Wrongful death cases in Louisiana are among the most legally precise claims in the personal injury system. Two separate statutes apply. Standing to file depends on a strict priority hierarchy. The deadline changed in 2024. Our wrongful death questions page addresses the most common concerns families bring to a first consultation.
Morris & Dewett has handled these cases for over 25 years.
Wrongful Death and Survival Actions Under Louisiana Law
Wrongful Death Action
A claim under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 brought by surviving family members (spouse, children, parents, siblings) to recover their own damages from the death, including loss of financial support, loss of companionship, and funeral costs.
Two separate Louisiana statutes govern wrongful death cases. The Wrongful Death Action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 covers the family’s claim. La. C.C. Art. 2315.1 covers the decedent’s own claim, passed to survivors. They are not the same claim, and they do not recover the same damages.
Survival Action
A claim under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1 that recovers damages for the victim’s own pain and suffering between the moment of injury and the moment of death. It is separate from the wrongful death action and can be filed alongside it.
The wrongful death action belongs to the surviving family members. It compensates them for what they lost because of the death: financial support, companionship, services. The survival action is different. It recovers what the decedent could have claimed had they lived: their own pain and suffering, medical bills, and lost wages between the injury and death.
Both actions can be filed simultaneously in a single lawsuit. They proceed in the same court, under the same docket, with shared evidence. Filing both matters because each recovers categories the other does not reach.
In Shreveport, wrongful death cases commonly arise from crashes on the I-20 and I-49 freight corridors, head-on and intersection collisions along Youree Drive, and commercial truck wrecks moving through Caddo Parish. Louisiana big truck injury lawyers handle fatal commercial vehicle claims across the state. Medical negligence cases involving Caddo Parish hospitals are also a source of wrongful death claims. Car accidents on I-20, I-49, and Youree Drive remain the most frequent cause of fatal injury claims in the parish. Learn more about Shreveport injury claims and the Louisiana wrongful death claim framework.
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Get directions →Who Can File: Louisiana’s Priority Order for Wrongful Death Claims
La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 sets a strict priority hierarchy. Not everyone with a relationship to the deceased has standing to file. The classes are exclusive: if a higher-priority class exists, the lower classes cannot file at all.
The priority order is:
Class 1 (highest priority): the surviving spouse and children of the deceased. If a surviving spouse or any children exist, no other class may file.
Class 2: surviving parents of the deceased. They may file only if no Class 1 claimants exist.
Class 3: surviving siblings. They may file only if no Class 1 or Class 2 claimants exist.
Class 4: surviving grandparents. They may file only if no Class 1, 2, or 3 claimants exist.
This is not an estate claim. The wrongful death action does not pass through probate. It belongs directly to the eligible survivors, not to the deceased’s estate. Survival action claimants follow the same priority hierarchy under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1.
Morris & Dewett’s intake process identifies which class each claimant belongs to and confirms whether a higher-priority class exists that would bar the claim before anyone signs anything. If standing is unclear, we tell you that plainly.
What We Handle
Shreveport Practice Areas
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Car Accidents Rear-end, intersection, and highway collisions across Louisiana. -
Truck Accidents 18-wheeler and commercial-vehicle wrecks governed by federal trucking rules. -
Motorcycle Accidents Serious-injury motorcycle crashes where bias against riders is common. -
Pedestrian Accidents Crosswalk and roadway pedestrian injuries with high-stakes liability. -
Bicycle Accidents Cyclists struck by drivers who failed to share the road. -
Bus Accidents Transit, school, and charter-bus crashes involving public and private carriers. -
Slip & Fall Falls caused by wet floors, poor maintenance, and hidden hazards. -
Catastrophic Injury Brain, spinal-cord, amputation, and severe-burn injuries that change a life. -
Wrongful Death Claims brought by families after a fatal accident or act of negligence. -
Construction Accidents Falls, struck-by, and equipment injuries on the job site. -
Oilfield Accidents Drilling, pipeline, and refinery injuries across the energy sector. -
Workers' Compensation On-the-job injuries and the benefits owed to injured workers. -
Nursing Home Abuse Neglect and abuse of residents in long-term-care facilities.
What Damages Does Louisiana Law Allow in Wrongful Death and Survival Actions?
Wrongful Death Damages (La. C.C. Art. 2315.2)
Wrongful death damages compensate surviving family members for their own losses. They do not compensate the deceased’s estate; they compensate the people left behind.
Loss of love and affection covers the emotional loss of the relationship. It has no formula. Louisiana courts have awarded widely varying amounts based on the closeness of the relationship, the ages involved, and the dependency of the claimant. Loss of services covers the practical contributions the deceased provided: household labor, childcare, transportation, and daily support. Loss of financial support covers income the deceased would have earned and contributed over their working life. An economic expert calculates present value. Funeral and burial expenses are direct economic damages recoverable by whoever paid them.
