Losing someone you love to another person’s negligence creates a pain that words cannot fully capture. Beyond the grief itself, you face immediate pressures that demand attention even as you struggle to process what happened—medical bills from your loved one’s final treatment, funeral expenses that arrive before you’ve had time to plan, and the sudden loss of income that supported your household. These financial realities compound the emotional devastation, leaving families wondering how they’ll manage tomorrow when today feels impossible.
Tell us about your situation to see if you have a case.
You don’t have to navigate this alone, and you shouldn’t have to pay upfront costs to get help. At OnderLaw, our wrongful death attorneys in St. Louis offer a free consultation to evaluate your case with compassion and clarity, and we work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for your family. Call (314) 408-6136 to speak with an attorney who will listen to your story, answer your questions in plain language, and explain the legal options available under Missouri law.
Our firm has recovered over $5 billion in negotiated settlements for clients across Missouri and Southern Illinois, and we bring that experience to every wrongful death case we handle. We manage every aspect of these claims—from investigating what happened and identifying all liable parties to negotiating with insurance companies and, when necessary, taking cases to trial. Because we’ve seen how insurers work to minimize payouts, we know how to counter their tactics effectively while you focus on what matters most: healing and honoring your loved one’s memory.
Our firm has recovered over $5 billion in negotiated settlements for clients across Missouri and Southern Illinois, and we bring that experience to every wrongful death case we handle. We manage every aspect of these claims—from investigating what happened and identifying all liable parties to negotiating with insurance companies and, when necessary, taking cases to trial
“At OnderLaw, we don’t just take on cases—we take on causes”
Missouri law provides a legal remedy when someone’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional conduct causes a death that could have been prevented. Understanding how Missouri’s approach differs from Illinois matters if the death involved cross-border circumstances.
Under RSMo Section 537.080, current through September 2025, Missouri recognizes that surviving family members suffer measurable losses when negligence takes a loved one’s life, and the law allows specific family members to seek compensation for both economic losses—such as medical expenses, funeral costs, and lost income—and non-economic losses including the loss of companionship, guidance, and emotional support the deceased provided. The legal standard requires proving negligence by a preponderance of the evidence, meaning we must show it’s more likely than not that the defendant’s actions caused your loved one’s death, which is a lower burden than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard used in criminal cases but still demands thorough investigation and compelling evidence.
Missouri law differs from Illinois in several important ways that affect how cases proceed. In Missouri, eligible family members can file wrongful death claims directly, whereas Illinois requires the personal representative of the deceased’s estate to bring the action on behalf of survivors. Missouri also prohibits recovery for pure grief or bereavement, focusing instead on tangible losses survivors experience, though damages for loss of companionship and guidance remain available. For medical malpractice wrongful death cases specifically, Missouri caps non-economic damages at $828,529 as of 2025 under RSMo §538.210, an amount that increases by 1.7 percent annually, but this cap does not apply to economic damages like lost earnings or medical expenses, and it doesn’t apply to wrongful death cases outside the medical malpractice context.
Missouri follows a pure comparative fault system, which means your family may still recover damages even if your loved one bore some responsibility for the incident, though your recovery would be reduced proportionally by their percentage of fault. As a result, understanding how these legal principles apply to your specific situation requires careful evaluation of the facts, the applicable law, and the evidence available to support your claim.
Our greatest results have been the relationships we’ve forged with clients we’ve helped and the lives they’ve achieved after horrific accidents with the settlements our work brought about.
Every case is different and handled differently, but we are proud of what we have accomplished on behalf of previous clients. From multi billion dollar mass tort settlements to individual personal injury verdicts, we fight for every penny of compensation our clients deserve.
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes; every case is different.
Wrongful death claims arise from many different circumstances, and our attorneys have experience across the full spectrum of these tragic cases. Each type presents unique legal challenges and requires specific expertise to prove liability and maximize the compensation available to your family, which is why understanding the common categories helps you recognize whether you may have a valid claim.
