Only one person can file a wrongful death lawsuit in New York: the personal representative of the estate, appointed by the Surrogate’s Court. A spouse, parent, or adult child cannot sue in their own name, no matter how close they were to the person who died.
That rule catches many families by surprise, and it adds a court step before the lawsuit can even begin.
Passalacqua & Associates, LLC represents families in Syracuse and across Onondaga County after a death caused by someone else’s negligence. A wrongful death lawyer in Syracuse, NY can handle the estate appointment and the civil claim together, so neither one holds up the other. Call +1 (315) 500-6425 to talk with us. The consultation is free.
Under EPTL § 5-4.1, the lawsuit must be brought by the personal representative of the person who died. That is the executor named in a will, or an administrator appointed by the court if there was no will.
In Onondaga County, those appointments come from the Onondaga County Surrogate’s Court in the county courthouse on Montgomery Street in Syracuse. The sequence usually looks like this:
The representative files the case, but the money does not belong to them personally. It goes to the family members the law calls distributees, such as a spouse and children, in shares the court approves.
A New York wrongful death lawsuit must be filed within two years of the date of death, not the three years that apply to most injury cases. Because the estate appointment has to happen first, families have less usable time than two years suggests.
Some situations change the timeline:
| Situation | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Most wrongful death claims | 2 years from the date of death |
| A public entity is responsible (city, county, school district) | Notice of claim within 90 days of the representative’s appointment, then suit within 2 years of death |
| The death followed medical malpractice | 2 years from death, but only if the malpractice claim was still timely when the person died |
| The at-fault person was criminally prosecuted | At least 1 year from the end of the criminal case, if that is later |
Claims against the City of Syracuse, Onondaga County, or a public authority follow General Municipal Law § 50-e. If a public vehicle, road condition, or public employee played any role in the death, the notice deadline should be treated as the most urgent date in the case.
New York limits wrongful death damages to financial losses, called pecuniary losses. Families can recover lost income and support, the value of household services, lost parental guidance for children, and medical and funeral expenses.
New York law does not allow damages for grief, sorrow, or loss of companionship in a wrongful death claim. That is one of the most restrictive rules in the country. The legislature has passed the Grieving Families Act to change it four times, and it has been vetoed each time, most recently in December 2025. As of now, the old rule stands.
| Recoverable in New York | Not recoverable under current law |
|---|---|
| Lost earnings and financial support | Grief and emotional anguish |
| Value of household services the person provided | Loss of love and companionship |
| Lost parental care, guidance, and education for minor children | Sorrow of parents over a child’s death |
| Medical expenses before death | |
| Funeral and burial expenses |
When a parent dies, New York allows the children to recover for the loss of the care, training, and guidance that parent would have provided.
Juries consider the children’s ages, the parent’s involvement in their lives, and what the parent actually did for them, from homework help to coaching to daily supervision. Younger children, who lost more years of guidance, generally have larger claims. Teachers, coaches, and family friends can testify to what that relationship looked like.
This limit makes the evidence of financial loss central. We document the person’s work history, earning trajectory, benefits, and the practical work they did for the household, and we use economists to project those losses over the years ahead.
A survival action is a second claim that recovers what the person who died could have recovered if they had lived: their own conscious pain and suffering before death, and their medical expenses. It is brought under EPTL § 11-3.2 alongside the wrongful death claim.
Because New York bars grief damages in the wrongful death claim, the survival action is where pain and suffering enters the case. If a person was conscious and aware after a crash or medical event, even for a short time, that suffering has legal value. Witness accounts, EMS records, and hospital notes help prove it.
Money from the survival action goes to the estate and is distributed under the will or intestacy law. Money from the wrongful death claim goes directly to the distributees. That difference affects who receives what, and it matters for estate debts.
We handle fatal cases caused by negligence on the road, on property, and in other settings. The most common in Syracuse involve fatal Syracuse car crashes, including truck, motorcycle, and pedestrian collisions.
Other cases involve falls on unsafe property, negligent security, and deaths linked to medical error. Fatal medical cases carry their own procedural requirements, and families can learn more about when a death follows a medical error.
