New York Wrongful Death Lawyer

Reviewed by John F. Harwick, Managing Partner, Hacker Murphy LLP. Admitted in New York and in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Western, and Southern Districts of New York. Last updated September 17, 2026.

New York gives a family two years from the date of death to bring a wrongful death claim, and only the estate’s personal representative can file it. What New York allows the family to recover is narrower than most people expect: the statute compensates economic loss, not grief.

If you are reading this soon after losing someone, the practical steps below matter more than anything else on this page. Hacker Murphy represents families across New York State from offices in Albany, Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs. Call 518-274-5820 whenever you are ready.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in New York

Not the family directly. EPTL § 5-4.1 provides that “the personal representative, duly appointed in this state or any other jurisdiction, of a decedent who is survived by distributees may maintain an action.” The personal representative brings it on the distributees’ behalf.

Two practical consequences follow.

Someone has to be appointed first. If no executor or administrator has been appointed, the Surrogate’s Court in the county where your loved one lived has to issue letters before the lawsuit can be filed. That process takes time, and it runs inside the same two-year window as the lawsuit itself. This is the most common reason a family discovers they are closer to the deadline than they thought.

There must be distributees. These are the people who would inherit under New York’s intestacy rules, typically a spouse, children, or parents. The recovery belongs to them, not to the estate’s creditors in the ordinary sense, and it is distributed according to each person’s actual economic loss rather than in equal shares.

What New York Allows a Family to Recover

This is the part families are most often surprised by, and it is better to know it early than to learn it during a deposition.

EPTL § 5-4.3(a) sets the measure of damages as “fair and just compensation for the pecuniary injuries resulting from the decedent’s death.” Pecuniary means economic. New York’s wrongful death statute compensates what the family lost in money and services, not what they lost in a person.

Recoverable under the wrongful death claim:

Medical expenses from the final injury or illness
Funeral and burial expenses
The financial support your loved one would have provided
The value of household services they performed
The value of parental guidance and nurture lost by a child
Loss of inheritance the family would reasonably have received

Not recoverable under the wrongful death claim: grief, emotional anguish, loss of companionship, or the loss of the relationship itself. New York is among a small number of states that still exclude these, and it is the reason a beloved retiree’s case can be valued lower than a young earner’s under the same facts.

Interest runs from the date of death

Rarely mentioned and worth knowing. The same section provides that “interest upon the principal sum recovered by the plaintiff from the date of the decedent’s death shall be added to and be a part of the total sum awarded.” For a case that takes years to resolve, that interest is a real component of the recovery, and it is not discretionary.

Punitive damages are available in some cases

EPTL § 5-4.3(b) provides that where the death occurred on or after September 1, 1982, “in addition to damages and expenses recoverable under paragraph (a) above, punitive damages may be awarded if such damages would have been recoverable had the decedent survived.” Where the conduct was reckless rather than merely careless, this can matter considerably.

The Grieving Families Act Has Not Become Law

Families researching this topic encounter a great deal of confusion, including from AI summaries, so it is worth stating plainly.

The Grieving Families Act would amend EPTL § 5-4.3 to allow recovery for grief, anguish, and loss of companionship. It has never been signed into law. The Legislature has passed a version four times and the Governor has vetoed it each time: January 2023, December 2023, December 2024, and most recently December 5, 2025, when S4423/A6063 was vetoed for the fourth consecutive year.

A fifth attempt is pending. Senate Bill S10171, sponsored by Senator Cordell Cleare, was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 4, 2026. As of the date at the top of this page it remains in committee. It has not passed either house and has not been delivered to the Governor.

The practical upshot: New York wrongful death damages are still limited to pecuniary loss. Any source telling you otherwise is describing a bill, not the law. The statute’s own text on the Legislature’s website still carries a revision date of 2014.

The Survival Action Is Where Pain and Suffering Lives

Here is what the pecuniary-only rule does not take away, and what many families are never told about.

New York recognizes a second, separate claim. EPTL § 11-3.2 provides that “no cause of action for injury to person or property is lost because of the death of the person in whose favor the cause of action existed.” This is the survival action. It belongs to the estate, and it compensates what your loved one experienced between the injury and their death.

That includes their conscious pain and suffering, their fear and awareness in the time before death, and their own economic losses in that period.

The distinction matters enormously in practice:

	Wrongful death claim	Survival action
Whose loss	The distributees’ economic loss	The decedent’s own suffering
Governed by	EPTL § 5-4.1 and § 5-4.3	EPTL § 11-3.2
Covers pain and suffering	No	Yes
Deadline	2 years from death	Generally 3 years from the injury (2 years 6 months if based on medical malpractice)
Who receives it	Distributees by economic loss	The estate, then by the will or intestacy

Where a person survived a crash by hours or days, or was aware of an impending impact, the survival action can be the larger part of the case. Proving conscious awareness requires medical records, first responder accounts, and sometimes witness testimony about what the person said or did, all of which are easier to gather while memories are fresh.

Most wrongful death cases in New York are brought as both claims together.

Deadlines That Control a New York Wrongful Death Claim

What	Deadline	Source
Wrongful death lawsuit	2 years from the date of death	EPTL § 5-4.1
Survival action for the decedent’s injuries	Generally 3 years from the injury (2 years 6 months if based on medical malpractice)	CPLR § 214(5)
Notice of claim against a municipality or public entity	Generally 90 days	General Municipal Law § 50-e
Medical malpractice underlying the death	2 years 6 months	CPLR § 214-a
Appointment of a personal representative	No fixed deadline, but must precede filing	Surrogate’s Court

The two-year period is shorter than the three years that applies to most injury claims, and the appointment process sits inside it. If a public entity was involved, the 90-day notice comes first and controls everything.