Motor Vehicle Accidents remain the leading cause of wrongful death in Missouri. According to MoDOT, Missouri recorded 954 traffic fatalities in 2024 (preliminary data) and 978 in 2023, with the state’s fatality rate of 15.5 per 100,000 residents exceeding the national rate of 12.9 per 100,000. The St. Louis area accounts for a significant portion of these deaths, with approximately 70 to 80 fatalities in the City and over 100 in the County during 2022. Car crashes, truck accidents, and motorcycle collisions can result from distracted driving, speeding, impaired driving, or vehicle defects, and Missouri’s minimum auto insurance requirements of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident often prove inadequate to compensate families fully.
Medical Malpractice cases involve surgical errors, misdiagnosis, medication mistakes, anesthesia errors, and birth injuries that prove fatal. These cases require expert testimony to establish the standard of care that applied and demonstrate how the healthcare provider’s actions fell below that standard, causing death. Although Missouri caps non-economic damages at $828,529 for 2025 in medical malpractice wrongful death cases, economic damages remain uncapped, and families may still recover substantial compensation for lost earnings, medical expenses, and other financial losses.
Slip and fall accidents, while sometimes dismissed as minor, can prove fatal, particularly for elderly victims, when wet floors lack warning signs, uneven surfaces create tripping hazards, inadequate lighting obscures dangers in stairwells, or icy walkways remain untreated.
Negligent security cases arise when businesses and landlords fail to provide reasonable security measures—such as adequate lighting, functioning locks, or security personnel—to protect people from foreseeable criminal acts, and when these failures contribute to a fatal assault or robbery, the property owner may share liability alongside the criminal perpetrator.
Dangerous premises like construction sites, swimming pools, and abandoned buildings require special precautions, and when property owners fail to secure these areas or warn of hazards, wrongful death claims may arise.
Workplace Accidents claim workers’ lives through construction falls, equipment failures, toxic exposure, and industrial incidents. While workers’ compensation typically provides the exclusive remedy against employers, third parties like equipment manufacturers, subcontractors, or property owners may face wrongful death liability, which allows families to pursue compensation beyond the limited benefits workers’ compensation provides.
Product Liability cases involve defective products, design flaws, and inadequate warnings that cause fatal injuries. Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers may all bear liability when dangerous products reach consumers and cause death, and these cases often involve complex technical evidence and expert testimony to prove the defect existed and caused the fatal injury.
Daycare Wrongful Death cases represent particularly tragic circumstances where supervision failures, unsafe conditions, or abuse lead to a child’s death. Parents trust daycare providers with their children’s safety, and when that trust is betrayed through negligence or intentional harm, wrongful death claims hold these facilities accountable while providing compensation to help families cope with devastating loss.
Understanding what to expect can reduce anxiety during an already difficult time, and knowing the typical stages of a wrongful death case helps you prepare for the road ahead. This section walks through the process from initial consultation through resolution, whether by settlement or trial.
The process begins with an initial consultation where we listen to what happened, review any documentation you have, and evaluate whether you may have a viable claim under Missouri law. We explain Missouri’s wrongful death statute of limitations—three years from the date of death under RSMo §537.100—and discuss who has the right to file under the family member hierarchy, which helps you understand whether you’re the appropriate person to bring the claim and whether time constraints require immediate action.
If you decide to proceed, we launch a thorough investigation, gathering medical records, accident reports, witness statements, employment records, and any other evidence relevant to proving liability and damages. We often work with experts in accident reconstruction, medicine, economics, and other fields to build a compelling case, and this investigation phase can take several weeks to several months depending on the complexity of the circumstances and the cooperation of witnesses and record custodians.
Filing the lawsuit initiates the formal legal process, and in St. Louis, wrongful death cases are typically filed in either the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis or the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, depending on where the death occurred or where the defendant resides. Missouri’s 2018 amendment to RSMo §537.100 requires that we serve the defendant within 180 days of filing, or the case may be dismissed if the statute of limitations has expired, which means prompt service becomes a priority once we file the complaint.
