Sherman Oaks Wrongful Death Lawyer

You knew these streets together. Ventura Boulevard, Van Nuys Boulevard, the 101, the 405 up the Sepulveda Pass. Now someone you love is gone because another driver did something wrong. In the same week, you are planning a funeral, sorting out money, and fielding calls from an insurance adjuster. You should not have to carry all of that alone. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. is a Los Angeles firm that takes motor-vehicle injury cases only, including wrongful death after a crash. If you are searching for a wrongful death attorney in Sherman Oaks, this page covers who can bring the claim, which clocks are running, which local agencies hold the records, and what Moe does in the first days. Call (323) 716-1992 any hour. The first conversation is free, and it commits you to nothing. Moe handles your case himself and keeps you updated by call and text.

Who can bring a wrongful death claim after a crash in Sherman Oaks

California decides who may sue, and the answer surprises many families. Under Code of Civil Procedure 377.60, the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, the children, and the children of any child who has died come first. If your loved one left no spouse, children, or grandchildren, the people who would inherit under California's intestate rules may bring the claim. That is often parents or siblings. Other people can sue whether or not anyone is in that first group, if they relied on the person who died for support. That can include a putative spouse, stepchildren, or parents. A minor who lived in the household for the prior 180 days and got at least half of their support from the person who died can also qualify. The judge divides any award among the people entitled to it. A second claim runs alongside this one. The personal representative brings the survival action or, if there is none, the successor in interest. That person must sign a sworn statement and attach a certified death certificate. Several relatives may each hold rights, so it helps to settle early who will file. Sherman Oaks, home to about 68,380 people by a Los Angeles Almanac estimate, is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles rather than its own city, and that shapes which agency gets a claim if a public road or vehicle played a part. Moe can sort out who holds the claim in your family on the first call.

Two clocks start on the day of the crash, and one is short

The general rule for a wrongful death lawsuit against a private driver or company is two years, under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1. Courts usually count it from the date of death. If a public entity may share the blame, the clock runs far shorter. You must present a written government claim within six months of the death under Government Code 911.2. Because Sherman Oaks is part of the City of Los Angeles, a claim over a city street or city vehicle goes to the Office of the City Clerk at 200 N. Spring St., Room 395, City Hall, Los Angeles. You can file through the city's Claim for Damages portal or deliver the form by mail or by hand. The office does not accept email or fax. The City Attorney's Claims Division then takes over. If the city rejects the claim in writing, you generally have six months from that notice to sue, under Government Code 945.6. Miss the first window and you can still ask to file a late claim. You must ask within a reasonable time and never more than one year after the death, under Government Code 911.4. Claims against Los Angeles County or LA Metro are separate and go to those agencies, not the City Clerk. That matters here, where Metro Line 233 runs on Van Nuys Boulevard and Line 234 runs on Sepulveda Boulevard. A crash tied to the 101 or the 405 themselves, which are state highways, points to a claim against the State of California instead. The six-month window can close while a family is still grieving, so calling early keeps every option open.

Ventura, Van Nuys, Sepulveda: the roads your loved one was on

Sherman Oaks sits where the Ventura Freeway meets the San Diego Freeway at the foot of the Sepulveda Pass. Drivers cut across the Valley on Ventura Boulevard, Van Nuys Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard, Magnolia Boulevard, Burbank Boulevard, and Coldwater Canyon Avenue. We have no neighborhood crash statistics to rank these streets, and we will not pretend otherwise. We can point to one real local case. In the early morning of October 19, 2025, a hit-and-run on Van Nuys Boulevard just south of Huston Street killed a 62-year-old man, and LAPD Valley Traffic Division investigated, according to KTLA. A fatal crash here can involve a driver who never stops. If the driver fled, we look at nearby business cameras, doorbell footage, and any vehicle part left in the road. We also check your loved one's own auto policy for uninsured motorist coverage. Other fatal crashes start with ordinary mistakes. A red-light run on a wide boulevard. A rear-end collision at freeway speed. A left turn across traffic. A driver on a phone, or an impaired driver late at night. Whatever happened, the facts of the scene decide the case, and scenes get cleaned up fast. Tell us where it happened and we will start there.

The LAPD report, the death certificate, and what to gather first

LAPD handles fatal crashes in Sherman Oaks. The Van Nuys Community Police Station at 6240 Sylmar Ave. serves the neighborhood, and the Valley Traffic Division investigates traffic collisions. The station's phone is 818-374-9500, and its page has a link to request a traffic collision report. In a death case the report may not be ready for some time. Do not wait for it. In the first days we send preservation letters to the other driver, the insurer, and any company that owned the vehicle. The letters ask them to keep data from the car, the phone, and any work logs. We look for traffic or business video before it is overwritten. We also gather what every claim needs: certified copies of the death certificate, medical and hospital records, funeral bills, pay stubs and tax returns, and your own auto policy. Your loved one's phone and car may hold useful data, so leave them as they are. If the other driver's insurer calls, you do not have to give a recorded statement. California also requires a driver to report a crash with injury or death to the DMV on form SR-1 within 10 days, and that report may help confirm which insurer covers the other car. Moe can tell you what to send and what to leave alone.

What a family can recover, and what insurers will argue

A wrongful death claim covers what the family lost. That includes funeral and burial costs, the income and benefits your loved one would have earned, the value of household help they gave, and the loss of love, care, comfort, and companionship. The court decides what is just under all the circumstances, and it cannot repeat losses already paid through the survival claim. The survival claim covers what your loved one lost before death, such as medical bills and lost wages. For a survival action filed on or after January 1, 2026, California law excludes pain, suffering, and disfigurement. The survival claim can still include punitive damages, but only with clear and convincing evidence of malice, oppression, or fraud, a standard some drunk driving deaths can meet. Expect the insurer to fight over fault. California uses pure comparative negligence under Li v. Yellow Cab Co., and the Horwich decision confirms that the family's award can shrink by the share of fault assigned to the person who died. If more than one defendant shares the blame, Proposition 51 makes each defendant pay noneconomic damages only in proportion to its own fault, though economic damages stay joint. The insurer may say a pedestrian crossed mid-block or a driver was speeding. We answer with scene evidence, not guesses. Policy limits matter too. California's minimum liability limit is $30,000 per person, often far below the loss. So we also look at uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, employer coverage, and any other policy that applies.

Hospitals, Van Nuys Courthouse, and how Moe runs a death case

The closest hospital is Sherman Oaks Hospital at 4929 Van Nuys Blvd. It has an emergency department and stroke-center status, but we found no trauma designation. Encino Hospital Medical Center and Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana also offer emergency care. Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills is a Level II trauma center. If your loved one lived for hours or days, those chart notes and bills become evidence for the survival claim and for what happened at the scene, and we request them early. Lawsuits go to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. The Van Nuys Courthouse East at 6230 Sylmar Ave. lists a Civil Unlimited clerk's office, but we confirm the correct filing location with the court's locator before we file anything. Moe is a Southwestern Law School graduate, State Bar No. 348886, and the firm handles only motor-vehicle injury cases. He recovered $100,000 in a policy-limit uninsured motorist claim for a woman hit by a driver who fled, after other firms turned her down. A past result is no promise of a similar outcome. You pay no fee unless we win, and Se Habla Español.

Talk to a Sherman Oaks wrongful death lawyer

Call (323) 716-1992 for a free, no-obligation case review. You pay nothing unless we win, and we'll handle the insurance companies for you. Learn more about our wrongful death representation →

Frequently Asked Questions

Other cases we handle in Sherman Oaks

See everything we handle in Sherman Oaks →

Wrongful Death lawyers in other cities we serve