Local defendants vary. They can include individual drivers, trucking companies moving freight on I-81 and I-90, property owners and management companies, public agencies responsible for roads, and health care providers.
Lost someone in a crash or other preventable event? Call +1 (315) 500-6425 to speak with a fatal accident lawyer in Syracuse, NY.
New York generally reduces a wrongful death recovery by the share of fault that belonged to the person who died, but it does not eliminate the claim. That is pure comparative fault under CPLR 1411.
In 2026, New York added a rule barring recovery in motor vehicle personal injury lawsuits when the injured person is more at fault than the defendants. That rule is written for personal injury actions, so wrongful death claims should continue to be apportioned under the traditional comparative fault approach, although courts have not yet ruled on how it affects the survival claim.
Insurers still argue fault aggressively in these cases, which is why we reconstruct the event early.
No. A criminal prosecution, a workers’ compensation death benefit, and a civil wrongful death lawsuit can all proceed from the same death, and none of them replaces the others.
A criminal case punishes the wrongdoer, and any restitution ordered is usually limited.
A conviction can help the civil case, but the civil case does not need one, because it uses a lower standard of proof. When the death happened at work, the family may receive workers’ compensation death benefits from the employer’s carrier and still bring a lawsuit against a negligent third party, such as another driver or an equipment manufacturer.
A few practical steps protect a wrongful death claim while the family is focused on arrangements and each other.
Ask the funeral home for several certified copies of the death certificate, since the Surrogate’s Court and insurers will each need one. Keep every bill, including the funeral, burial, and any medical bills from before the death. Locate the will, if there is one, and make a list of the closest relatives, because the court petition asks for them.
Do not sign any release or accept a check from an insurance company before speaking with a lawyer. Early payments are sometimes tied to documents that waive the family’s claims. It also helps to keep social media quiet about the event and the case.
If a police report, crash report, or incident report exists, get the report number. We use it to request the full file, including photographs and witness information.
The claim still exists. If there is no surviving spouse or child, the distributees may be parents, and after them, siblings. The financial loss to those relatives is often harder to prove, which can make the claim smaller, but the survival action for the person’s own pain and suffering and medical expenses is unaffected.
The court divides wrongful death proceeds among the distributees based on each person’s financial loss, with direction from EPTL § 5-4.4. A young child who lost years of parental support may receive a larger share than an adult child who was financially independent.
Before any money is distributed, the court approves attorney fees and reimburses certain expenses, such as funeral costs. Liens from Medicare, Medicaid, or certain self-funded employer health plans for pre-death medical bills also have to be resolved, while most private health insurers are barred from seeking reimbursement. We handle those negotiations as part of the case.
A wrongful death lawsuit in Syracuse requires both courtroom preparation and careful coordination with the Surrogate’s Court. The firm’s attorneys bring more than 50 years of combined experience, and founder Nick Passalacqua trained at the Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute and clerked for a New York State Supreme Court justice.
We work with families in Syracuse and Utica, and we can also help with the broader injury issues that accompany a fatal event, such as claims by surviving passengers. Learn more about our Syracuse personal injury attorneys. Wrongful death cases are handled on contingency, with no fee unless the family recovers.
The two-year deadline includes the time it takes to open an estate, and evidence such as vehicle data and surveillance video can disappear long before then.
Call a Syracuse wrongful death attorney at Passalacqua & Associates, LLC at +1 (315) 500-6425 to discuss your family’s situation in a free consultation. We meet families by appointment at our Syracuse office at 499 S Warren Street, Suite 220, and we answer calls 24/7.
Passalacqua & Associates, LLC provides legal representation for individuals facing personal injuries and criminal charges. Our attorneys offer compassionate guidance and aggressive strategies, and we’re committed to achieving the best possible outcomes. We’ll protect your rights and navigate legal complexities on your behalf.
Passalacqua & Associates, LLC proudly serves clients in Utica, Syracuse, and the surrounding upstate New York communities. We are dedicated to providing accessible and effective legal services to those in need of experienced personal injury and criminal defense representation within these regions.