One category cap applies in specific circumstances: medical malpractice defendants in Louisiana are capped at $500,000 in total damages under La. R.S. 40:1231.2. The same cap applies to governmental entity defendants under La. R.S. 13:5106. For standard negligence defendants (most vehicle crash cases), no statutory damages cap applies.
Survival Action Damages (La. C.C. Art. 2315.1)
The survival action recovers the decedent’s own damages from the moment of injury to the moment of death. Three categories matter.
First: pain and suffering. To recover survival action pain and suffering, the evidence must show the decedent was consciously aware of their suffering between injury and death. If death was instantaneous, this element may not be available. If the decedent survived hours, days, or weeks in a hospital, medical records and witness accounts establish conscious pain. Second: medical expenses incurred between the injury and the death. Hospital records, transport bills, and emergency care costs are all recoverable here. Third: lost wages from the date of injury to the date of death.
These damages pass to the same priority claimants who file the wrongful death action. The same standing rules apply. View Morris & Dewett’s case results for context on recovery outcomes.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes; each case is decided on its own facts. See our full case results.
Deadly Crashes and Other Causes of Wrongful Death in Caddo Parish
Fatal motor vehicle crashes are the most common cause of wrongful death claims in Shreveport. The I-20 and I-49 corridors carry heavy commercial truck traffic through Caddo Parish, and Youree Drive sees frequent intersection and turning collisions. A fatal crash on these roads can support both a wrongful death action and a survival action, depending on whether the decedent survived any length of time after the impact.
Not every wrongful death arises from a vehicle crash. Industrial and oilfield incidents, premises hazards, defective products, and medical negligence each produce fatal injury claims in the parish. The statute that governs the claim is the same regardless of how the death occurred: the wrongful death action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 and the survival action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1. What changes is the evidence required to prove fault and the defendants involved.
Comparative Fault and the 51% Bar in Wrongful Death Cases
Comparative Fault
A legal rule that reduces your recovery by your percentage of fault. In Louisiana, if you are 51% or more at fault, you recover nothing. If you are 50% or less at fault, your damages are reduced proportionally.
Louisiana’s comparative fault law under La. C.C. Art. 2323 changed as of January 1, 2026. The rule is now a hard cutoff: if the decedent is found 51% or more at fault for the accident that caused their death, all recovery is barred. Both the wrongful death action and the survival action are eliminated.
This matters in every case where the at-fault party disputes liability. Insurance defense teams use comparative fault as their primary tool in wrongful death cases. They build a narrative that the deceased was speeding, distracted, or otherwise responsible for what happened. If they get a jury or court to assign the decedent 51% or more, the family recovers nothing.
Shreveport cases present specific fault disputes. I-20 and I-49 lane change and merge situations are common. High-speed collisions on those corridors often turn on the decedent’s speed and lane position. Youree Drive intersection crashes involve right-of-way and signal-timing disputes. In medical negligence cases, fault arguments center on whether the patient followed instructions or delayed care.
The difficulty in wrongful death comparative fault is that the person who could testify to their own actions is gone. The entire fault narrative has to be built from physical evidence, witnesses, data, and expert reconstruction.
Crash reports, scene documentation, and the responding agency’s findings are the foundation of that record. The Shreveport Police Department investigates crashes on city streets, the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office covers parish roads, and the Louisiana State Police work crashes on I-20, I-49, and other state highways. Morris & Dewett works with accident reconstructionists and human factors experts to build that record before the insurance company establishes their version.
Your Shreveport Injury Attorneys
Founding partners Trey Morris and Justin Dewett lead every Shreveport injury case Morris & Dewett takes.
Prescriptive Period: Filing Deadlines in Caddo Parish
Prescriptive Period
Louisiana’s term for statute of limitations. The legal deadline to file a lawsuit. For a wrongful death on or after July 1, 2024, it runs for the longer of one year from the date of death or two years from the day the injury was sustained under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2.
For a wrongful death on or after July 1, 2024, the action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 prescribes in the longer of one year from the date of death or two years from the day the injury was sustained. The family gets whichever of those two periods expires later. The survival action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1 follows the same longer-of rule.
This requires a careful distinction. A death before July 1, 2024, falls under the prior one-year-from-death rule. A death on or after July 1, 2024, uses the longer-of calculation, so the deadline depends on both the date of death and the date the injury was sustained. A medical-malpractice wrongful death action is the exception: it prescribes one year from the date of death. Because the operative date and the longer-of test together fix the deadline, an attorney needs to evaluate the specific dates in your case.
Run both periods and compare. If someone was injured in January 2025 and died in March 2025, one year from death expires in March 2026 and two years from injury expires in January 2027; the January 2027 date controls because it is later.
Wrongful death cases for Shreveport residents are filed in the First Judicial District Court for Caddo Parish, located at 501 Texas Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. Louisiana courts apply this deadline strictly. Grieving does not toll the prescriptive period. Neither do negotiations with an insurance company.
The pre/post July 1, 2024 distinction is outcome-determinative in cases from that transition period, and the deadline depends on the specific date the injury was sustained and the date of death. Reach out to a Shreveport attorney before the deadline passes.
