Survival Actions vs Wrongful Death Claims in Louisiana
When someone dies because of another party’s negligence in Louisiana, the law actually provides two separate legal claims that can arise from the same fatal incident. Most people have heard of wrongful death claims. Fewer know about survival actions. And almost nobody outside the legal system understands how different they are from each other.
Getting that distinction right matters. Both claims can be pursued simultaneously, and together they often capture the full scope of what a family has lost in ways that neither claim alone can accomplish.
What a Wrongful Death Claim Is
A wrongful death claim belongs to the surviving family members. It compensates them for their own losses resulting from the death of their loved one. The damages in a wrongful death claim aren’t about what the deceased experienced. They’re about what the people left behind have lost and continue to lose.
Under Louisiana law, wrongful death damages can include:
- Loss of love, companionship, and support
- Grief and anguish suffered by surviving family members
- Loss of financial support the deceased would have provided
- Loss of services the deceased performed for the family
- Funeral and burial expenses
Louisiana’s wrongful death statute establishes a specific priority order for who can file the claim. A surviving spouse and children have the primary right to bring the action. If there is no surviving spouse or children, the right passes to parents, and then to siblings. The Louisiana State Legislature maintains the civil code provisions governing wrongful death claims and the order of priority among potential claimants.
What a Survival Action Is
A survival action is fundamentally different. It doesn’t belong to the family members as individuals. It belongs to the deceased person’s estate and is pursued on behalf of what the deceased experienced before they died.
In practical terms, a survival action seeks compensation for the pain and suffering, mental anguish, medical expenses, and lost wages the deceased person experienced between the moment of injury and the moment of death. If the person died instantly, a survival action may have limited value. If they lived for hours, days, or weeks after the accident while suffering serious injuries, the survival action can be substantial.
Palmintier, Thrower, and Treuting Injury Attorneys represents Louisiana families in both wrongful death and survival action claims, helping clients understand what each claim covers and pursue the full compensation both provide.
Why Pursuing Both Matters
The reason these two claims work together so effectively is that they address entirely different losses. A wrongful death claim compensates the family for their grief, their loss of companionship, and the financial impact of losing someone they depended on. A survival action compensates for the suffering the deceased person endured before death.
Neither claim captures everything on its own. A family that pursues only a wrongful death claim may leave significant compensation unrealized if their loved one suffered extensively before passing. A survival action alone doesn’t address the ongoing losses the family continues to experience after the death.
Pursuing both claims simultaneously gives the family the most complete path to accountability and compensation that Louisiana law provides.
Who Has Standing to Pursue Each Claim
The standing rules for survival actions and wrongful death claims aren’t identical, which is another important distinction. Louisiana’s survival action follows the same general priority order as the wrongful death claim, with the surviving spouse and children having the primary right to pursue it, followed by parents and siblings if no spouse or children survive.
One nuance worth understanding is that the survival action is technically an asset of the deceased’s estate that passes to the survivors. That distinction can affect how the proceeds are treated in certain estate and tax contexts, which is one reason having experienced legal guidance from the start matters in these cases.
Louisiana’s Prescriptive Period
Both claims are subject to Louisiana’s one-year prescriptive period, which is the equivalent of a statute of limitations in other states. That means the claims must be filed within one year of the date of death.
One year sounds like adequate time. In practice, it passes quickly when a family is dealing with grief, funeral arrangements, financial disruption, and the practical demands of settling a loved one’s affairs. And building a strong case takes time. Evidence needs to be preserved. Experts need to be engaged. Liability needs to be investigated thoroughly.
Don’t wait until the prescriptive period is almost expired to get legal guidance.
Your Family Deserves the Full Picture
If your family has lost someone due to another party’s negligence in Louisiana, understanding both the wrongful death claim and the survival action gives you a complete picture of what the law provides. Pursuing only one when both are available means your family accepts less than it’s entitled to.
The Port Allen wrongful death lawyer team at Palmintier, Thrower, and Treuting Injury Attorneys can help your family understand both claims, evaluate what each is worth in your specific situation, and pursue the full accountability your loved one deserves.