The discovery phase follows, during which both sides exchange information through written questions called interrogatories, document requests, and depositions where witnesses testify under oath. This phase often reveals the strength of each side’s case and frequently leads to settlement discussions, as both parties gain a clearer understanding of the evidence and the likely outcome if the case proceeds to trial.
Settlement negotiations can occur at any point but often intensify after discovery when both sides understand the evidence and the risks of trial. Many wrongful death cases resolve through negotiated settlements, avoiding the time, expense, and uncertainty of trial, though we only recommend settlement when the offer fairly compensates your family for all losses. However, if the insurance company refuses to offer fair compensation, we prepare for trial and present your case to a jury.
Trial preparation involves finalizing expert witnesses, preparing exhibits, and developing the presentation of your case to a jury, and trials in wrongful death cases typically last several days to several weeks depending on complexity. The timeline from filing to resolution averages 12 to 24 months, though complex cases involving multiple defendants, disputed liability, or significant damages may take longer. One practical difference between St. Louis City and County courts involves local procedures and docket management, but both venues provide fair forums for wrongful death claims, and we navigate these procedural requirements while keeping you informed at each stage.
Every wrongful death claim rests on proving that someone’s negligence caused your loved one’s death, and establishing this requires demonstrating four essential elements that form the foundation of any negligence case.
First, we must show the defendant owed your loved one a duty of care, which varies depending on the relationship between the parties. Drivers owe other motorists a duty to follow traffic laws and operate vehicles safely, doctors owe patients a duty to meet medical standards of care, property owners owe visitors a duty to maintain reasonably safe premises, and employers owe workers a duty to provide safe working conditions. The specific duty determines what conduct was required, and establishing this duty forms the foundation for proving the defendant fell short.
Second, we must prove the defendant breached that duty through action or inaction that fell below the required standard. A driver who runs a red light breaches the duty to obey traffic signals, a property owner who ignores a known hazard breaches the duty to maintain safe conditions, and a doctor who misreads clear symptoms breaches the duty to provide competent care. Evidence of this breach often comes from accident reports, witness statements, expert analysis, and documentation of the defendant’s conduct, and Missouri’s 2023 texting-while-driving ban for all drivers under RSMo §304.822 provides another basis for establishing breach when distracted driving contributes to fatal crashes.
Third, we must establish causation—that the breach directly caused your loved one’s death—which often becomes the battleground in wrongful death cases because defendants argue that other factors contributed to or caused the death. Medical records, autopsy reports, and expert testimony typically prove essential in establishing this causal link, and in cases involving property owner liability, we might show how a specific hazard directly led to a fatal fall or how inadequate security enabled a deadly assault that could have been prevented.
Fourth, we must demonstrate damages—the losses your family suffered because of the death—and while the fact of death itself establishes some damages, we must quantify economic losses like medical expenses, funeral costs, and lost income, as well as non-economic losses like loss of companionship and guidance. Missouri’s pure comparative fault system means your recovery may be reduced if your loved one shared some responsibility for the incident, but you can still recover damages even if they bore partial fault, with the jury assigning a percentage of fault to each party and reducing your damages accordingly.
Preserving evidence immediately after a death becomes crucial because memories fade, physical evidence disappears, and witnesses become harder to locate as time passes. Therefore, consulting with an attorney promptly helps ensure critical evidence remains available to support your claim.
Every wrongful death claim rests on proving that someone’s negligence caused your loved one’s death, and establishing this requires demonstrating four essential elements that form the foundation of any negligence case.
Missouri law provides a three-year statute of limitations from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit under RSMo §537.100. This deadline is strictly enforced, and missing it typically bars any recovery, so families must act within this window to preserve their legal rights.