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What Happens When Morris & Dewett Takes a Wrongful Death Case
The first step is standing analysis. We identify who in the family has statutory standing under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 and La. C.C. Art. 2315.1. We determine which actions apply and confirm no higher-priority class exists that would bar your claim. If multiple family members in the same class want to pursue the claim, we explain how they share recovery and coordinate representation.
Evidence preservation happens immediately. In vehicle crash cases, we work with accident reconstructionists and request official crash reports from the Shreveport Police Department, the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, or the Louisiana State Police, depending on which agency responded. Scene documentation, witness identification, and physical evidence all matter in the first days.
For medical records, the region’s Level I trauma center at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport handles the most serious injuries, and Willis-Knighton Health System treats trauma patients across Caddo Parish. We obtain the full treatment record: emergency room, surgery, ICU, and discharge or death. These records document the decedent’s injury timeline, conscious awareness for survival action purposes, and medical expenses.
Building the survival action requires specific evidence. Medical notes referencing pain, consciousness, and response to treatment support the claim that the decedent experienced conscious suffering. Witness accounts from hospital staff and family members matter here.
The economic dependency analysis uses a vocational expert and an economist to calculate the present value of lost financial support for each claimant. Children, spouses, and parents who were financially dependent on the deceased each have separate calculations.
Morris & Dewett has handled wrongful death cases in the First Judicial District Court for over 25 years. Our attorneys hold AV Preeminent ratings and have been selected for Super Lawyers. Our clients have left 2,498 five-star Google reviews. Those reviews reflect what the process was actually like, not what we claim it will be.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the difference between a wrongful death claim and a survival action in Louisiana?
- A wrongful death claim under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 is the family's claim for their own losses: companionship, financial support, services, and funeral costs. A survival action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1 is the decedent's claim passed to survivors: their own pain and suffering, medical bills, and lost wages between injury and death. Both can be filed simultaneously in the same lawsuit, but they recover different categories of damage.
- Who has priority to file a wrongful death claim in Caddo Parish?
- Louisiana law under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 sets a strict hierarchy: (1) surviving spouse and children, (2) parents, (3) siblings, (4) grandparents. If a higher-priority class exists, the lower classes cannot file at all. This is not an estate claim and does not pass through probate.
- How long does a family have to file a wrongful death claim in Caddo Parish?
- For a death occurring on or after July 1, 2024, the wrongful death action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 prescribes in the longer of one year from the date of death or two years from the day the injury was sustained; the family gets whichever period expires later. A medical-malpractice wrongful death action is the exception and prescribes one year from the date of death. For a death before July 1, 2024, the prior one-year-from-death rule applies. Because the operative date and the longer-of calculation control the deadline, confirm both with an attorney. Cases are filed in the First Judicial District Court at 501 Texas Street, Shreveport, Louisiana.
- Can multiple family members in the same class file separately, or must they file together?
- Members of the same priority class typically pursue the wrongful death claim jointly or through a single coordinated action. They share the recovery pro-rata within their class. Each member's individual damages (their personal loss of companionship, their financial dependency) are calculated separately by the court. An attorney should coordinate representation among all eligible claimants in the class to avoid procedural conflicts.
- Does comparative fault affect a wrongful death claim if the deceased was partially at fault?
- Yes. Under La. C.C. Art. 2323, effective January 1, 2026, if the decedent is found 51% or more at fault, the family recovers nothing. At 50% or less, recovery is reduced proportionally by the decedent's fault percentage. Insurance adjusters routinely try to assign the decedent fault above 50% because it eliminates the entire claim. Accident reconstruction and fault analysis are essential in any contested case.
- What damages are available in a survival action that are different from wrongful death damages?
- The survival action recovers the decedent's own damages: pain and suffering they experienced between injury and death, medical expenses incurred before death, and wages lost from the injury date to death. These categories are not available in the wrongful death action. To recover survival action pain and suffering, the evidence must show the decedent was consciously aware of their suffering. A death that was instantaneous typically cannot support this element.
- Where are wrongful death cases for Shreveport filed?
- Wrongful death cases for Shreveport residents are filed in the First Judicial District Court for Caddo Parish, located at 501 Texas Street, Shreveport, Louisiana. The First Judicial District handles civil matters for Caddo Parish. Cases may also be filed in federal court under certain circumstances (diversity jurisdiction for out-of-state defendants with claims above $75,000).
- Does Morris & Dewett handle wrongful death cases that also involve criminal charges against the at-fault party?
- Yes. A criminal prosecution and a civil wrongful death claim are separate proceedings. A criminal conviction helps the civil case because it establishes fault and intent, but it is not required. If no criminal charges are filed, the civil claim proceeds independently. If the at-fault party is acquitted criminally, the civil wrongful death claim can still succeed. The civil burden of proof is lower: preponderance of evidence, not beyond reasonable doubt. Morris & Dewett coordinates with any ongoing criminal proceedings and uses all available evidence from both proceedings.
Last updated June 17, 2026