Common Questions / Wrongful Death
What is the deadline for a wrongful death claim in Texas?
Generally two years from the date of death, not the date of the injury that caused it. But the survival claim rides the deceased's own clock, minors' claims carry their own tolling, medical negligence deaths follow a harsher rule, and government defendants impose notice deadlines measured in months, so the honest answer is: have yours calculated.
The general rule, and why the date of death matters
Texas gives the wrongful death beneficiaries, spouse, children, parents, two years from the day of death to file. When death is immediate, the calculation is simple. When a loved one survives the injury for weeks or months before dying, the death date controls the wrongful death clock, which quietly extends the family's time, while the estate's survival claim, the case the deceased personally held, is measured by the deceased's own limitations period, running from the injury. That split matters at the edge: a survival claim that had already expired before death stays expired, one reason a person's own diligence during a long hospitalization can protect the family's later case, and one more reason these deadlines deserve calculation rather than assumption.
The exceptions that shorten, and the one that extends
Three variations do real work. Minor children of the deceased benefit from tolling: courts have recognized that a child's own wrongful death claim can be preserved during minority, though the adults' claims run on the ordinary clock, so a family cannot wait on the children's protection. Government defendants compress everything: claims against Texas cities, counties, and state entities carry statutory and charter notice requirements measured in months, sometimes mere weeks, covered on the government-claims page and fatal to late files. And medical negligence deaths follow the harshest rule of all: courts apply the malpractice limitations period, which runs from the negligent act or omission, not from the death, meaning the clock can be substantially spent, or gone, before the family ever knew there was a case. If medicine touched the death, the analysis belongs in a lawyer's hands immediately.
The deadline is the outer wall. The evidence never waits for it.
Two years describes when a courthouse door closes, not when a case can still be built well. The scene evidence, the vehicle data, the surveillance loops, the witnesses' memories, the toxicology, all of it decays on the schedules described throughout this site, in days and weeks, and a wrongful death case investigated at month twenty is an archaeology project. Families in grief should be spared urgency theater, and this page will not perform any; the practical truth is simply that preserving the evidence early is what keeps every option open for whenever the family is ready to decide.
Getting the dates right, gently
Bring what you know, the dates, the providers, the entities involved, and let the deadlines be mapped precisely, including the traps this page can only flag. Silver Key Law does that calculation in a free, private consultation, at the family's pace.
Injured in Arizona? Some rules on this page are Texas-specific. Arizona differs on points that change outcomes, including pure comparative fault and government-claim deadlines. See our Arizona answers or call (888) 508-6967.
Related: Who Can File Wrongful Death · Wrongful Death vs. Survival Claims · Submit Your Case · All Common Questions
This page is general information about Texas law, not legal advice about your specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes depend on facts; talk to a lawyer about yours.
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