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Reviewed by David Gammill, California trial attorney · Last reviewed: September 24, 2026
When a death in Manhattan Beach is caused by another person’s negligence, California law gives specified family members a wrongful death claim, and it gives the estate a separate survival claim. Both carry deadlines. Gammill Law Accident & Injury Lawyers is a South Bay trial firm that represents families in Manhattan Beach and across the South Bay in these cases. The firm has recovered more than $100 million for California clients across verdicts and settlements. Its results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict, a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, and a $12 million whistleblower retaliation verdict; every case is different, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
There is no rush to decide anything today; when it would help, you can request a free case evaluation and we will walk through your options at your pace.
A wrongful death claim is a civil lawsuit brought by the family of a person who died because someone else was negligent, reckless, or acted intentionally. Negligence means a failure to use reasonable care. The claim belongs to the survivors, not to the person who died, and it compensates them for what they lost: financial support, household services, and the person’s love, companionship, comfort, care, and guidance. It does not depend on a criminal case being filed.
California limits who may bring a wrongful death claim. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60, the claim belongs first to the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, the children, and the children of any child who died before the decedent. If none of those people survive, the claim passes to whoever would inherit under California’s intestate succession rules, which usually means parents or siblings. The statute also lets certain financially dependent people file: a putative spouse and that spouse’s children, stepchildren, parents, and a minor who lived in the decedent’s household for the prior 180 days and relied on the decedent for at least half of their support.
All eligible heirs generally join one lawsuit, and the recovery is divided among them. Sorting out who qualifies is one of the first things we do. Our guide to California wrongful death lawsuits and their filing deadline covers the rules in more depth.
A death usually gives rise to two separate claims. The wrongful death claim compensates the family for its own losses. The survival action is different: it is the claim the person who died could have brought if they had lived, and the estate brings it. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.34, the survival action recovers the decedent’s own economic losses before death, such as medical bills and lost wages, and it can recover punitive damages where the conduct qualifies.
One rule changed at the start of this year. For survival actions filed on or after January 1, 2026, the decedent’s own pain and suffering is no longer recoverable, because the temporary window that allowed it under SB 447 closed without extension. Punitive damages, governed by Civil Code § 3294, survive in the survival action where the evidence shows malice, oppression, or fraud, which in a crash case most often means a drunk or grossly reckless driver; they are never guaranteed.
The record that matters most here is the City’s own, and it is about one road. Sepulveda Boulevard is State Route 1 through Manhattan Beach, a six-lane state highway, and the City of Manhattan Beach’s 2026 safety report studies it between Artesia Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue. Caltrans’ 2024 traffic census counted about 58,000 vehicles a day on Sepulveda Boulevard just north of Manhattan Beach Boulevard and about 48,000 at Artesia Boulevard. On that corridor the City’s report found a below-average rate of injury crashes but a far-above-average rate of fatal crashes: 0.41 fatal and injury crashes per million vehicle miles against a statewide 0.50 for similar highways, and 0.084 fatal crashes per million vehicle miles against a statewide 0.013. The report lists a pedestrian killed by a northbound driver at 8th Street in December 2024, a left-turn collision involving a speeding southbound driver at 5th Street in January 2025, and a pedestrian killed by a northbound driver at Ronda Drive in May 2025. A corridor with three fatal crashes in under five years is a small-numbers record, and the rate, not any one year, is what the City’s report emphasizes. These are Sepulveda figures, drawn from the City’s report on that corridor; they describe one road, not the city as a whole.
Who investigates, and who may be responsible, depends on the road. A fatal crash on a Manhattan Beach city street is investigated by the Manhattan Beach Police Department, 420 15th Street, which writes the collision report. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner conducts the death investigation and issues its findings. Because Sepulveda through Manhattan Beach is State Route 1 and part of the state highway system, a death on that corridor can involve Caltrans as well as the driver. The City and Caltrans have identified more than 40 candidate safety measures for Sepulveda; under Government Code § 835, a roadway that a public entity knew was dangerous can be part of a wrongful death case, and the entity may raise an immunity for an approved design, which is why roadway deaths need early investigation. Neither the City nor Caltrans is liable simply because the road is theirs.
