Fatal drunk driving crashes in CaliforniaYour family has claims beyond the criminal case.

This page is for families who lost someone in a crash caused by a drunk or drugged driver. It covers what the driver's intoxication changes about a death case: punitive damages, insurance, claims against whoever served the alcohol, restitution and victim compensation. The rules every family shares are on our Los Angeles wrongful death lawyer page. The prosecution has its own guide, the criminal case and the civil claim. If your family member survived the crash, our drunk driving accident page covers the injury claim.

Family and estate claims

A death creates two claims. In California, only the people named in Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 can bring a wrongful death claim. They can file it themselves, or the personal representative of the estate can file it on their behalf. Our guide to who can file a wrongful death claim goes through each family relationship.

A survival action is the claim the person who died could have brought if they had lived. It is brought by the personal representative of the estate or, if there is none, by the successor in interest. The estate can still recover the losses the person sustained or incurred before death, such as medical expenses and lost earnings, and any penalties or punitive damages the person could have recovered.

The 2026 survival rule

Except in qualifying elder or dependent adult abuse cases, a survival action filed on or after January 1, 2026 cannot recover damages for the pain, suffering, or disfigurement the person experienced before death. Those damages remain available only in actions filed on or after January 1, 2022, and before January 1, 2026, or granted a trial preference before January 1, 2022 (Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34(b)). Senate Bill 29 (2025), which would have extended the window, was never brought to a vote on the Assembly floor and did not pass by August 31, 2026, the last day for bills to pass in the 2025 to 2026 session. Law checked November 8, 2026. Our guide to survival actions explains the change and what the estate can still recover.

The family's damages

California's jury instruction for the death of an adult, CACI No. 3921, sets out what a wrongful death claim can include. The economic losses are the financial support the person who died would have contributed, the gifts or benefits the family would have expected, funeral and burial expenses, and the reasonable value of the household services that person would have provided. The noneconomic losses are the loss of that person's love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, and moral support, and, where the facts fit, the loss of the enjoyment of sexual relations and the loss of training and guidance. CACI No. 3921 tells the jury not to consider a family member's grief, sorrow, or mental anguish. The law compensates the relationship that was lost, not the pain of losing it. The jury usually returns one amount for all the heirs. The court decides how an award is divided, and it can divide a settlement when the heirs do not agree. What a family recovers depends on its own evidence, and no result is guaranteed.

Those losses are the same whether the driver was drunk or sober. Our guide to damages and how they are divided explains each item and how a court divides the money.

Punitive damages against the driver

Punitive damages against a drunk driver are possible, not automatic. A jury must find, by clear and convincing evidence, that the driver knew the danger and drove anyway. Punitive damages are money meant to punish, on top of the damages that compensate the family. In Taylor v. Superior Court (1979) 24 Cal.3d 890, the California Supreme Court held that driving while intoxicated "may constitute an act of 'malice' under section 3294 if performed under circumstances which disclose a conscious disregard of the probable dangerous consequences." The same opinion said that "ordinarily, routine negligent or even reckless disobedience of traffic laws would not justify an award of punitive damages." Our drunk driving accident page walks through Taylor and the jury instruction.

The felony homicide exception

When someone has died, a second rule applies. Punitive damages are generally not part of a wrongful death award. They may be sought through the estate's survival claim, and Civil Code section 3294(d) allows them where the death resulted from a homicide for which the defendant was convicted of a felony. They require clear and convincing proof of oppression, fraud, or malice, and a public entity is never liable for them. The Judicial Council's jury instructions, CACI Nos. 3921 and 3922, treat subdivision (d) as an exception to the bar on punitive damages in the wrongful death claim itself.

Damages may be recovered pursuant to this section in an action pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 377.10) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure based upon a death which resulted from a homicide for which the defendant has been convicted of a felony, whether or not the decedent died instantly or survived the fatal injury for some period of time.

Civil Code section 3294(d)

The prosecutor decides what to charge, and the criminal court decides whether there is a conviction. Whether a particular conviction meets the words of subdivision (d) is a question a lawyer answers from the court record, so this page does not list charges. The family's claim does not wait for that answer.

