Losing a family member to someone else's negligence is a loss no claim can undo, and pursuing a legal case is rarely the first thing on a grieving family's mind. But South Carolina law gives families the right to hold responsible parties accountable and to recover for the profound loss they have suffered.
At the Arndt Law Firm, we represent families across Columbia and Richland County after a wrongful death. If you have lost someone and wonder whether you are owed compensation, contact us. The first consultation is free, and we can help you through this difficult time.
A wrongful death claim arises when a person dies because of another party's negligence or wrongful act, the kind of conduct that would have allowed the person to bring an injury claim had they survived.
South Carolina's wrongful death statute, found at South Carolina Code sections 15-51-10 to 15-51-60, creates this right of action and allows the recovery to address the losses that the death caused to the surviving family members.
A wrongful death claim is brought for the benefit of the family, to compensate them for what the loss of their loved one has cost them. This is different from compensating the deceased person, and it reflects the law's recognition that a death caused by negligence harms not only the person who died but the family left behind.
The claim addresses the family's loss of the relationship, the support, and the companionship the deceased provided, losses the law treats as real and worthy of compensation.
Wrongful death can result from many kinds of negligence. Fatal motor vehicle crashes, including car, truck, and motorcycle collisions, are a common cause, as are pedestrian fatalities, and deaths can also result from unsafe property conditions, defective products, and other forms of negligence.
Whatever the cause, the claim depends on establishing that another party's wrongful conduct caused the death, the same kind of showing required in any injury case, and by pursuing it, the family can both seek accountability and recover for their loss.
South Carolina law specifies who may bring a wrongful death claim and who benefits from it, and understanding this structure is important to a family considering a case.
Under the wrongful death statute, the claim is brought by the executor or administrator of the deceased person's estate, meaning the personal representative, rather than directly by the family members themselves. This personal representative brings the claim on behalf of the statutory beneficiaries.
The beneficiaries who receive the recovery are defined by statute in an order of priority. The claim is for the benefit of the spouse and children of the deceased first, and if there is no spouse or child, then for the benefit of the parents, and if there are no parents, then for the heirs of the deceased.
This statutory order determines who benefits from a wrongful death recovery, and it reflects the relationships the law recognizes as most directly affected by the loss.
The amount recovered is divided among the beneficiaries in the same shares they would have received had the deceased died without a will, with the recovery treated as if it were personal assets of the estate. This formula is what determines, for example, how a recovery is split between a surviving spouse and children.
The statute also addresses situations where a parent seeks to share in a child's wrongful death recovery. A probate court may deny or limit a parent's share of the proceeds if it finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the parent failed to reasonably support the child or otherwise provide for the child's needs during minority.
This protects the recovery from being distributed to a parent who was absent from the child's life. The statute further makes clear that a child born outside of marriage has the same rights to bring or benefit from a wrongful death claim as any other child.
This structure means that an early step in a wrongful death case is establishing the personal representative who will bring the claim, which may require opening an estate if one has not been opened.
The identification of the beneficiaries and the appointment of the personal representative are foundational steps that a family does not have to navigate alone. These are matters that can be handled (as part of pursuing the claim) by a wrongful death lawyer in Columbia.
South Carolina law actually provides for two distinct claims that can arise from a death caused by negligence, and understanding the difference is important because they compensate different losses.
The wrongful death claim, already described, compensates the surviving family members for their loss. The survival action, by contrast, belongs to the deceased person's estate and compensates for the harm the deceased person experienced before death.
The survival action, recognized under South Carolina law, allows the estate to recover for what the deceased person suffered between the injury and death.
This can include the conscious pain and suffering the person endured, the medical expenses incurred in treating the fatal injury, and other losses the person experienced before dying. Where a person survived for a period after the negligent act before succumbing to their injuries, the survival action can be significant, addressing what they went through during that time.
The two claims are typically brought together after a death caused by negligence, because they address complementary losses: the family's loss through the wrongful death claim, and the deceased person's own pre-death suffering and expenses through the survival action.
The recoveries are distributed differently, with the wrongful death recovery going to the statutory beneficiaries and the survival recovery passing through the estate.
By pursuing both, a wrongful death lawyer ensures that the full range of harm, both the family's loss and the deceased's own suffering, is addressed.
There is one important limit built into the statute. The wrongful death and survival provisions do not apply to a case in which the injured person had already brought a personal injury action for the same injury, and that action proceeded to trial and final judgment before death.
In practice, this rarely affects a typical wrongful death case, but it matters if a person was pursuing an injury claim at the time of death, since it prevents the family from effectively relitigating a claim that has already been resolved by a final judgment.
