Tampa Wrongful Death Lawyer

Quick Summary: Tampa Wrongful Death Lawyer

• Florida law requires the personal representative to bring the wrongful death action.
• The Florida Wrongful Death Act defines which survivors may recover damages.
• Most wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of death.
• Settlement approval may be required when minors or objecting survivors are involved.

Need help understanding your options? Contact Darrigo & Diaz Personal Injury Attorneys.

Life in Tampa can feel steady and familiar. Most Tampa families are focused on work, school, and going home each day. This so-called normal life can change suddenly after a fatal crash on roads across Dale Mabry Highway or Hillsborough Avenue. When someone dies because of another person’s actions while recklessly driving on the road or due to wrongful actions, the loss can feel especially painful and unfair.

Darrigo & Diaz Personal Injury Attorneys helps families in Tampa after the death of a loved one, and we serve communities throughout Hillsborough County, including Brandon and Temple Terrace. A Tampa wrongful death lawyer can explain what options may be available and handle the legal process while you focus on your family.

When the facts make Hillsborough County the proper venue, a case may be filed in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit at the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse.

Florida Law Decides Who May File a Tampa Wrongful Death Claim

One of the harder things to explain to a grieving family is that they usually cannot file the claim themselves. In Florida, a spouse or a parent has no independent right to sue over the death of their loved one. The Florida Wrongful Death Act routes the entire claim through a single person instead.

That single person is the personal representative of the decedent’s estate. Section 768.20 gives the role exclusive authority to sue, with the recovery pursued for the survivors and the estate together. Relatives do not file competing lawsuits, so who takes the role is an early decision that carries weight.

This holds no matter how the death happened. A crash on I-275, a fatal fall at a job site near MacDill Air Force Base, and an error during hospital care all move through the same door. The questions about carelessness are familiar ground for any Tampa personal injury lawyer, but wrongful death adds a second layer about who may sue.

Why Work With a Tampa Wrongful Death Attorney to Appoint a Personal Representative

Very little happens in these cases until a court appoints someone to lead them. That appointment takes place in probate, on a separate track from the claim itself, and it is usually one of the first things we address on a new file.

The Role

The personal representative stands in for everyone with an interest in the claim, filing the lawsuit and speaking for the estate as it moves forward. The position is representative rather than personal. A mother who is appointed is not pursuing only her own losses, as the decedent’s children or parents may also qualify as survivors.

The Appointment

Someone becomes a personal representative by petitioning to open the estate and asking the court to name them. Many Tampa families go through Hillsborough County probate, though the correct court depends on where the decedent lived. The Clerk of Court publishes general guidance on probate and guardianship matters.

A will usually names a preferred person. Without one, Florida law applies an order of preference that starts with the surviving spouse.

The Authority

Letters of administration give the representative legal authority to act. That authority covers hiring counsel and filing suit, and it extends to negotiating a resolution for the estate. Until those letters exist, an insurer has no one it can properly settle with.

The authority carries accountability with it. A representative answers to the court and to every survivor, which is why settlement decisions get documented so carefully.

Which Family Members Count as Survivors Under Florida Law

Florida law does not treat every grieving relative the same way. Sections 768.18 and 768.21 of the State’s law define who qualifies as a survivor and what claims or compensation they may recover. Two people who loved the same person can end up with very different claims.

• Surviving spouse: May recover for lost companionship and protection, plus mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. A spouse may also claim loss of support and services.
• Minor children: The Act counts anyone under 25 as a minor child, regardless of the age of majority. They may recover for lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance, along with their own mental pain and suffering.
• Adult children: Where there is no surviving spouse, all of the decedent’s children may recover in that same category. When a spouse does survive, an adult child’s claim is narrower.
• Parents: A parent of a deceased minor child may recover for mental pain and suffering. Parents of an adult child may recover only when there are no other survivors.
• Dependent relatives and adoptive siblings: Blood relatives and adoptive siblings qualify when they depended on the decedent for support or services.
• Medical negligence restriction: Section 768.21(8) currently prevents adult children, and parents of an adult child, from recovering pain and suffering in medical negligence deaths. Economic losses may still be available.

How the Available Compensation Is Divided Between the Estate and the Family

Families tend to picture a settlement as one number divided equally at the end. Florida splits it instead, separating what belongs to individual survivors from what belongs to the estate. That line is not a technicality, because creditors of the estate can reach one side and not the other.

What Survivors Recover

As discussed in the preceding section, survivor damages are personal. They compensate for the loss of a relationship and cover grief, lost companionship, and the support the decedent would have kept providing.

Not every death is immediate. Some families spend weeks at a bedside first, watching treatment for burns or a serious head injury before the loss becomes final. Those cases carry the medical proof burden found in Tampa catastrophic injury claims, and the records created then often become the heart of the file.

What the Estate Recovers

Estate claims run on a separate track. They include lost earnings from the date of injury to the date of death, plus the net accumulations the estate could reasonably have expected. Medical bills and funeral and burial expenses may be recovered by the estate or by the survivor who paid them.

Awards to the estate are also subject to the claims of creditors who follow the probate rules, while amounts awarded directly to survivors are treated separately.

How Shared Fault Can Affect the Amount

Comparative fault comes up in negligence claims when the defense argues the person who died contributed to what happened. Under Section 768.81, fault charged to a claimant reduces recoverable damages in proportion to that share.

