Liability insurers will need to rethink the way they handle wrongful death claims in the wake of the Second District Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Moody v. Bedford, 12 C.D.O.S. 385. The Moody decision complicates the settlement calculus in wrongful death cases.
basics of wrongful death law
California’s wrongful death statute creates a cause of action, unknown at common law, “for the death of a person caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another.” (Code Civ. Proc., §377.60.) The cause of action may be asserted by the decedent’s surviving spouse, domestic partner and children, collectively referred to as the decedent’s “heirs.” Each heir may recover damages representing the pecuniary injury he or she has suffered because of the death.
