Lost a Loved One Due to Someone Else's Negligence?

Nothing in this guide is more urgent than your own wellbeing and your family's. Grief doesn't follow a schedule, and the legal process will wait for you to be ready. There are deadlines you'll need to meet — we'll cover those — but none of them require you to act today or this week.

That said, a few practical things become time-sensitive in the weeks after a death. Securing the death certificate, arranging the funeral, and notifying insurance companies all need to happen relatively soon. If your loved one died in an accident, request the police report and any hospital records from the final treatment now, while they're still easily accessible.

If you're overwhelmed and don't know where to start legally, that's okay. Reading this page is a reasonable first step. The rest can happen when you're ready.

A wrongful death claim exists when someone dies because of the wrongful act or omission of another person or entity — and the person who died would have had the right to file a personal injury lawsuit if they had survived (K.S.A. § 60-1901).

In plain terms: if the death was caused by something that would have been grounds for a lawsuit had the person lived, the family can pursue a wrongful death claim instead. The legal theory is the same — negligence, recklessness, or intentional harm — but the claim belongs to the survivors rather than the person who was injured.

Wrongful death claims in Wichita most commonly arise from fatal car, truck, and motorcycle crashes on corridors like Kellogg (US-54), I-135, I-235, and K-96. But they also come from medical errors at Wesley Medical Center and Ascension Via Christi, fatal workplace accidents in Wichita's manufacturing and aviation industry facilities, dangerous property conditions, defective products, and nursing home neglect. The common thread is that someone else's failure caused a death that didn't have to happen.

Kansas's wrongful death statute (K.S.A. § 60-1901) provides that the action may be commenced by any one of the 'heirs at law' of the deceased who has sustained a loss by reason of the death. The claim is brought for the exclusive benefit of all eligible heirs, even if only one family member initiates the lawsuit.

Eligible heirs typically include: the surviving spouse, biological or legally adopted children, and parents (in cases where the deceased has no surviving spouse or children). The priority is based on the intestate succession laws of Kansas.

Unlike some states that require a personal representative or executor to file, Kansas allows any heir at law who has suffered a loss to bring the action. However, any recovery is distributed among all eligible heirs who sustained damages from the death — not just the person who filed.

If multiple family members want to pursue claims, Kansas law requires them to be consolidated. The court won't allow separate lawsuits from different family members over the same death.

The statute of limitations for wrongful death in Kansas is two years from the date of death (K.S.A. § 60-1901). Two years. That's the same timeline as a standard personal injury claim, but families in grief often don't realize how fast two years passes.

For claims against government entities — a city vehicle, a state highway defect, a county employee — the deadlines can be much shorter. Kansas's notice of claim requirements for government entities can impose windows as short as a few months. Miss that window and you may lose the right to sue the government entity entirely.

These deadlines are firm. Kansas courts enforce them even when the claim is strong and the family's loss is devastating. Don't assume you have plenty of time.

Kansas divides wrongful death damages into pecuniary (economic) and non-pecuniary (non-economic) categories (K.S.A. § 60-1903).

Pecuniary damages have no cap. These include the medical expenses from the final injury or illness that led to death, funeral and burial costs, and the lost financial support the deceased would have provided — wages, benefits, pension contributions, and the financial value of household services they performed. Calculating lost future income often requires an economist to project what the person would have earned over the rest of their working life.

Non-pecuniary damages — covering loss of companionship, grief, bereavement, mental anguish, and suffering of the surviving heirs — are capped at $250,000 in the aggregate (K.S.A. § 60-1903). This cap applies to the total non-pecuniary award, not per beneficiary. The court does not instruct the jury about this cap — if the jury awards more than $250,000 in non-pecuniary damages, the judge reduces the judgment to the statutory limit.

Punitive damages may be available in Kansas wrongful death cases where the defendant's conduct was willful, wanton, or reckless. Unlike some states that bar punitive damages in wrongful death, Kansas permits them in appropriate cases, which can significantly increase the total recovery.

Kansas's modified comparative negligence rule (K.S.A. § 60-258a) applies to wrongful death claims. If the deceased person was partially at fault for the incident that killed them, damages are reduced by their percentage of fault.

If a jury awards $800,000 in total damages but finds the deceased was 20% at fault in a fatal crash, the recovery drops to $640,000. If the deceased is found 50% or more at fault, the family recovers nothing. This 50% bar is stricter than the 51% bar used in many other states — at exactly 50/50, the plaintiff gets nothing in Kansas.

This makes the investigation into what happened critically important. Police reports, witness statements, accident reconstruction, toxicology results, and expert testimony all shape the fault determination. The defense will look hard for ways to blame the person who died — because they can't tell their side of the story. Solid evidence and experienced legal representation are what prevent that from happening.

In wrongful death cases, evidence deteriorates quickly. Surveillance camera footage gets overwritten within 30 to 90 days. Witness memories fade. Vehicle damage gets repaired or vehicles get scrapped. Workplace conditions change. Medical records from the final treatment need to be secured before they become harder to access.

Request the police report, the death certificate, and all medical records from the final treatment or hospital stay as soon as possible. If the death resulted from a vehicle crash, ask whether any traffic cameras, dashcam footage, or nearby business security cameras captured the incident.

For workplace deaths, OSHA may investigate and produce a report. For medical malpractice deaths, the hospital's internal review process generates records that may be discoverable. For product-related deaths, preserve the product exactly as it was at the time of the incident.

An attorney can send preservation letters to parties who may hold relevant evidence — insurance companies, employers, hospitals, and government agencies. These letters create a legal obligation to preserve the evidence, preventing destruction or alteration.

Wrongful death cases are among the most complex and high-stakes claims in personal injury law. They involve detailed economic projections, expert testimony, contested liability, and Kansas's specific rules about who can file, what they can recover, and how the money gets distributed.

The at-fault party's insurance company will have lawyers working from day one to minimize the payout. Your family needs someone working just as hard on the other side.

Most wrongful death attorneys in Kansas work on contingency — no upfront cost, and they only collect if the family recovers compensation. A free consultation helps you understand whether you have a viable claim, who should file, which deadlines apply, and what the case might be worth.

There's no right time to call. Some families reach out within days. Others wait months. Both are fine. The critical thing is to be aware of the two-year deadline and not let it expire while you're still deciding.