• Wrongful Death Laws in Arizonacemetary 3 image by sonya etchison from Fotolia.com
  
  A wrongful death claim is a civil action which may be brought by the survivors of a person killed due to negligence on the part of the government, a business, or an individual. Wrongful death actions may be based on a criminal or civil act, and may be filed on behalf of the estate of the decedent.
  
  

Standing

• The preliminary issue when filing a wrongful death claim is determining who has standing to bring a wrongful death claim. Arizona, under ARS 12-612, allows parents, guardians, children, surviving spouses and personal representatives to bring a wrongful death action. Personal representatives of a deceased individual may bring an action because the liability is not extinguished at the death of the victim. Where there are no surviving family or spouses, the personal representative may bring suit in the name of the decedent's estate. Note that if a person initiates an action for personal injury, then subsequently dies during the course of the action, the action survives under ARS 14-3110.
  
  

Compensatory Damages

• Survivors of the deceased may recover the economic losses which are a result of the decedent's passing. Arizona does not look at the future earnings of the decedent when there are beneficiaries. Rather, the measure of damages is the loss of economic support which beneficiaries would have received from the decedent. Where there are no surviving beneficiaries, then the court may look at future earnings minus income tax.
  
  

Punitive Damages

• A decedent's pain and suffering is not recoverable through a wrongful death action in Arizona. Rather, the decedent's survivors may sue to recover their pain and suffering causes by the death of their loved one. The emotional trauma must be grief flowing from the death of the decedent and cannot be based on actions and conduct before the decedent's death.
  
  

Reduction of Damages

• There are factors which will be considered to reduce the amount of damages available in a wrongful death case. Generally speaking, where a decedent was abusive or acted criminally, her death will not receive the same levels of compensation. For example, evidence that a wife has abused her husband may be introduced to reduce damages. Drug abuse problems can be used to show that a woman's death was of no great loss in regards to economic damages (since the woman's income, rather than benefiting the survivors, was used to fund her drug habit).