Washington Rewrote Its Wrongful Death Law in 2019 and Many Families Told No Before Still Don’t Know That
In 2016, if a parent in Washington state was told that they did not have a wrongful death claim because they were not financially dependent on that child or were living abroad, that legal advice would have been right. The same was true of siblings. However, that reply stopped being the correct one in 2019, when the wrongful death statutes in Washington state (e.g. RCW 4.20.010 and RCW 4.20.020) received notable changes.
In RCW 4.20.020, there are two tiers of potential beneficiaries. The first is that of a spouse, domestic partner or children; note that stepchildren are included in that latter definition. If any of those people exist, they may receive damages. If they do not, then those in the second tier, consisting of parents and siblings, may be eligible, and now that will not depend on if there is any financial dependency or foreign residency connected with the corresponding circumstances.
So, for example, a mother who lost her adult son but was not financially dependent on him would have likely not received anything prior to this law change, and a father in a similar circumstance who lived in Seoul, even if he was financially dependent on his child, would have also not been eligible to receive a settlement or judgment.
Historically, the Washington wrongful death statute has been around in one form or another since 1854. Its most significant updates were made in 1909 and, with these latest changes, 2019.
The Cases That Moved the Legislature
There are two main cases that moved the legislature to action in relation to wrongful deaths in Washington.
Bradley Hogue, 2014
In July 2014, Bradley Hogue, a 19-year-old from Lake Stevens, died just two days into a summer job when augers crushed him. The company that he worked for pleaded guilty and was fined $200,000 as a result of the workplace safety violations that had been committed.
However, his parents could not be beneficiaries because of how the laws were written at the time. If Hogue had a spouse, registered partner or children, those individuals could have been, but since none of them existed and his parents were not financially dependent on him, they could not recover any damages.
Ride the Ducks, 2015
An application of Washington negligence law resulted in a jury ruling against Ride the Ducks Seattle and Ride the Ducks International in connection with the breaking of a front axle on one of the company’s vehicles causing five deaths and 60 people to be injured in September 2015. The issue was that the axle should have been repaired years earlier.
As far as these Seattle wrongful deaths relate to the potential awarding of damages, the families of three of those who died experienced stumbling blocks because they did not live in the United States. Privando Putradanto was from Indonesia, Ha Ram Kim from South Korea and Mami Sato from Japan.
Pair of Failed Bills Until SSB 5163 passed
In 2018, the Washington state legislature considered a pair of similar bills before ultimately passing SSB 5163 the following year.
What Actually Changed on July 28, 2019
The main changes associated with the passing of SSB 5163 and the adjustment of RCW 4.20.020 were that parents and siblings are now potentially eligible for damages regardless of any dependency or locale specifics if a wrongful death in Washington happened to their child/sibling and there were no spouses or children left behind by that person.
Also, damages were expanded under RCW 4.20.046 and RCW 4.20.060 related to economic and noneconomic damages, the latter in connection with pain and suffering, emotional distress, humiliation and anxiety.
It is also important to note that this act is remedial and retroactive. It being retroactive means that incidents that occurred prior to July 28, 2019, would also be eligible under the new wording of this law as long as they were not time-barred for other reasons.
Kellogg v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. Confirmed It in 2022
In December 2017, an Amtrak Cascades train derailed near DuPont, Wash., resulting in the deaths of three people and 65 being injured. One of those who was killed was James Hamre, who had siblings who were seeking damages. Amtrak argued at the time that with the derailment having occurred two years prior to the law being changed that those siblings were not eligible for anything, but the Washington Supreme Court disagreed with that view in 2022.
The specific relevant case was Kellogg v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., and “Kellogg” refers to Mary Kellogg, Hamre’s sister.
Statutes Are Changed Because of the Past as Well as the Future
A statute simply changing does not reach many of the people who it was written for. Yes, those affected in the future are a focus, but what actually prompted the passage of these 2019 changes was related to past events.
As a result, many of those who had a loved one involved in a fatal car accident in Washington or who were the victims of a different type of wrongful death in that state prior to July 28, 2019, did not realize that they were now eligible for a settlement or judgment.
That said, they should also note that they do still have to take into account the three-year statute-of-limitations clock and other legal considerations.
Two Different Claims From One Death: Wrongful Death vs Survival Action
When dealing with case evaluation, it is important to keep in mind the difference between a wrongful death action and survival actions. With a wrongful death action, a personal representative brings forth a suit related to the beneficiaries’ losses. Survival actions are related to claims that the decedent held that did not die with them.
Also keep in mind that RCW 4.24.010 is different. It is a separate parental claim and involves a significant involvement standard that does not apply elsewhere. One of the most notable differences here is that the child does not need to have died; a serious but not deadly injury could still result in eligibility.
The child can be a minor or an adult for RCW 4.24.010 to be applied. In any case, the parent must have had significant involvement in their child’s life, potentially meaning that they had provided or received significant recent financial, emotional or psychological support.
Regardless, this parental claim is only available as a legal option related to a wrongful death if the child had no spouse, registered domestic partner or children of their own.
The Rules That Did Not Change
Although important elements of wrongful death laws in Washington state did change in 2019, there were notable rules that did not.
An important example is RCW 4.16.080, which states, “Actions limited to three years.” That means that a lawsuit or other action related to a wrongful death generally must have taken place before three years have passed since that death occurred.
That said, note that there are some exceptions to this three-years timeline. Potential ones include the clock potentially starting when family members learned about or should have reasonably learned about that person’s death and pauses in that three-year clock that can occur for a number of reasons.
Another point to consider is pure comparative fault, which is mentioned in RCW 4.22.005. That means that, unlike in some other states, there is never a bar from the awarding of damages because, for example, someone was 51% or more at fault for what occurred.
In other words, a person who was 20% at fault would generally have awarded damages be reduced by 20% while someone who was 90% at fault could still potentially receive a settlement, just with a 90% reduction on what could be awarded.
Also, there remains no cap on non-economic damages.
Why Families Still Don’t Know
Why do so many families still not know about the changes to Washington state’s wrongful death statutes that allowed for some parents and siblings to receive compensation even if they were not financially dependent on the person who died or were living abroad?
One reason is because a family that receives a correct legal response at one point in time, such as prior to 2019 in this case, normally does not think to see if that ruling has since been altered in a way that could affect them. And nobody sends a notice out to potentially affected families when a relevant law is altered.
In other words, that initial answer stays in their head essentially permanently.
Also, they and others may still be communicating the old, incorrect information in face-to-face and online conversations with others, influencing them, who also may not realize that things have changed.
Conclusion
Washington rewrote its wrongful death law in 2019, and it is important for that information to get out to as many as possible, including to all of those who were told no prior to then but are eligible under the law as it is currently written.
