Fort Worth Wrongful Death Lawyer

Compassionate Representation for Surviving Loved Ones

Nothing prepares a family for sudden, violent, preventable loss. When someone you love is killed because of a drunk driver, a reckless trucker, a negligent corporation, or medical malpractice, the grief is overwhelming. The last thing you should have to worry about is navigating the legal system alone while the responsible party’s lawyers and insurers work against you from day one.

Contact us today for a free consultation — call 817-335-4357 or click here.

The Previte Firm handles wrongful death cases throughout Fort Worth and North Texas. Attorney Paul Previte is a former prosecutor and former judge who has spent 30 years in North Texas courtrooms. He knows how to hold defendants accountable — not just for what they did, but for everything it has cost your family.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas?

Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 71.004, a wrongful death lawsuit may be filed by the surviving spouse, children, or parents of the deceased. If none of those family members file a claim within three months of the death, the executor or administrator of the estate may bring the action on behalf of the estate. Multiple family members may join in a single lawsuit.

What Damages Can Your Family Recover?

Texas law provides for substantial compensation in wrongful death cases. Your family may recover:

The financial support the deceased would have provided over a lifetime — including wages, benefits, and retirement income
Loss of companionship, love, care, and guidance
Mental anguish of surviving family members
Medical expenses incurred before death
Funeral and burial costs
Loss of inheritance

In cases involving gross negligence — such as a drunk driver, a fatigued trucker who violated federal safety regulations, or a corporation that knowingly cut safety corners — the jury may award exemplary damages on top of actual damages. These punitive damages are designed to punish the defendant and deter future conduct.

Common Causes of Wrongful Death We Handle

Commercial truck and 18-wheeler crashes
Drunk driving fatalities
Workplace accidents caused by third-party negligence
Defective products and equipment failures
Medical malpractice
Chiropractic negligence causing stroke or spinal injury
Premises liability — dangerous property conditions
Industrial accidents and explosions
Criminal acts where civil liability applies

The Survival Claim — What Most Families Don’t Know

In addition to a wrongful death claim, Texas law also allows a survival action under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 71.021. This claim belongs to the deceased’s estate and covers the pain and suffering the deceased experienced between the injury and death, as well as any medical expenses and lost earnings during that period. Both claims can be pursued simultaneously and significantly increase the total recovery available to your family.

How Insurance Companies Fight Wrongful Death Claims

Insurance companies treat wrongful death cases like any other financial liability to be minimized. They will question the cause of death, argue pre-existing conditions, dispute the deceased’s future earning capacity, and offer quick settlements to grieving families before they have legal representation. A lowball settlement accepted in the weeks after a loved one’s death can leave your family financially devastated for decades.

Attorney Paul Previte does not allow that to happen. He investigates immediately, preserves evidence before it disappears, retains expert witnesses to establish liability and damages, and builds a case that reflects the true lifetime value of your loss. He is prepared to take your case to a Tarrant County jury if the insurance company refuses to offer full compensation.

The Two-Year Deadline

Texas generally allows two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Section 16.003. This deadline is strict. Waiting reduces your ability to preserve evidence, locate witnesses, and build a strong case. Contact the The Previte Firm immediately after your loss.

No Fee Unless We Win

Grieving families should never have to choose between justice and a legal bill. The Previte Firm handles every Fort Worth wrongful death case on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing up front, nothing out of pocket, and nothing at all unless we recover compensation for your family.

What Contingency Fee Means for Your Family

No retainer. You will not be asked to write a check to hire us.
No hourly billing. You will never receive an invoice for attorney time, phone calls, or meetings.
We advance the costs. Court filing fees, expert witnesses, accident reconstructionists, medical record retrieval, deposition transcripts, and trial exhibits are funded by our firm.
Our fee is a percentage of the recovery — agreed to in writing before we begin — and is paid only if and when we obtain a settlement or verdict for you.
If there is no recovery, you owe us nothing. Not fees. Not costs. Nothing.

Why This Matters in a Wrongful Death Case

Insurance companies count on grieving families being financially pressured into accepting fast, lowball settlements. The contingency fee model levels the field. It allows your family to hire an experienced trial lawyer, fund a full investigation, and retain the experts needed to prove the true lifetime value of your loss — without spending a dollar of your own money to do it.

Call 817-335-4357 or request a free consultation. We will review your case at no cost and no obligation.

Wrongful Death Cases in Tarrant County Courts

Wrongful death lawsuits arising from a death in Fort Worth, Arlington, Mansfield, Grapevine, Euless, Bedford, Hurst, Haltom City, North Richland Hills, or any other Tarrant County community are typically filed in Tarrant County District Court. Catastrophic cases involving federal trucking regulations, interstate carriers, or out-of-state defendants may instead be filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division.

Attorney Paul Previte has spent three decades in North Texas courtrooms. He has tried cases before Tarrant County district judges, knows the local defense firms that insurance carriers retain in serious-injury and death cases, and understands what a Tarrant County jury expects to see before awarding meaningful damages.

Local knowledge is not a small advantage in a wrongful death case. Mediation, settlement leverage, and trial value are all driven by the defense’s assessment of risk — and that assessment depends on who is on the other side of the table and what that lawyer is willing and able to do in front of a Fort Worth jury.