For causes of action accruing on or after March 24, 2023, subsection (6) bars recovery for anyone found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm. That rule does not reach every case. Wrongful death claims based on medical negligence under Chapter 766 fall outside it, and Section 768.81 does not govern intentional torts at all.

Families should also know that a defense reducing one survivor’s recovery does not automatically reduce another survivor’s.

Two Years to File: Deadlines That Shape a Tampa Wrongful Death Lawsuit

The statute of limitations decides whether a claim can be heard at all, and Florida law sets more than one. Which clock applies depends on the legal basis for the claim rather than on how devastating the loss was. That is worth sorting out early, because the answer is not always obvious.

• Most wrongful death actions: Section 95.11(5)(e) generally allows two years from the date of death. The clock starts at the death itself rather than at the injury behind it.
• Medical negligence deaths: A death that follows care at a facility such as Tampa General Hospital may instead fall under Section 95.11(5)(c) and Chapter 766. Those claims carry their own discovery and repose rules, plus a mandatory pre-suit investigation.
• Murder and manslaughter: Section 95.11(11) allows certain actions arising from acts described in sections 782.04 or 782.07 to be commenced at any time. No arrest or conviction has to come first.
• Government defendants: A wrongful death claim against a government agency generally must be presented in writing within two years, and that notice requirement runs alongside the filing deadline.

Difference Between a Criminal Case and a Civil Claim

Some deaths lead to criminal charges. A DUI crash on Kennedy Boulevard is the example most people picture, but the same follows a fatal workplace incident or a death in a care facility under state investigation. The State controls that prosecution, and the family has no say in how it is charged or resolved. Here, prosecutors must establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to prove a criminal charge, while a civil claim like a wrongful death lawsuit is more likely than not.

A wrongful death lawsuit on the other hand is a civil claim and it doesn’t need to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This means that it is a separate civil case with a lower burden of proof. That gap is why an acquittal does not end the civil case.

Where the criminal case does matter is timing. Investigators may hold a vehicle or their file until the prosecution ends, which can stall records requests for months. Families who wait for a verdict sometimes find the civil deadline much closer than they assumed.

How Probate and Court Approval Fit Into a Tampa Settlement

Not every settlement needs a judge’s signature, which surprises families who assume approval is automatic. Section 768.25 requires it while an action is pending in two situations: when a survivor objects to the amount or apportionment, and when the settlement affects a minor or incompetent survivor.

Probate may have a role of its own. Section 733.708 allows a probate court to authorize a compromise involving an estate, depending on how that estate is being administered. Whether one approval applies or both do comes down to the venue and the survivors involved.

Apportionment is where disagreements can arise, since the same settlement may seem fair to one survivor but not to another. As a wrongful death attorney, Nadine Diaz can help families address these competing interests and navigate the court approval process when required. She is a Board Certified Civil Trial Law Specialist by The Florida Bar, a credential earned through substantial trial experience and peer review.

Evidence Worth Holding On After a Wrongful Accident

In the weeks right after a death, paperwork is the last thing any family wants to think about. Evidence keeps its own schedule, though, and some of it disappears before anyone feels ready. Wrongful death lawyers ask for the items below early because a few cannot be recreated later.

• Death certificate and medical records: These establish the cause of death and the treatment that came before it. Hospitals normally need a signed authorization first.
• The crash or incident report: Note which agency responded, because a Tampa Police report reads differently from a Florida Highway Patrol report.
• Employment and income records: Pay stubs, tax returns, and benefit statements support the claim for lost support and future earnings.
• Photographs and video: Scene and vehicle photos are worth taking right away. Nearby camera footage, including at commercial sites like Port Tampa Bay, is often overwritten within weeks.
• Witness contact information: Names and phone numbers gathered now are worth more than statements collected months later, since people move and numbers change.
• Bills, receipts, and insurance paperwork: Keep funeral invoices and anything paid on the decedent’s behalf, and note who paid each one.

Tampa Wrongful Death FAQ

Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in Tampa, FL, and what does the personal representative do?

Only the decedent’s court-appointed personal representative can file a Florida wrongful death action on behalf of eligible survivors and the estate. A wrongful death attorney can help the family with the appointment process and identify a suitable representative.

How long do families in Tampa, FL have to file a wrongful death claim under Florida law?

Most Florida wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of the date of death under Section 95.11(5)(e). Different deadlines may apply to medical negligence, government defendants, and certain intentional acts.

What compensation can surviving family members recover in a Tampa, FL wrongful death case?

Eligible survivors may recover damages such as lost support and services, mental pain and suffering, and lost parental companionship, depending on their relationship to the deceased. The estate may also recover certain damages, including lost earnings, lost net accumulations, and medical and funeral expenses.

Speak With Darrigo & Diaz About Your Family’s Next Steps

Most families reach out with the same handful of questions. They want to know how much time they have left, and what their options look like under Florida law here in Tampa, FL. Those are answerable questions, and our wrongful death law firm can walk you through them in a single conversation.

No one can promise how a claim will turn out, and you should be wary of anyone who does. What we can do is review the facts with you and help you decide on the next step. Call Darrigo & Diaz Personal Injury Attorneys at (813) 774-3341 to speak with a Tampa wrongful death lawyer.