), or the personal representative of the decedent’s estate two years from the cause of action accrues to seek compensation.
Questions can arise about when a wrongful death action accrues, which we address below.
If you need to file a wrongful death lawsuit, please call Stone Rose Law at (480) 631-3025 or use our contact form to get in touch with one of our wrongful death attorneys.
The Arizona wrongful death statute is ARS 12-612. Similar to a personal injury lawsuit, in proving negligence a wrongful death case must establish the legal elements of a legal claim. In Arizona, these elements include all of the following:
For purposes of the wrongful death statute of limitations, the key element above is the third one: specifically, when the defendant’s breach of duty to the deceased person caused that person’s death.
Sometimes the starting date of a wrongful death claim is easy to determine. For example, if your loved one is involved in a fatal car accident and dies at the scene, then the statute of limitations begins on the day of the accident.
Not every case of wrongful death is so simple to calculate. In many cases the deceased person does not die immediately after the causal act by the defendant. In addition, when the death is delayed, questions can arise as to what the true cause of death was.
A well-known example of this kind of uncertainty is a wrongful death lawsuit based on medical malpractice or hospital negligence, like a misdiagnosis, prescribing the wrong kind of medication, hospital infection, or surgical error.
There are a few ways by which the regular two-year Arizona statute of limitations for wrongful death can be extended.
Sometimes a family member might die from a wrongful death event, but at the time of death, the wrongful death causation is not immediately apparent. Again, this is something that can happen in cases of medical malpractice.
The “discovery rule” allows a plaintiff family member to effectively extend the wrongful death statute of limitations beyond two years after the date of death if it takes longer to reasonably discover the true cause of death. If this is the case, then the two-year time limit begins on the date when you could have reasonably made that discovery.
If the responsible party for your loved one’s death fraudulently conceals evidence of that person’s responsibility for the death, the statute of limitations can be tolled until you discover that fraudulent concealment.
If the defendant leaves the state of Arizona during the two-year statute of limitations, then the limitation period tolls until the defendant returns.
For a minor plaintiff, the wrongful death statute of limitations can toll until that person reaches the legal age of adulthood (18 years old).
Under Arizona’s legal system, public entities in Arizona are not subject to the same two-year statute of limitations that individuals and legal entities are. Instead, if a public entity like a school district or a government agency is the responsible party, then you will have only 180 days within which to file a Notice of Claim that complies with the Arizona notice of claim statute.
Once you have filed this notice, the public agency will have 60 days to accept or reject your notice of claim against it. If it rejects the claim, or takes no action within those 60 days, then you can file a wrongful death lawsuit against the public entity but you have only one year to do so.
If you miss the wrongful death statute of limitations, then unless you have a way to extend it, you will lose your right to file a wrongful death lawsuit. If you file suit after the expiration of the statute of limitations, then the court will almost certainly grant the defendant’s summary motion to dismiss the claim.
Because you have only a limited period of time to file a wrongful death claim in an Arizona court, if you believe that the death of an immediate family member was due to the negligent, reckless, or intentional actions of someone else, you should not hesitate to consult with a wrongful death attorney.
This is especially true if you believe that a public entity is wholly or partly the at-fault party in causing the wrongful death.
Your wrongful death lawyer will need to do a thorough factual investigation of the circumstances of your loved one’s death, including gathering medical records, obtaining witness statements, calculating lost income and the value of lost household services, and providing proof of burial expenses.
This will take time to complete.
The longer you wait to talk with an attorney, the less time your attorney will have to complete this investigation.
A wrongful death settlement can never make up for the loss of your loved one, but it can help provide your family with financial support through a negotiated settlement or, if necessary, by a wrongful death suit.
At Stone Rose Law, our wrongful death attorneys are well versed in Arizona’s wrongful death law and with helping surviving family members of wrongful death victims. We can help you evaluate your legal rights to recover damages in a free initial consultation, and on a contingency fee basis help you pursue justice for your deceased loved one if you have a claim.
Call us at (480) 631-3025 or contact us online so you can consult with a wrongful death attorney. Remember, you may only have 180 days to make an Arizona wrongful death claim, so don’t wait to contact us for a free consultation.
