In an action brought in New York state to recover damages for a person’s death, there are two separate and distinct causes of action: survivorship and wrongful death. The survivorship cause of action belongs to the estate for the decedent’s pain and suffering prior to death. The wrongful death cause of action belongs to those distributees who have suffered pecuniary loss by reason of death. Distributees are determined strictly by statute.
Because of this dichotomy, there may be more than one plaintiff in a death case as well as separate statutes of limitations for each cause of action. In order to properly address a death case, an attorney must keep in mind that there are two separate and distinct causes of action—survivorship and wrongful death—and each action should be treated and evaluated independently of the other.
Statute of Limitations
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