Insurance and punitive damages

The drunk driver's insurance still pays the family's compensatory damages up to the policy limits. No insurance pays punitive damages; those come from the driver. In Peterson v. Superior Court (1982) 31 Cal.3d 147, the California Supreme Court held that public policy prohibits an insurer from paying a punitive award. It also held that a drunk driver's conscious disregard of safety is not a "wilful act" that would cancel coverage under Insurance Code section 533, so the compensatory coverage stays in place. A punitive award is collected from the driver personally, which is why what the driver owns matters.

The driver's policy limits

California's minimum auto liability coverage is $30,000 for the injury or death of one person and $60,000 for everyone hurt or killed in one crash, plus $15,000 for property damage, for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025 (Vehicle Code 16056). A policy issued before then kept the old $15,000 and $30,000 limits until it renewed. Usually, all of the family's claims for one person's death share the at-fault driver's per-person limit. Our guide to insurance after a fatal crash covers every policy that can pay.

The family's own coverage

A California auto policy with bodily injury liability coverage includes uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage unless the policyholder deleted or reduced it in writing. Umbrella and excess policies do not have to include it. If the person who died was covered under an auto policy, as the policyholder, a spouse, or a relative living in the same household, the family can bring the wrongful death claim under that policy's uninsured motorist coverage. A relative's own policy pays only if the person who died was covered under it. The uninsured motorist claim has its own deadline: within two years of the crash, not the death, you must sue the uninsured driver, reach a written agreement with your insurer, or start arbitration by certified mail. Our guide to uninsured and underinsured motorist claims explains how that coverage works.

Bars and other alcohol sellers

In California a bar or a host is generally not liable for what an adult guest does after drinking. The exceptions involve minors: a licensed seller who serves, or anyone who sells to, an obviously intoxicated minor, and an adult who knowingly gives alcohol at home to someone under 21. Business and Professions Code section 25602 makes serving an obviously intoxicated person a misdemeanor, but it bars a civil claim against the server for injuries caused by the drinker's intoxication.

Section 25602.1 is the exception for sellers. It allows a claim "by or on behalf of any person who has suffered injury or death" against a licensed seller who sells, furnishes or gives alcohol, and against "any other person who sells" alcohol, to an obviously intoxicated minor, where that sale or service caused the death. In Ennabe v. Manosa (2014) 58 Cal.4th 697, the California Supreme Court explained that an unlicensed person is reached only if a sale occurs, and that a party host who charged an entrance fee could be found to have sold alcohol.

Party hosts and minors

Civil Code section 1714(c) gives a social host the same protection: a host who furnishes alcohol cannot be held legally accountable for the injury or death of a third person resulting from its consumption. Subdivision (d) is the exception. It allows a claim against "a parent, guardian, or another adult who knowingly furnishes alcoholic beverages at his or her residence" to a person the adult knew, or should have known, was under 21. The claim may be brought by the person under 21 "or by a person who was harmed by" that person. Unlike the seller rule, it does not require that the young person was obviously intoxicated.

Restitution in the criminal case

If the driver is convicted, the criminal court orders restitution. Penal Code section 1202.4 counts "the immediate surviving family of the actual victim" as victims. Restitution is ordered for economic losses. The judge sets the amount without regard to the driver's ability to pay. Money actually collected is credited against a civil judgment for the same losses, so it is not paid twice. It does not cover the loss of companionship, which belongs to the civil claim.

When the victim has died, the next of kin have the right to be notified of sentencing, to attend, and to tell the judge their views, and the judge must consider them (Penal Code 1191.1). If the driver is convicted of a felony, the family can also sue that driver within one year after sentencing, when that ends later than the two years (Code of Civil Procedure section 340.3). Our guide to the criminal case and the civil claim covers sentencing, restitution and the evidence a conviction provides.

Victim compensation and funeral costs

The California Victim Compensation Board can help a family after a death caused by a drunk or drugged driver, a hit-and-run driver, a vehicle used on purpose, or certain vehicular manslaughter. It can pay up to $12,818 toward funeral and burial costs, after other sources. Apply within seven years. If the family later recovers money for the same costs, the board must be repaid, and it must be told of a lawsuit within 30 days of filing. The board's own page applies the same 30 days to an insurance claim.

