Florida Wrongful Death Lawyer

When a death was someone else’s fault, Florida law gives the family a claim

Kemp Law Group represents families across Florida, and in Georgia through our Georgia-admitted attorney, when a death was caused by another person’s negligence or wrongdoing. Stacy Kemp Ferrari founded the firm in 2008, and its wrongful death work has included fatal truck and car crashes, pedestrians and motorcyclists killed on Florida roads, drunk driving deaths, deaths from negligent security, and fatal falls. The firm has recovered more than $400 million for its clients, including $2,000,000 for a family that lost a loved one in a truck accident, and carries a 4.9-star rating across more than 950 Google reviews.

A wrongful death claim will not undo the loss. What it does is make the people responsible answer for it, replace what the family has lost financially, and compensate the survivors for what cannot be replaced. This page explains how the Florida Wrongful Death Act works, who it protects, what it allows each survivor to recover, and how we handle these cases.

Call (727) 847-4878 or contact us online. The consultation is free and confidential, we answer 24/7, and there is no fee unless we recover for your family.

What counts as a wrongful death in Florida

Under section 768.19 of the Florida Wrongful Death Act, a claim exists whenever a death is caused by the wrongful act, negligence, default or breach of contract of another, and the deceased could have brought a personal injury claim had they lived. The standard is the same civil standard as any injury case, a preponderance of the evidence, which is why a family can win a wrongful death case whether or not anyone is charged or convicted criminally. Among the deaths that give rise to claims:

• Motor vehicle crashes, including commercial truck collisions, car accidents, and crashes involving rideshare vehicles, where the claim runs against the driver, the vehicle’s owner under Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine, an employer, and the family’s own uninsured motorist coverage.
• Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists killed by drivers, cases that insurers defend by blaming the person who died.
• Drunk driving deaths, which add a claim against a bar or restaurant that knowingly served a habitual drunkard or a minor under section 768.125, and open the door to punitive damages.
• Negligent security: shootings and assaults at apartment complexes, hotels, bars and parking lots where the property owner ignored known danger.
• Fatal falls and premises deaths, including deaths in construction, boating and workplace settings where a party other than the employer is responsible.
• Medical negligence deaths are outside the firm’s practice. Kemp Law Group does not handle medical malpractice cases, including deaths caused by medical error; those claims follow a separate pre-suit process under Chapter 766 and a separate survivor rule in section 768.21(8), and families with that kind of loss should consult a medical malpractice attorney promptly because the pre-suit steps consume part of the two-year deadline.

Who can file, and who the law calls a survivor

Florida does not let family members file individually. Under section 768.20, the claim is brought by the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate, on behalf of the estate and every survivor. If the person left a will naming a personal representative, that person files; if not, the probate court appoints one, usually the spouse or an adult child. Opening the estate is the first thing we do in a wrongful death case, and we handle it.

The survivors who may recover are defined in section 768.18: the surviving spouse; the deceased’s children, with children under 25 treated as minors for this purpose; the parents; and any blood relative or adoptive sibling who was partly or wholly dependent on the deceased for support or services. A child born out of wedlock is a survivor of the mother, and of the father if he recognized a duty of support.

What each survivor can recover

Section 768.21 assigns damages survivor by survivor, which is why two families who suffer the same loss can have very different claims.

• Every survivor may recover the value of lost support and services from the date of injury, with future losses reduced to present value, and the medical or funeral expenses that survivor paid.
• The surviving spouse may also recover for the loss of the deceased’s companionship and protection, and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury.
• Minor children (under 25), and all children if there is no surviving spouse, may recover for lost parental companionship, instruction and guidance, and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury.
• Each parent of a deceased minor child may recover for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. Parents of an adult child may recover for mental pain and suffering only if there are no other survivors.
• The estate itself recovers the deceased’s lost earnings from injury to death, medical and funeral expenses that became a charge against the estate, and, where there is a surviving spouse or lineal descendant (or a parent of a deceased minor), the loss of prospective net accumulations: the part of the deceased’s future earnings that would have been saved and left to the family.

Florida places no cap on wrongful death damages in a negligence case against a private defendant. Where the conduct was intentional or grossly negligent, punitive damages are available under section 768.72, and the usual cap on them is lifted for a defendant who was impaired by alcohol or drugs under section 768.736. Claims against a city, county or state agency are different: section 768.28 caps recovery at $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident unless the Legislature passes a claims bill, and requires written notice before suit.

The medical negligence exception, and why it does not apply to the cases we handle

Section 768.21(8) bars adult children (25 and older) from recovering mental pain and suffering for a parent’s death, and bars parents from recovering it for the death of a child 25 or older, when the death was caused by medical negligence. It applies to no other kind of death. The Legislature voted to repeal it in 2025 and the Governor vetoed the bill; the 2026 repeal passed the House and died in the Senate, so it remains the law. Kemp Law Group does not handle medical malpractice cases, so none of the wrongful death claims we bring (crashes, pedestrian and motorcycle deaths, drunk driving, negligent security, falls) is affected by it; every survivor the Act recognizes recovers the full measure described above.

