If your family lost someone in Austin because of another person's or company's negligence, you may have a wrongful death claim. Nothing about a lawsuit replaces what was lost. What it can do is provide financial stability and hold the responsible parties accountable.
See our overview of wrongful death cases →
Austin context.
Major Roadways
I-35 (running through central Austin), MoPac (Loop 1), US-183, the SH-130 tollway, and Bee Cave Road.
Local Courts
Travis County Civil District Courts at the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse (1000 Guadalupe St.) and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division.
Trauma Care
Dell Seton Medical Center (Level I trauma), St. David's Medical Center, and the Ascension Seton hospital system.
Why It Matters Here
Austin's freeways were built for a much smaller city and are now notoriously congested. I-35 in particular ranks among the most accident-prone stretches in Texas, and the rapid growth across Travis and Williamson Counties has put added pressure on every major road.
Who can bring a Texas wrongful death claim?
Texas wrongful death law (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §71.004) limits standing to:
- The surviving spouse
- The children of the decedent
- The parents of the decedent
If none of those eligible parties files within three months, the executor or administrator of the estate may do so (unless the eligible family members object). Separately, a survival claim belongs to the estate itself — covering the pain and suffering the decedent experienced before death.
What damages can be recovered?
- Loss of financial support the decedent would have provided
- Loss of household services — childcare, home maintenance, day-to-day work
- Loss of companionship, comfort, and society
- Mental anguish of the surviving family
- Loss of inheritance
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Survival claim damages — the decedent's pre-death medical bills and pain and suffering
- In cases of gross negligence (e.g., drunk driving): punitive damages
The evidence that builds the case.
- The official crash or incident report and any criminal investigation files
- 911 audio, dispatch records, and first-responder statements
- Medical records, autopsy reports, and toxicology
- Surveillance video and dashcam footage — preserved quickly
- For truck cases: ECM data, ELD logs, driver qualification file
- For premises cases: prior incident reports, maintenance records, security footage
- Economic and life-care experts for damages calculations
Texas deadlines.
Two years from the date of death to file (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §16.003). Cases against governmental entities require notice within much shorter windows — sometimes as little as six months. Texas applies modified comparative fault: you can still recover if you were 50% or less at fault. More on comparative fault →
How we work with families.
Wrongful death cases require something different from other personal injury work. The legal questions matter, but so does the way the family is treated through the process. We keep clients informed, we don't push for premature settlement, and we never charge a family a dime unless we recover. Our founder Shawn Barnett has lived through serious injury himself — the recovery, the long road back — and that perspective informs how we treat families who've lost someone they love.