Government Code section 13955(e)(2) lists a death "caused by a person who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage or drug." The person who paid for the funeral applies, not the funeral home. The family members the board can help include a spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild and domestic partner. It does not pay for pain and suffering, and it pays only for costs that other sources do not cover.

Deadlines for the family

Most California wrongful death lawsuits must be filed within two years of the date of death (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). If a city, a county, the State, a school district, a transit agency or another public entity may be responsible, the family must first present a written claim to that entity within six months after the claim accrues, which is usually the date of death (Government Code section 911.2). The lawsuit against the entity then has its own deadline: six months after a written rejection notice is delivered or mailed, or two years from the date the claim accrued if no written notice is given (Government Code section 945.6). Some cases have different periods, including a death caused by a health care provider's professional negligence (Code of Civil Procedure section 340.5) and a claim against the United States (28 U.S.C. section 2401(b)). The dates in any one case should be calculated by a lawyer.

Our guide to the wrongful death statute of limitations lists each deadline with its start date, and our guide to claims against a city or county explains the six month claim.

First steps for the family

• Keep every funeral, burial and medical receipt for the claim and any victim compensation application.
• Write down the collision report number and the agency that investigated. In the City of Los Angeles, LAPD releases a report involving a fatality or an arrest by mail only.
• If charges are filed, note the criminal case number so the family can follow sentencing and restitution.
• Find the auto policy of the person who died and of any relative they lived with, and look for uninsured motorist coverage on the declarations page.
• Decline a recorded statement to the driver's insurer until someone has read the policies.

Our first 48 hours checklist lists the few steps that matter early, and the wrongful death documents checklist says who holds each record and how to ask for it. Terms such as successor in interest and survival action are defined in our wrongful death glossary.

Exceptions and hard cases

• The drunk driver also died. If the person responsible also died, a shorter deadline can apply (Code of Civil Procedure section 366.2). Our guide to insurance after a fatal crash explains who pays.
• The person who died was riding with the drunk driver. The family can still bring a claim, though a jury can reduce a recovery by any share of fault that belonged to the person who died.
• The driver was working. An employer and its insurance may also be involved. Our guide to fatal commercial vehicle crashes covers the company behind the driver.
• A public employee was driving. If a public entity may be responsible, a written claim is due within six months after the claim accrues, usually the date of death (Government Code section 911.2), and the lawsuit deadline then follows Government Code section 945.6. A public entity is never liable for punitive damages.
• The driver was never charged, or was acquitted. The family's civil claim can still go forward on its own evidence.
• The person who died had no insurance. If your loved one was driving without insurance, the family's own wrongful death claim is not barred by Proposition 213 (Horwich v. Superior Court (1999) 21 Cal.4th 272).
• The driver was not impaired, or did not stop. Our guide to fatal car accidents covers the crash itself, and our guide to a fatal hit-and-run covers a driver who did not stop.

Next steps for the family

Nothing on this page has to be decided this week. When you are ready, we start with the date, the place, the criminal case and the policies, and we handle the insurers and the deadlines from there.

Sources cited

• Civil Code section 3294 (punitive damages): California Legislative Information
• Government Code section 818 (no punitive damages against a public entity): California Legislative Information
• Business and Professions Code sections 25602 and 25602.1 (sellers of alcohol)
• Civil Code section 1714 (social hosts): California Legislative Information
• Penal Code section 1202.4 (restitution): California Legislative Information
• Code of Civil Procedure section 340.3 (suit after a felony conviction): California Legislative Information
• Insurance Code section 11580.2 (uninsured motorist coverage): California Legislative Information
• Vehicle Code section 16056 (minimum liability limits): California Legislative Information
• Government Code sections 13955 and 13957 (victim compensation eligibility and the funeral and burial limit)
• California Victim Compensation Board, responsibility for repayment
• Taylor v. Superior Court (1979) 24 Cal.3d 890: SCOCAL
• Peterson v. Superior Court (1982) 31 Cal.3d 147: SCOCAL
• Ennabe v. Manosa (2014) 58 Cal.4th 697: SCOCAL
• Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2026 edition), CACI Nos. 407, 3921 and 3922: PDF