The survival action: the second claim families often don’t know about

The Wrongful Death Act compensates the survivors for their losses. A separate statute, section 46.021, preserves the claims the deceased had at the moment of death. Where a death was not caused by the injury, the estate may pursue the deceased’s own pain and suffering and losses through a survival action instead. Which claim applies, and in rare cases whether both do, depends on the medical facts, and getting it right changes what the family recovers.

Deadlines

A wrongful death lawsuit must be filed within two years of the death under section 95.11, and that period runs from the date of death, not the date of the crash or injury. Claims against government entities require the written notice described in section 768.28 within the same two years, and the agency has time to investigate before suit may be filed. Evidence has a much shorter life than any of these deadlines: vehicle data, surveillance video, 911 recordings and witness memories are gone within weeks, which is why the first call should come as soon as the family is able to make it.

How we handle a wrongful death case

• We open the estate and secure the personal representative’s appointment, so the claim can be filed and settled by someone with authority to act.
• We preserve the evidence before it disappears: preservation letters to drivers, owners, employers and property owners; vehicle event data; camera footage; the crash or incident report; the medical examiner’s findings; and the toxicology, where it supports a drunk driving or dram shop claim.
• We find every responsible party and every policy: the at-fault driver’s liability coverage, the vehicle owner’s, an employer’s, an umbrella policy, the trucking company and its broker, the bar that served the driver, the property owner and its security contractor, and the family’s own uninsured motorist coverage, which pays in a fatal crash exactly as it would in an injury case.
• We prove the losses with the right experts: an economist for lost support and net accumulations, and the people who knew the deceased for the companionship and guidance the statute compensates.
• We handle the distribution. A wrongful death settlement must be allocated among the survivors and the estate, and settlements involving a minor’s share require court approval. We prepare the allocation, present it to the court when required, and resolve liens against the recovery so the family receives what the settlement promises.
• We try the case when the insurer will not pay what it owes. Most wrongful death claims settle, but they settle at full value only when the defense knows the firm will go to a jury.

Wrongful death and fatal crash results

Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a future outcome. These recoveries show the kinds of cases the firm handles:

• $2,000,000 for a family in a wrongful death truck accident
• $2,415,000 in a motorcycle accident
• $2,000,000 for a pedestrian struck by a vehicle
• $1,250,000 in a hit-and-run with an uninsured driver
• $991,118 in a drunk driving crash with a commercial vehicle

See more case results.

Where we handle wrongful death cases

Kemp Law Group represents families throughout Florida and in Georgia, from our office at 11567 Trinity Boulevard in Trinity. See our pages for Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties, for South Florida, Central Florida, Southwest Florida and North Florida, and for Georgia, where wrongful death claims follow Georgia’s own statute and its “full value of the life” measure of damages.

Frequently asked questions about Florida wrongful death claims

Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in Florida?

Only the personal representative of the deceased’s estate, on behalf of the estate and the survivors. Family members do not file separately. If no personal representative has been named, the probate court appoints one; we handle that step.

How long do we have to file?

Two years from the date of death. Government defendants require written notice within that period and a waiting period before suit. Evidence is lost much faster than the deadline, so call as soon as you can.

Can we bring a claim if no one was arrested or charged?

Yes. A wrongful death claim is a civil case decided by a preponderance of the evidence, independent of any criminal case. Families win these claims when prosecutors decline to charge, and a conviction, when there is one, helps but is not required.

What if my family member was partly at fault?

Under section 768.81, the recovery is reduced by the deceased’s share of fault, and barred if that share exceeds 50 percent. Insurers assign fault to the person who cannot speak for themselves in nearly every fatal case, and answering that is a large part of our work.

How is a wrongful death settlement divided?

By allocation among the survivors and the estate according to each one’s losses under section 768.21. The personal representative proposes the allocation, the survivors are notified, and a court approves it when a minor’s share is involved or the survivors disagree. Liens and medical bills are resolved from the estate’s portion before distribution.

Does the “free kill” law affect our case?

No. Section 768.21(8) applies only to deaths caused by medical negligence, which Kemp Law Group does not handle. It has no application to a crash, a fall, a shooting or any other wrongful death the firm brings. The rule is still in effect in 2026; families with a medical malpractice death should consult a malpractice attorney about it.

What does a wrongful death lawyer cost?

Nothing up front. The firm advances the costs of the estate, the experts and the litigation and is paid a contingency fee from the recovery, within the Florida Bar’s maximum percentages. If there is no recovery, the family owes no fee.

If you have lost a family member because of someone else’s negligence anywhere in Florida, call (727) 847-4878 or request a free consultation online. We will tell you honestly whether there is a claim and what it would involve.