Oregon Wrongful Death Attorney

Under ORS 30.020, a wrongful death lawsuit in Oregon must be filed by the personal representative of the deceased’s estate. The personal representative is typically appointed by the court and is often a surviving spouse, adult child, or parent. The lawsuit is brought on behalf of the decedent’s surviving family members, and damages are distributed among eligible beneficiaries as determined by the court.

Families may recover damages for the decedent’s pain and suffering prior to death, lost wages and future earning capacity, funeral and burial expenses, loss of companionship, and emotional distress suffered by surviving family members. Economic damages have no cap in Oregon. Non-economic damages are capped at $500,000 by ORS 31.710, which since a 2021 amendment applies only to wrongful death claims — it does not apply to claims under the Oregon Tort Claims Act or the workers’ compensation statutes, and it does not cap punitive damages. That cap is the statutory default but is open to an as-applied challenge under the remedy clause of the Oregon Constitution; the Court of Appeals sustained it in Estate of James Ritchie v. Helbig (2026) and held it unconstitutional as applied on the facts of Estate of Grant Raymond Fisher v. Lee (2026). Punitive damages may also be available under ORS 31.730 when the defendant acted with malice or reckless and outrageous indifference.

You may have a valid wrongful death claim if your loved one’s death resulted from another party’s negligence—whether through medical malpractice, a car or trucking accident, or another preventable incident. Under ORS 30.020, the claim must show that the death was caused by a wrongful act, neglect, or default of another party. The period in ORS 30.020(1) runs three years from the discovery of the injury that caused the death, and in no case later than the earliest of three years after the death or the longest statute of ultimate repose that applies to the underlying act.

When the defendant is an Oregon public body — OHSU (a public corporation under ORS 353.020), a county hospital, or a state-employed provider — the Oregon Tort Claims Act applies. ORS 30.275(2)(a) requires written notice to the public defendant within one year of the alleged loss or injury — not one year from the date of death — and the OTCA damages caps govern recovery: ORS 30.271 for the state and for OHSU, ORS 30.272 for county hospitals and other local public bodies. Federally Qualified Health Centers are different: if the clinic and its providers have been deemed federal employees under the Federally Supported Health Centers Assistance Act, the case becomes a Federal Tort Claims Act matter against the United States, with its own SF-95 administrative claim process. Identifying the correct defendant in the first weeks of the case is critical — a misfiled claim can run out the notice or limitations window before the procedural error is found.