What is the Florida Wrongful Death Act?
The Act creates the right to bring a claim when a death is caused by another's negligence or wrongful act, and it sets the framework for who recovers and what.
Three things it establishes.
Who brings the action — the personal representative of the estate, on behalf of the estate and the survivors.
Who qualifies as a survivor — defined by statute rather than by relationship generally. Not every grieving family member is a survivor within the meaning of the Act.
What damages are recoverable — which differ depending on whether the claim belongs to the estate or to a particular survivor.
What it replaced. At common law, a claim died with the person. The Act exists because that outcome was untenable.
One structural point. Damages under the Act are defined by the statute rather than by general principles, and some losses that feel obvious are not recoverable by some family members. That's addressed in the next answers.
Who counts as a survivor is a statutory question, not a family one. That distinction matters. ---
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