If Your Loved One Was Partly at Fault

In most New York cases, a loved one’s share of fault reduces the recovery rather than barring it. A 2026 amendment to CPLR § 1411 changed that calculus for claims tied to motor vehicle crashes, so fault allocation is now worth reviewing with an attorney early rather than assuming either outcome.

What has not changed is that partial responsibility is rarely the end of a claim, and that the fault question is decided on evidence rather than on an insurer’s first characterization of events.

How the Money Is Divided

Wrongful death proceeds do not pass under the will. They are distributed among the distributees in proportion to the economic loss each person actually suffered, which is a separate determination and sometimes a contested one. A surviving spouse and a financially independent adult child may receive very different shares.

Survival action proceeds are different. Those belong to the estate and pass under the will, or by intestacy if there is no will.

Where the distributees include a minor, the Surrogate’s Court must approve the allocation. Families are sometimes surprised to learn these are two separate pots of money with two separate distribution rules.

What Is a New York Wrongful Death Case Worth?

There is no typical payout, and a page that quotes one is not describing your case. New York does not publish settlement data, and wrongful death values turn on facts that vary enormously.

What actually determines value here:

The decedent’s earnings and remaining work life, since the statute measures economic loss
Who depended on them, and how much
Whether a survival claim exists, which is where pain and suffering enters
Available insurance, often the practical ceiling
Comparative fault, as discussed above
Whether the conduct supports punitive damages under § 5-4.3(b)
Interest from the date of death, which compounds over a long case

The honest answer is that no responsible lawyer will value a wrongful death case before reviewing the medical records, the earnings history, and the available coverage.

Cases We Handle

We bring wrongful death and survival claims arising from:

The underlying liability theory is usually negligence or medical malpractice, which have their own elements and their own proof problems depending on how the death occurred.

Wrongful Death Claims Across New York State

A wrongful death action is typically filed in the Supreme Court of the county where the death occurred or where the plaintiff resides, while the appointment of the personal representative happens in Surrogate’s Court, usually in the county where your loved one lived. The two proceedings run in parallel and both matter.

For families whose loss came from a crash, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles reported on December 23, 2025 that traffic fatalities statewide fell from 766 between January and October in 2024 to 681 during the same period in 2025, with upstate New York accounting for most of the decline.

Our four offices sit in Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady, and Saratoga counties:

A full list is on our areas we serve page.

Frequently Asked Questions About New York Wrongful Death Claims

Who can bring a wrongful death claim in New York?

Only the personal representative of the estate, appointed by Surrogate’s Court. Under EPTL § 5-4.1, that representative maintains the action on behalf of the decedent’s distributees, meaning the people who would inherit under New York’s intestacy rules. Family members cannot file individually.

How long do I have to file?

Two years from the date of death under EPTL § 5-4.1. That is shorter than the three years for most injury claims, and the appointment of a personal representative has to happen inside that window. If a municipality or public entity is involved, a notice of claim is generally required within 90 days.

Can I recover for my grief?

Not under the wrongful death claim. EPTL § 5-4.3(a) limits those damages to “pecuniary injuries,” which means economic loss. A separate survival action under EPTL § 11-3.2 can recover the conscious pain and suffering your loved one experienced before death, and most cases bring both claims together.

Did the Grieving Families Act pass?

No. It has been vetoed four times, most recently on December 5, 2025. A fifth version, S10171, was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 4, 2026 and remains there. It has not passed either house. New York wrongful death damages are still limited to pecuniary loss.

What is a survival action?

A separate claim belonging to the estate for what your loved one suffered between the injury and death, including conscious pain and suffering. It comes from EPTL § 11-3.2 and generally carries a three-year deadline from the injury rather than two years from death. If the survival action is based on underlying medical malpractice, the deadline is two years and six months.

How much is a wrongful death case worth in New York?

There is no typical figure. Value depends on many factors such as the decedent’s earnings and remaining work life, who depended on them financially, whether a survival claim exists, the available insurance, comparative fault, and whether punitive damages apply. Interest from the date of death is added under EPTL § 5-4.3(a).

Can the family recover punitive damages?

Sometimes. EPTL § 5-4.3(b) allows punitive damages for deaths on or after September 1, 1982, where they would have been recoverable had the decedent survived. This generally requires conduct beyond ordinary carelessness.

How is the money divided among family members?

Wrongful death proceeds are distributed among the distributees in proportion to each person’s actual economic loss, not equally and not under the will. Survival action proceeds belong to the estate and pass under the will or by intestacy. Where a minor is involved, Surrogate’s Court approval is required.

What if my loved one was partly at fault?

In most New York cases a share of fault reduces the recovery rather than barring it. A 2026 amendment to CPLR § 1411 changed that calculus for claims tied to motor vehicle crashes, so this is worth reviewing with an attorney early rather than assuming the answer either way.

What does a wrongful death lawyer cost?

Hacker Murphy handles wrongful death cases on a contingency fee. There is no attorney fee unless there is a recovery, and the consultation is free. The firm advances case expenses, and the written retainer agreement sets out in advance how those expenses are handled if the case does not result in a recovery.

Talk to a New York Wrongful Death Lawyer

You do not need to have the estate opened, or the paperwork gathered, or the decision made about whether to bring a claim. A first conversation costs nothing and can tell you which deadlines are actually running.

Call 518-274-5820 or use our contact form. Consultations are free and we handle wrongful death cases on a contingency fee basis.

Hacker Murphy LLP

Troy: 64 2nd Street, Suite 101, Troy, NY 12180
Albany: 22 Corporate Woods Blvd., Suite 404, Albany, NY 12211
Schenectady: 670 Franklin Street, Suite 200, Schenectady, NY 12305
Saratoga Springs: 511 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Phone: 518-274-5820

See our personal injury practice and case results.

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