After an injured person dies

By Jacob Alford

When someone dies after a wreck, the family should not have to solve every legal question in the first few days. Start with care for the family, preservation of records and identification of the people who may act. A death changes the claim’s participants and sometimes the claims themselves.

Who may act after someone dies?

Separate the family’s claims from the estate’s claim. Under Texas’s wrongful-death statute, the eligible family beneficiaries are the surviving spouse, children and parents. A sibling or other relative does not qualify merely because that person was close to the deceased. An executor or administrator generally handles claims belonging to the estate.

Make a list of the spouse, children and parents, including children from other relationships, and identify any will, probate filing or existing representative. Do not let the first relative contacted by an insurer sign away everyone’s rights. A power of attorney used during life does not generally continue as authority after death. Before a release, confirm the signer’s legal capacity and whose claims the signature resolves. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §71.004 and Estates Code §751.131.

How are wrongful-death and survival claims different?

A wrongful-death claim addresses eligible family members’ losses from a death caused by the wrongful conduct. A survival claim preserves the injured person’s own claim rather than replacing it with the family’s losses. The two can arise from the same wreck, but they have different claimants and different measures of loss.

The distinction affects the demand, proof, allocation and payment. For example, records of treatment and suffering before death concern a different loss from a surviving spouse’s lost support. Expenses must be assigned correctly rather than counted twice. Ask for a written explanation of which claims are included and how any combined offer is divided. A large single number is not enough to show who will actually receive it. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 71.

Which records and immediate expenses should the family preserve?

Preserve the crash report information, vehicle location, photographs, witness contacts, insurance records and any existing claim correspondence. Ask how to obtain the death certificate, relevant medical records and any medical examiner or autopsy records through the proper office. Keep originals of bills for funeral, burial, transport and other immediate expenses, together with proof of who paid.

Also keep records of earnings, benefits, household work and financial support. Ordinary documents can explain what the person contributed to the family. Assign one trusted person to organize copies and a contact log so grieving relatives are not repeatedly asked for the same information. Do not post sensitive records publicly or surrender the only copy. Who may receive medical records after death is an authority question, not simply a family relationship question. HHS guidance on personal representatives.

What if no estate representative has been appointed?

Preserve evidence and get the representation issue addressed promptly. Appointment of an estate representative may be needed, and an heir’s ability to proceed without one is a narrower question than being related to the deceased. Provide the will, known debts, family information and any probate papers so the correct route can be evaluated.

Do not assume that the absence of a probate case stops every deadline or gives any family member authority to accept a check. A lawyer handling the injury claim may need to coordinate with probate counsel. Ask who is responsible for obtaining authority, who is protecting urgent notices in the meantime, and whether an existing lawsuit needs a substituted party. Estates Code §351.054 addresses suits by personal representatives; the actual estate circumstances matter.

How do the civil claim and any criminal case interact?

The prosecutor handles the criminal case for the state. The family’s civil claim seeks compensation and needs its own evidence, notices and deadlines. A charge or prosecution does not automatically pay the family, and the civil claim should not be left unattended while the criminal case proceeds.

Save the investigating agency, prosecutor’s office, case number and victim-assistance contact. Tell civil counsel about interviews, hearings, restitution requests and any proposed agreement affecting your claim. Some evidence may not be publicly available while an investigation is open; preserve the request and response rather than treating an unavailable record as nonexistent. Coordinate requests so the family does not unknowingly give inconsistent or incomplete information. The crime-related wreck discussion explains the separate insurance, restitution and victim-assistance routes.

What happens to an existing injury claim if the injured person later dies from an unrelated cause?

An unrelated later death does not automatically erase the earlier injury claim. Texas’s survival statute preserves qualifying personal-injury claims even when death has a different cause. It also does not turn that claim into wrongful death from the wreck: a wrongful-death theory requires a causal connection to the death.

Notify the lawyer or insurer promptly, preserve the existing file and identify the estate representative. Any pending lawsuit may require a formal change of parties under Rules 150 and 151. The claimed losses and future-damage calculations may need to change because of the death. Do not accept an offer calculated before death without checking the authority, remaining damages and payment instructions. Texas survival statute and Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.

Attorney reviewed by Jacob Alford · November 11, 2026