The general deadline is two years from the death. If the person was injured on one date and died on a later one, the wrongful death clock runs from the date of death, not the date of the crash. Our plain-English guide to CCP § 335.1, California’s two-year statute of limitations, covers the rule and its narrow exceptions. Courts rarely excuse a missed deadline.
Government cases move much faster. If a public entity may share responsibility, a written claim must be presented to that entity within six months, before any lawsuit can be filed. In Manhattan Beach that entity is the City of Manhattan Beach for city streets, signals, and a City or police vehicle; Caltrans for Sepulveda Boulevard; and the County of Los Angeles only where a county road or county-run facility is involved. If the entity rejects the claim, the lawsuit must be filed within six months of the rejection notice. Our guide to the California government claim deadline walks through the sequence.
Where the case is heard. Most Manhattan Beach wrongful death lawsuits are filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Southwest District, at either the Torrance Courthouse or the Inglewood Courthouse. Manhattan Beach has no courthouse of its own.
The family must prove that the defendant’s negligence caused the death and what the family lost as a result. The evidence is gathered early: the Manhattan Beach Police Department collision report, the Medical Examiner’s findings, scene photographs, vehicle event data, camera footage before it is overwritten, phone records, and witness statements. Where the roadway itself is in issue, the City and Caltrans corridor records become evidence too. Experts often carry the case: an accident reconstructionist, medical witnesses on the cause of death, and an economist to calculate what the family will go without over a lifetime. A police fatal investigation and any criminal prosecution run separately from the civil claim; the civil case can proceed whether or not charges are filed, and it uses a lower standard of proof.
The firm has recovered more than $100 million for California clients across verdicts and settlements. Separately, its results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict in a roadway-danger case against a public entity, returned by a jury after a $10,000 pre-trial offer; every case is different, and that result does not predict the outcome of any Manhattan Beach case. What it shows is that the firm prepares wrongful death cases to be tried.
Our office is on Del Amo Boulevard in Torrance, and our attorneys bring more than 40 years of combined legal experience to every case we take.
We work on a contingency fee: nothing upfront, no hourly bills, and a fee only out of the recovery, under a written contingency fee agreement that complies with California law.
An initial consultation can be held by Zoom video, and we meet families at home or at the hospital when travel is the last thing anyone needs. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 310-750-4149, and nothing about your case moves faster than you want it to.
Two years from the date of death for most claims. If a public entity such as the City of Manhattan Beach or Caltrans may be responsible, a written claim is due to that entity within six months, and the lawsuit deadline then runs from the entity’s response.
The surviving spouse or domestic partner, the children, and the children of a child who died earlier. If none survive, the people who would inherit under intestate succession may file, and certain financially dependent stepchildren, parents, putative spouses, and household minors also qualify under CCP § 377.60.
The claim survives. California follows a pure comparative negligence rule: the recovery is reduced by the decedent’s percentage of fault, never eliminated by it. Insurers exaggerate that share for exactly that reason, and we push back with evidence.
No. A wrongful death claim is a civil case with its own standard of proof, and it proceeds whether or not the district attorney files charges. A death caused by a drinking driver is the usual example: the civil claim goes forward on its own evidence, and an acquittal does not end it.
The wrongful death claim compensates the family for its own losses. The survival action, brought by the estate, recovers the losses the person suffered before death, and can include punitive damages. For survival actions filed on or after January 1, 2026, the decedent’s pain and suffering is not recoverable, because the temporary window that allowed it closed without extension.
Nothing upfront. The fee is a percentage of the recovery, set in a written agreement, and there is no fee if there is no recovery. Our page on what a personal injury lawyer costs explains how the percentage and case expenses work.
We represent families in Manhattan Beach and throughout the South Bay, including Torrance, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Gardena, Inglewood, Carson, Lomita, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. For other Manhattan Beach injury cases, start at our Manhattan Beach personal injury attorney page. Families elsewhere in the South Bay can also start with our Torrance wrongful death page.
When you are ready, we will listen, explain the deadlines that apply to your family, and tell you what a claim would involve. The conversation is free and confidential, and there is no obligation. Call 310-750-4149 any time, or send us a message through our contact page and we will reach out at a time that works for you. There are no upfront legal fees; a fee is collected only if we win.
This page is attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice for any specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes are fact-specific; consult a licensed California attorney about your own circumstances. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
