Losing someone in a sudden death changes everything, and then the paperwork starts. Insurance adjusters call. A hospital sends a bill for the person you just buried. Somewhere in the middle of that, someone tells you the family may have a wrongful death claim, and you have no idea what that means or where to begin. This page is for families in Bristol County trying to understand their options. We serve families across Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, Attleboro, and Dartmouth. We do not have an office in the county, and we will tell you plainly what a claim looks like before you decide anything.
What a wrongful death claim is in Massachusetts
A wrongful death claim is a civil case brought after someone dies because of another party’s negligence or wrongful act. It is separate from any criminal case, and it does not require a criminal charge to exist. The right to bring it, along with the damages a jury may award, comes from the Massachusetts wrongful death statute, M.G.L. c. 229, § 2. The Supreme Judicial Court recognized wrongful death as a common-law right in Gaudette v. Webb, 362 Mass. 60 (1972), which still shapes how these cases are understood today.
One point trips up almost every family: the case is not filed by whoever loved the person most. It is filed by the personal representative, the person appointed by the Probate and Family Court to represent the estate. The recovery is then distributed to the statutory beneficiaries, usually the spouse, children, or next of kin. If nobody has been appointed yet, that appointment is one of the first things we handle. More on that in who can file a wrongful death claim in Massachusetts.
Where a Bristol County case is filed
Bristol County Superior Court is where most serious wrongful death cases are litigated, and it holds sessions in Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton, the county seat. That gives families some choice about venue depending on where the death occurred and where the parties are located. The Bristol Probate and Family Court sits in Taunton, and that is the court that appoints the personal representative and opens the estate.
These two tracks run at the same time. The estate has to be opened in Taunton so someone has legal authority to sue, and the liability case moves forward in Superior Court. A death in Fall River often points toward the Fall River session; a New Bedford death toward New Bedford. We handle both the probate side and the civil side so the family is not bounced between two sets of lawyers.
How these deaths happen here
Bristol County is a coastal, working county, and the ways people die reflect that. A few patterns come up again and again.
- Highway and road crashes. Route 24, Interstate 195, Interstate 495, Route 6, and Route 140 carry heavy traffic and heavy trucks through the county. High-speed crashes on these roads are a leading cause of the fatal cases we see. See car crash wrongful death and truck crash wrongful death in Massachusetts.
- Maritime and vessel deaths. New Bedford is the top commercial fishing port in the country. Deaths on fishing vessels and at the waterfront can fall under federal maritime law rather than the ordinary state statute, and those rules are their own world. If a death happened at sea or on the water, tell us early; the analysis is different.
- Workplace fatalities. Fishing, construction, and industrial work all carry real risk. A workplace death often involves both a workers’ compensation claim and a possible third-party case against someone other than the employer. We look at workplace fatality claims from both angles.
- Medical care. Southcoast Health runs Charlton Memorial in Fall River and St. Luke’s in New Bedford; Morton Hospital serves Taunton, and Sturdy Memorial serves Attleboro. When a death follows a missed diagnosis or a treatment error, the case is a medical malpractice claim with extra procedural steps, described below.
What the family can recover
People want a number. There is no meaningful average, and you should be skeptical of anyone who quotes you one before they have read the records. Value is built from the specific facts of the death and the specific losses the family carried.
Under the statute, damages can include the loss of the person’s reasonably expected income, the loss of services, protection, care, companionship, guidance, and counsel, and the family’s grief and loss of the relationship. Conscious pain and suffering the person endured before death is pursued through a separate survival action under M.G.L. c. 228, § 1. Where a defendant’s conduct was grossly negligent or reckless, punitive damages are available, and the SJC upheld a substantial punitive award in Aleo v. SLB Toys USA, Inc., 466 Mass. 398 (2013). We walk through all of this in wrongful death damages in Massachusetts.
The deadline is real
Massachusetts generally gives three years to file a wrongful death action, and that clock is not something to test. Miss it and the claim is gone, no matter how strong it was. Medical cases can involve a discovery rule when the cause of death was not apparent at first, and cases against a city, town, or state entity carry a separate, shorter presentment requirement under M.G.L. c. 258 before any suit. If a public body may be responsible, that written notice can come due long before the three years. Do not wait to find out which deadline applies to you. The details are in the wrongful death statute of limitations.
What if your loved one was partly at fault
Families often assume that if the person who died shared some blame, the case is over. It usually is not. Massachusetts follows a modified comparative negligence rule under M.G.L. c. 231, § 85. The family can still recover as long as the deceased was not more at fault than the defendant, meaning fifty percent or less. Recovery is reduced by that percentage, and it is barred only when the deceased’s share of fault was greater than the defendant’s. A driver who was speeding can still have a claim against the truck that ran the light. Let a lawyer sort out the fault before you assume the worst.
Medical malpractice deaths have an extra gate
When a death follows medical care, the case is subject to a screening tribunal under M.G.L. c. 231, § 60B. A panel reviews the claim early to decide whether it presents a legitimate question for a jury. The loss-of-chance doctrine, recognized in Matsuyama v. Birnbaum, 452 Mass. 1 (2008), can matter here: a family may recover when negligent care reduced a real chance of survival, even if the underlying illness was already serious. These cases need expert review from the start.
How we work a Bristol County case
The first job is to move fast on evidence, because vehicles get repaired, video gets overwritten, and witnesses scatter. We open the estate in the Taunton Probate and Family Court, get the personal representative appointed, and start gathering the police reports, medical records, and scene evidence while it still exists. Then we build the liability case and the damages case together, not one after the other. You can read a plain walkthrough in the wrongful death claim process and the broader Massachusetts wrongful death guide. Families closer to a specific city can start with our Fall River and New Bedford pages, and matters that reach into the city can also involve our Boston practice.
Questions families ask
Who is allowed to bring the claim?
The personal representative of the estate, appointed by the Probate and Family Court, files the case on behalf of the statutory beneficiaries. If no one has been appointed yet, that is one of the first steps we take.
How long do we have to file?
Generally three years, but medical and public-entity cases can shorten or complicate that timeline, and claims against a government body require written presentment first. Talk to a lawyer early rather than guessing.
What is our case worth?
There is no honest average. Value comes from the facts of the death, the losses the family carried, and the records. Anyone who quotes a figure before reviewing those has not done the work.
Can we still recover if our loved one was partly at fault?
Usually yes. As long as the deceased was not more at fault than the defendant, the family can recover, with the award reduced by the deceased’s share.
Do we have to travel to Taunton or Boston?
Not to get started. We serve families throughout Bristol County and handle the court filings, whether the estate opens in Taunton or the case is heard in Fall River or New Bedford.
We handle wrongful death cases on contingency: no fee unless we recover for your family. If you lost someone in Bristol County and want an honest read on your options, call 617-415-2100.
Related guides
Complete guide · Who can file · What families recover · Deadlines · The claim process
Attorney at Scalli Murphy Law, P.C. Massachusetts personal injury and wrongful death practice since 1994. This overview is general information and not legal advice.
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