The distinction between the two claims is not merely technical, because it can significantly affect the total recovery and how it is shared.
A death that followed a period of survival, during which the person endured conscious pain and incurred substantial medical care, may support a meaningful survival recovery on top of the wrongful death claim, while an instantaneous death may involve little or no survival component.
Because the two claims compensate different losses and pass to different recipients, accounting for both is part of ensuring that nothing the law allows is left unaddressed. To present the complete picture of the harm a wrongful death has caused, it is necessary to handle both claims together.
| Claim type | Whose loss it addresses | What it can include |
| Wrongful death | The surviving family members | Loss of companionship, support, and the relationship |
| Survival action | The deceased person's estate | Pre-death pain and suffering and medical expenses |
South Carolina law allows a wrongful death recovery to address the many dimensions of a family's loss, both economic and non-economic.
Economic damages include the financial support the deceased would have provided to the family, the loss of services the person performed, funeral and burial expenses, and the medical expenses incurred before death. For a family that depended on the deceased's income, the loss of that future support can be substantial.
The law also recognizes losses that are not financial but are deeply felt: non-economic damages. A wrongful death recovery can address the loss of the companionship, comfort, guidance, and relationship the deceased provided to their family.
These intangible losses, including the loss of a spouse's companionship, a parent's care and guidance, or a child's presence, are central to a wrongful death claim.
Where the conduct that caused the death was especially egregious, punitive damages may be available, subject to South Carolina's proof standard and the exceptions that can lift the usual cap, such as where the responsible party was impaired by alcohol or drugs.
A death caused by a drunk driver or by reckless conduct may support punitive damages in addition to the compensatory recovery. South Carolina caps most punitive damages awards by statute, adjusting for inflation. An award of punitive damages generally may not exceed three times the amount of the plaintiff's compensatory damages or $350,000, whichever is greater.
However, the limitation can be lifted where the defendant's conduct was motivated primarily by unreasonable financial gain and the dangerous nature of the conduct was known to management, or where the defendant's actions could subject the defendant to a felony conviction.
In that case, punitive damages may be uncapped. A death caused by a driver who was impaired by alcohol or drugs, or whose conduct amounts to a felony, can fall into this category.
To recover punitive damages at all, a plaintiff must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the death resulted from wilful, wanton, or reckless conduct, a higher standard than the one that applies to the underlying wrongful death claim.
The full value of a wrongful death claim depends on the circumstances of the death and the nature of the family's loss, which is why these claims require careful and individual attention.
The companionship of a spouse, the guidance of a parent, the future a child would have had: none of these can be reduced to a simple calculation, so it can be difficult to value in quantifiable terms. Yet, the law recognizes them as real and compensable harms.
If the responsible party is a governmental entity, the Tort Claims Act also limits what can be recovered. Section 15-78-120 caps recovery at $300,000 per person and $600,000 in total for a single occurrence, and those limits do not stack no matter how many agencies are involved.
A higher $1.2 million limit applies where the tort was committed by a government-employed physician or dentist. Section 15-78-120(b) also prohibits punitive damages and prejudgment interest against a governmental entity entirely, so the punitive damages discussed above are not available in a Tort Claims Act case.
Yes, if they were under 51 percent responsible. Due to South Carolina's comparative fault rule, recovery is reduced by the victim’s share of fault, and is barred from recovery should that percentage reach 51. If the deceased was partially responsible for a fatal accident, the surviving family's compensation is reduced proportionally by that exact percentage.
South Carolina law sets a deadline for bringing a wrongful death claim, generally three years from the date of death under South Carolina Code section 15-3-530.
As with other claims, this deadline is shorter and accompanied by additional procedural steps when the responsible party is a government entity, in which case the Tort Claims Act's two-year deadline and one-year verified-claim requirement can apply. Identifying the applicable deadline early is important to protecting the claim.
When a government entity is the responsible party, the South Carolina Tort Claims Act sets its own timing rules that run somewhat differently from the standard three-year deadline.
An action against a governmental entity generally must be brought within two years after the loss was or should have been discovered, though if a claim was first filed with the entity and rejected, the resulting lawsuit may be brought within three years of that discovery date.
Because the clock in these cases can start running from when the loss was "discovered" rather than strictly the date of death, and since a preliminary claim may need to be filed with the government entity before a lawsuit can proceed, cases involving a government defendant benefit from especially prompt legal attention.
Beyond the deadline, the practical reasons to act before it are significant. The evidence that establishes how the death occurred and who was responsible is perishable, and in a fatal crash or other incident, the physical evidence, witness accounts, and records can be lost or become harder to obtain over time.
