Alameda County · Wrongful Death
Wrongful death lawyers serving Fremont families
Your family's claim deserves the same seriousness the other side's insurers bring from day one. We provide it — quietly, thoroughly, and at no cost unless we recover.
When negligence takes a life, California law gives certain family members a wrongful death claim — generally the surviving spouse or domestic partner and children first. The claim recognizes that the loss is not abstract: it is missing income, a missing partner, a missing parent. Pursuing it is detailed, deadline-bound work, and it is work we take on completely so that your family does not have to.
Oguz Injury Lawyers LLP represents Fremont families from our East Bay office in Walnut Creek. We bridge the distance rather than asking you to: conversations begin by phone or video, we meet in person when it helps, and we work in English, Spanish, Turkish, and Mandarin Chinese. The first conversation is free and without obligation.
From the first day on a case we preserve the evidence, obtain the investigation and coroner's records, identify every responsible party and insurance policy, and protect every deadline — including the six-month rule that applies when a public entity may be involved. There is no fee unless we recover for your family.
The course of a Fremont case
Fremont stretches for miles, and jurisdiction stretches with it. Fatal crashes on I-880 or I-680, and on Niles Canyon Road — the winding state-highway stretch of Highway 84 toward Sunol — are investigated by the California Highway Patrol, which assigns specialized reconstruction teams to the most serious collisions. Incidents on the city's own boulevards — Fremont Boulevard, Mission Boulevard through town, Auto Mall Parkway — are documented by the Fremont Police Department, with the Alameda County coroner's bureau conducting its own examination. We obtain each record and test it against independent evidence gathered while it still exists.
The cases arise across the city's different worlds: on the interstates that carry commuters and heavy commercial traffic along the west side; at the big signalized intersections where most local collisions concentrate; on roads whose design or condition may itself be part of the story — a question that, if it implicates a public entity, triggers a six-month claim deadline; and in the industrial districts, where a workplace death can support a civil claim against a negligent third party alongside workers' compensation.
A Fremont wrongful death lawsuit is filed in the Alameda County Superior Court, whose civil courts sit in Oakland. Appearing there is our job, not your family's, and the great majority of well-prepared cases resolve by settlement before any courtroom is needed.
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 bring a wrongful death claim?
Generally two years from the date of death, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. If a public entity may share responsibility — a government vehicle, or the design or condition of a public road — a formal claim is generally required within six months. Deadlines are the one thing in this process that will not wait, so we confirm them for every family in a first, free conversation.
Who does California allow to bring the claim?
Generally the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and the children; if there are none, the right passes to those who would inherit under intestate succession — frequently parents or siblings — and certain financially dependent household members may also qualify. Modern families raise genuine eligibility questions, and they deserve precise answers before anything is filed.
Does a criminal case have to happen for us to recover?
No. The civil claim stands entirely on its own: it requires no charges and no conviction, uses a lower standard of proof, and proceeds on its own schedule regardless of what happens — or does not happen — in criminal court.
What does your representation cost?
Nothing unless we recover. The consultation is free, the firm advances all case costs, and our fee is contingent on the result. 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.