Additionally, a 2018 amendment requires that defendants be served within 180 days of filing, or the case may be dismissed if the statute of limitations has expired, which means prompt action after filing becomes essential.
Illinois has a shorter two-year statute of limitations, making immediate consultation with an attorney essential if the death occurred in Illinois or involves Illinois residents.
When families ask what compensation they might receive, the answer depends on the specific economic and non-economic losses they’ve suffered, and understanding both categories helps you evaluate whether a settlement offer adequately addresses your family’s needs.
Economic Damages compensate for measurable financial losses that your family can document with bills, pay stubs, and other records. Medical expenses incurred before death—including emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgery, and end-of-life care—may be fully recovered, and funeral and burial costs, which can easily exceed $10,000, are also included in economic damages. Lost wages represent the income your loved one would have earned from the date of death through their expected retirement, calculated based on their earning history, age, health, and career trajectory, and loss of benefits like health insurance, retirement contributions, and other employment benefits adds to this total. Loss of household services—the value of cooking, cleaning, childcare, home maintenance, and other contributions your loved one made—can be calculated at 110 percent of the state average weekly wage under Missouri law, which recognizes that replacing these services costs money even when they weren’t previously paid work.
Non-Economic Damages address losses that don’t carry a price tag but profoundly affect your family’s wellbeing and future. Loss of companionship compensates for the relationship you’ve lost—the daily presence, emotional support, and partnership your loved one provided—while loss of guidance and nurturing recognizes what children lose when a parent dies or what a spouse loses in terms of counsel and support. Mental anguish of survivors acknowledges the psychological impact of losing someone you love, though Missouri law prohibits pure grief or bereavement damages, distinguishing between the emotional distress caused by the loss of the relationship and simple sorrow over the death itself.
Punitive Damages may be available when the defendant’s conduct was willfully or wantonly negligent, showing a complete indifference to the rights and safety of others, and these damages punish the wrongdoer and deter similar conduct. Since 2020, Missouri requires clear and convincing evidence to obtain punitive damages—a higher standard than the preponderance of evidence needed for other damages—which means these damages are reserved for the most egregious cases.
For medical malpractice wrongful death cases, Missouri caps non-economic damages at $828,529 as of 2025, an amount that increases annually by 1.7 percent, but this cap does not apply to economic damages or to wrongful death cases outside the medical malpractice context.
Even strong wrongful death claims face obstacles that experienced counsel must anticipate and overcome, and understanding these challenges helps families prepare for what lies ahead.
Delay tactics rank among the most common strategies insurers use because they know that grieving families face financial pressure and may accept lowball offers to resolve immediate needs. They request endless documentation, schedule depositions months out, and generally slow the process hoping you’ll settle cheaply, but we counter this by maintaining pressure through aggressive case development and demonstrating our willingness to try the case if necessary, which often motivates insurers to negotiate more seriously.
Disputes over liability often arise when multiple parties may share fault or when the defendant claims your loved one was primarily responsible for the incident. In premises liability cases, defendants may argue they had no notice of the dangerous condition or that the deceased was trespassing, and we address these defenses through thorough investigation and expert testimony establishing what the defendant knew or should have known about the hazard. Missouri’s pure comparative fault system means even if your loved one bore some responsibility, your family may still recover damages reduced by their percentage of fault, which makes minimizing fault attribution through careful presentation of evidence crucial to maximizing recovery.
Multiple defendants complicate cases but also provide multiple sources of recovery, and when a fatal car accident involves both a negligent driver and a vehicle manufacturer whose defective brakes contributed to the crash, we pursue all liable parties. This requires coordinating claims and sometimes managing conflicts between defendants who blame each other, but it also increases the total compensation available to your family.
Proving future economic losses requires expert testimony projecting what your loved one would have earned over their remaining work life, and defendants challenge these projections, arguing for lower earning potential or shorter work life expectancy. We work with economists who use reliable methodologies and account for factors like education, career trajectory, and industry standards to present credible projections that courts accept.
