Contra Costa County · Wrongful Death
Wrongful death lawyers serving Brentwood
Far East County should not mean far from help. We bring the legal process to your family — and carry all of it, from the first records request to the final resolution.
A wrongful death claim will not be the first thing on your family's mind, and it should not have to be. California law gives certain family members — generally a surviving spouse or domestic partner and children — the right to recover for what a negligent death takes from them. Our work is to protect that right quietly, completely, and on the law's schedule, so that your family can live on its own.
Oguz Injury Lawyers LLP represents Brentwood families from our office in Walnut Creek. The distance is ours to manage: we begin by phone or video, travel to East County when meeting in person helps, and work in English, Spanish, Turkish, and Mandarin Chinese. A first conversation is free and carries no obligation.
From the day a family retains us, we preserve the evidence, obtain the investigation and coroner's records, identify every responsible party and insurance policy, and protect every deadline. The insurers deal with our office, not your household. There is no fee unless we recover.
What shapes a Brentwood case
Brentwood's cases often begin on roads that sit outside city jurisdiction. Vasco Road's rural stretch toward Livermore, the unincorporated agricultural roads around the city's edges, and the Highway 4 Bypass corridor are investigated by the California Highway Patrol; incidents on Brentwood's own streets — Balfour Road, Sand Creek Road, Brentwood Boulevard — are documented by the Brentwood Police Department. The county coroner's office examines every sudden death. Which agency investigated determines where the records live and how quickly they can be obtained, and chasing them down is our job, not yours.
Road cases from this part of the county frequently raise a question with a short fuse: whether the road itself — its design, its lighting, its maintenance — played a role. Where a public entity may share responsibility, California generally requires a formal claim within six months, and rural two-lane corridors are precisely where that question deserves early, serious evaluation. Other cases begin on private property or at work, where a claim against a negligent third party can exist alongside workers' compensation.
The venue for a Brentwood lawsuit is the Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez, across the county. We make that distance irrelevant to your family: appearances are ours to handle, and the great majority of cases resolve by settlement before any trial.
California wrongful death law, plainly stated
- The deadline for a wrongful death claim in California is generally two years from the date of death, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
- If a public entity bears responsibility — a government vehicle, a dangerous public road or property — a government claim generally must be presented within six months. This shorter deadline surprises grieving families constantly, and missing it can end the claim.
- Eligible claimants are defined by law: generally the surviving spouse or domestic partner and children first, then those entitled to the estate through intestate succession if there is no surviving spouse or issue.
- Pure comparative negligence applies: if the person who died was partly at fault, the family's recovery is reduced proportionally — not eliminated.
- A criminal prosecution, if any, is separate from the civil claim. The family's wrongful death case proceeds independently, under a different standard of proof, whatever the criminal outcome.
Frequently asked questions
How long do we have to act?
Generally two years from the date of death under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 — but if a public entity may be responsible, including through the condition of a public road, a claim generally must be presented within six months. Deadlines are the one part of this process that cannot wait for grief, which is why confirming them early — a free conversation — matters.
Who is allowed to bring the claim?
California statute sets the order: generally the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and children; if there are none, those who would inherit under intestate succession — often parents or siblings — and certain financially dependent household members. Real families rarely map neatly onto statutes; eligibility deserves an individual answer, and asking costs nothing.
What if a criminal case comes out of what happened?
Your family's civil claim stands on its own. It has a different purpose, a different standard of proof, and its own deadlines that keep running regardless of any prosecution. A conviction is not required, and an acquittal does not end the civil case. The two tracks are independent.
How do the costs work?
The consultation is free, the firm advances every case cost, and our fee is contingent — paid only out of a recovery. If there is no recovery, your family owes nothing at all.
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The case review is free and confidential, and you pay nothing unless we win. Tell us what happened, and we will tell you honestly where you stand.