In cases involving a commercial vehicle, a product, or a business, key evidence may be controlled by the responsible party and subject to loss, making preservation important.
In the aftermath of a sudden loss, families are not expected to think like investigators, and the most important steps are often simply preserving what already exists.
First, keep any documents related to the death, including any police or incident report, medical records, and records of expenses, since that creates a foundation for a later claim without requiring you to do anything beyond holding on to what you already have.
If the death resulted from a crash or other incident that was investigated, an official report from the Columbia Police Department or the South Carolina Highway Patrol will document the circumstances.
If you have access to it, preserve physical evidence and information. In a fatal crash, the vehicle and its contents, photographs taken at the scene, and the contact information of any witnesses can be important later, and if the death involved a product, keeping the product itself can be essential.
You should also be cautious in dealings with insurers. After a fatal incident, an insurer for the responsible party may contact you, and an early settlement offer or a request for a recorded statement is rarely in your interest before the circumstances are understood and your rights are clear.
A family is under no obligation to give a statement or accept an offer in the difficult early period, and taking time to understand the situation protects the option to pursue a full and fair claim.
Yes. South Carolina wrongful death damages include the loss of the deceased's companionship, care, and guidance, alongside the financial losses. Even though no amount can replace the person, these are real, compensable harms under South Carolina law.
Many wrongful death claims in the Columbia area arise from fatal motor vehicle crashes, given the volume of traffic the metro handles.
The interstates that converge on the city, I-20, I-26, and I-77, carry heavy traffic, including commercial trucks, and high-speed crashes on these routes can be fatal.
When a crash causes catastrophic injuries, the most critically injured are taken to Prisma Health Richland Hospital, where the region's worst trauma is treated and where some injuries prove fatal.
South Carolina has made progress on road safety in recent years, with statewide traffic fatalities declining, but fatal crashes remain a reality on the area's roads, and each represents a family facing a profound loss.
That progress is measurable. South Carolina DOT reported a 21% reduction in traffic fatalities over the past four years, falling from 1,198 deaths in 2021 to 946 in 2025, with the decline continuing into 2026. State officials have said annual roadway deaths are now at their lowest level since 2014.
Even with this improvement, the volume of traffic passing through Columbia on I-20, I-26, and I-77 means fatal crashes continue to occur. In fact, in 2023, Richland County was among the 5 counties with the most fatal crashes (with 58 fatal collisions), according to state data.
Wrongful death claims also arise from causes beyond crashes, including fatal incidents on unsafe property, deaths from defective products, and other negligence. Whatever the cause, the wrongful death and survival claims provide the path for a family to seek accountability and recover for their loss.
The local context, including the fatal crashes that occur on the area's interstates and roads, is part of understanding the circumstances that bring families to these claims, with the help of a Columbia car accident lawyer or a Columbia truck accident lawyer.
If the crash involved a public transportation bus, the South Carolina Tort Claims Act could come into play, which has its own set of rules and deadlines, as detailed before. For that reason, it is suggested that a wrongful death lawyer in Columbia reviews the case as soon as possible.
The claim is brought by the executor or administrator of the deceased person's estate, on behalf of the statutory beneficiaries, who are the spouse and children first, then parents, then heirs.
A wrongful death claim compensates the family for their loss, while a survival action belongs to the estate and compensates for the pain, suffering, and expenses the deceased experienced before death. Both are often brought together.
Three years from the date of death under S.C. Code § 15-3-530. A shorter deadline and additional steps may apply if a government entity is responsible.
It can recover financial support, funeral and medical expenses, and the loss of companionship, care, and the relationship the deceased provided, along with punitive damages in cases of egregious conduct.
Yes. The wrongful death claim is a separate civil action and proceeds regardless of whether criminal charges are filed or how the criminal case is resolved.
There might be, if the conduct that caused the death was especially reckless, such as in a drunk driving accident. Punitive damages require clear and convincing evidence and are capped by statute.
At the Arndt Law Firm, we handle Columbia wrongful death cases by establishing the personal representative, bringing the wrongful death and survival claims together, proving how the death occurred and who was responsible, and pursuing the full recovery the law allows for the family's loss.
Since attorney Arndt previously defended insurers and institutional clients, we understand how these claims are evaluated and contested, and we build each case to hold the responsible parties accountable.
If your family has lost a loved one to another party's negligence in Columbia or Richland County, contact us as soon as possible or call (843) 287-9802. The consultation is free, and we handle wrongful death cases on a contingency basis, with no fees unless there is a recovery.
Last reviewed: June 2026
This page was reviewed by Jonathan S. Arndt, licensed in South Carolina since 2018.