Government immunity issues arise when the death involves a government entity or employee, and while Missouri has waived sovereign immunity in many contexts, special notice requirements and damage caps may apply. We navigate these requirements to preserve your claim and ensure you don’t lose rights through procedural missteps.
Even strong wrongful death claims face obstacles that experienced counsel must anticipate and overcome, and understanding these challenges helps families prepare for what lies ahead.
Missouri law provides three years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit under RSMo §537.100, and this deadline is strictly enforced, with courts typically barring any recovery if you miss it. Additionally, a 2018 amendment requires that defendants be served within 180 days of filing, or the case may be dismissed if the statute of limitations has expired, which means prompt action becomes essential once you file. Illinois has a shorter two-year statute of limitations, making immediate legal consultation essential if the death occurred in Illinois or involves Illinois residents, and certain exceptions may apply for deaths involving government entities, which sometimes require notice within 90 days, or for cases where the cause of death wasn’t immediately apparent.
Settlement amounts vary significantly based on factors including the deceased’s age, income, family situation, and circumstances of death, and cases can range from hundreds of thousands to several million dollars depending on these variables. Economic damages like lost wages are calculated based on the deceased’s actual earning history and projected future earnings, while non-economic damages for loss of companionship and guidance depend on the specific relationships affected and the evidence presented. According to Missouri law, medical malpractice wrongful death cases are subject to a non-economic damage cap of $828,529 as of 2025, though economic damages remain uncapped, and an experienced attorney can evaluate your specific situation and provide a realistic assessment based on similar cases.
Yes, Missouri follows pure comparative fault rules under common law, which means your recovery may be reduced by your loved one’s percentage of fault, but you can still recover damages even if they bore substantial responsibility for the incident. For example, if total damages are $1 million and your loved one was found 30 percent at fault, your recovery would be $700,000, and this differs from some states that bar recovery if the deceased was more than 50 percent at fault. An experienced attorney can help minimize fault attribution through careful presentation of evidence and expert analysis, protecting your family’s recovery by demonstrating how the defendant’s negligence was the primary cause of death.
A wrongful death claim compensates family members for their losses—lost financial support, loss of companionship, funeral expenses, and other damages the survivors suffer—while a survival action, by contrast, allows the deceased’s estate to recover damages the deceased could have claimed if they had survived, including medical expenses before death, lost wages up to the date of death, and pain and suffering the deceased experienced before dying. Both claims can be pursued simultaneously, and they often are filed together, with the survival action brought by the personal representative of the estate and the wrongful death claim brought by eligible family members under the priority system established in RSMo §537.080.
Missouri law prioritizes distribution to the spouse and children first, then parents if no spouse or children survive, then siblings or their descendants if no closer family exists, and when multiple family members in the same priority class survive, the court determines fair distribution based on each survivor’s losses and dependency on the deceased. Factors considered include the nature of each relationship, financial dependency, and the specific damages each survivor suffered, and settlement proceeds distributed according to a wrongful death claim are typically not subject to estate taxes, though they may be considered in determining eligibility for certain government benefits. The distribution is determined either by agreement among the family members or by court order if they cannot agree, which ensures that those most affected by the loss receive appropriate compensation.
Selecting an attorney is one of the most important decisions your family will make during this difficult time, and the lawyer you choose will shoulder the legal burden while you focus on healing.
Selecting an attorney is one of the most important decisions your family will make during this difficult time, and the lawyer you choose will shoulder the legal burden while you focus on healing.
We serve all of St. Louis County, the City of St. Louis, and Southern Illinois, handling cases in both Missouri and Illinois courts, and whether your loved one died in North St. Louis County, South St. Louis County, or anywhere in the metro area, we’re ready to fight for your family. When you’re ready to discuss your case with an attorney who will treat it as the cause it truly is, call (314) 408-6136 for a free consultation.
Our free consultation helps you understand your rights and options.