Damages Available in a Texas Wrongful Death Case

Texas law recognizes that the value of a human life cannot be reduced to a single number. Surviving family members and the estate of the deceased are entitled to recover for both economic and non-economic losses. The categories of damages available in a Texas wrongful death and survival action include:

Economic Damages

Loss of earning capacity — the income, benefits, and financial support the deceased would have provided over their working lifetime
Loss of household services — the value of the work the deceased performed for the family (childcare, home maintenance, transportation, caregiving)
Loss of inheritance — what the deceased would reasonably have accumulated and left to surviving heirs but for the premature death
Funeral and burial expenses
Pre-death medical expenses incurred from the injury to the time of death (recoverable through the survival action)

Non-Economic Damages

Loss of love, companionship, comfort, and society
Loss of care, maintenance, advice, and counsel the deceased would have provided
Mental anguish and emotional pain suffered by the surviving spouse, children, and parents
The deceased’s conscious pain and suffering between the time of injury and death (survival action)

Exemplary (Punitive) Damages

In cases involving gross negligence — a drunk driver, a fatigued commercial trucker who knowingly violated federal hours-of-service rules, a corporation that ignored documented safety hazards, or a healthcare provider whose conduct rose to the level of conscious indifference — Texas law allows a jury to award exemplary damages in addition to actual damages. Exemplary damages are intended to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar conduct in the future.

Calculating the full value of these damages requires economists, life-care planners, vocational experts, and in many cases medical and forensic experts. The Previte Firm retains those experts at no cost to the family.

What to Do in the First 30 Days After a Wrongful Death

The decisions made by surviving family members in the first weeks after a death often determine the strength — and the ultimate value — of the wrongful death case. Evidence disappears quickly. Insurance companies move fast. Witnesses scatter. The steps below protect your family’s legal rights while you grieve.

Obtain certified copies of the death certificate. You will need multiple originals — for the estate, for insurance, and for the lawsuit. Order at least ten copies through the Texas Department of State Health Services or the Tarrant County Clerk.
Request the official accident or incident report. Fort Worth Police Department reports, Texas Department of Public Safety crash reports, and hospital records should be requested immediately. Memories fade and reports can be amended; obtaining the original version matters.
Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance adjuster. The at-fault driver’s insurer, the trucking company’s insurer, or the defendant’s risk manager will call within days. Politely decline. Anything you say can and will be used to reduce the value of your claim.
Do not sign anything. Releases, medical authorizations, settlement offers, and “condolence” checks are all designed to limit what your family can later recover. Sign nothing until a lawyer has reviewed it.
Preserve physical evidence. If a vehicle is involved, do not allow it to be repaired, salvaged, or released by the tow yard until your lawyer has inspected it. Black-box data, tire condition, and crush patterns can be the difference between a winning and losing case.
Save phone records, text messages, photographs, and social media posts. Anything that documents the deceased’s life, relationships, work, and the circumstances of the death may become evidence. Do not post about the case on social media.
Identify and preserve witness information. Names, phone numbers, and addresses of anyone who saw the accident, knew of prior safety complaints, or worked with the defendant should be written down while memories are fresh.
Call a wrongful death attorney before the funeral, if possible. Early investigation — sometimes within 24 to 48 hours — can mean the difference between proving liability and watching critical evidence disappear. The consultation is free.

Call 817-335-4357 day or night to speak with attorney Paul Previte.

Why the Insurance Adjuster’s First Call Matters

Within 48 to 72 hours of a fatal accident, the at-fault party’s insurance company will almost always call. The adjuster will sound sympathetic. They will offer condolences. They may even hint that a check is on the way to help with funeral expenses. This is not kindness. It is strategy.

The adjuster’s job is to close the file for as little money as possible — ideally before the family has had time to grieve, talk to a lawyer, or understand the true lifetime value of what was lost. Three tactics are used over and over again:

The recorded statement. The adjuster will ask routine-sounding questions designed to lock the family into early, incomplete, or inaccurate facts. Those statements are then used months later to argue comparative fault or to dispute the cause of death.
The signed medical authorization. A broad authorization gives the insurance company access to the deceased’s entire medical history — often used to argue that a pre-existing condition, not the defendant’s conduct, caused the death.
The early settlement check. A modest check — sometimes labeled “advance” or “good faith” — is offered with a release attached. Cashing it can extinguish the family’s right to recover the full value of the case, which is almost always many times larger.

Do not give a statement. Do not sign an authorization. Do not cash any check from the at-fault party’s insurer. Once an attorney represents the family, all communication from the insurance company is directed to the attorney’s office, and these tactics stop immediately.

The Previte Firm handles every call, every letter, and every offer from the insurance company on your family’s behalf. You will not be pressured, mishandled, or rushed. You will have time to grieve while the case is built properly.

Free consultation: 817-335-4357 or click here to contact us.

Frequently Asked Questions — Texas Wrongful Death

Q: What if my loved one was partially at fault? Texas modified comparative fault rules allow recovery as long as your loved one was less than 51% responsible. The award may be reduced proportionally, but it is not eliminated. Do not assume partial fault means no case.

Q: Can we sue if the death occurred in a workplace accident? In many cases, yes. Workers’ compensation covers the employer, but if a third party — a contractor, equipment manufacturer, property owner, or vehicle operator — contributed to the death, a wrongful death lawsuit may be available in addition to workers’ compensation benefits.

Q: How long does a wrongful death case take? Every case is different. Some resolve within a year through settlement. Others require trial and can take two to three years. What matters is that your family receives full and fair compensation, not a quick lowball offer.

Q: How much does it cost to hire a wrongful death lawyer? Nothing upfront. The Previte Firm handles wrongful death cases on a contingency fee basis — no fee unless we win compensation for your family. Call 817-335-4357 for a free consultation.

Serving Fort Worth and All of Tarrant County

The Previte Firm represents wrongful death clients throughout Fort Worth, Haltom City, Arlington, North Richland Hills, Keller, Mansfield, and all surrounding communities in Tarrant, Parker, Hood, Johnson, Dallas, and Denton counties. Contact us today for a free consultation — call 817-335-4357 or click here.

Helpful Resources