Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106 (2026)
Injury resulting in death - Succession to cause of action - Beneficiaries
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) The right of action that a person who dies from injuries received from another, or whose death is caused by the wrongful act, omission, or killing by another, would have had against the wrongdoer, in case death had not ensued, shall not abate or be extinguished by the person's death but shall pass to the person's surviving spouse and, in case there is no surviving spouse, to the person's children or next of kin; to the person's personal representative, for the benefit of the person's surviving spouse or next of kin; to the person's natural parents or parent or next of kin if at the time of death decedent was in the custody of the natural parents or parent and had not been legally surrendered or abandoned by them pursuant to any court order removing such person from the custody of such parents or parent; or otherwise to the person's legally adoptive parents or parent, or to the administrator for the use and benefit of the adoptive parents or parent; the funds recovered in either case to be free from the claims of creditors.
- (b) In any case involving a beneficiary who is a minor or who is legally incompetent, if the court finds it is in the best interest of the beneficiary, the court in its discretion may authorize all or any portion of the funds recovered for the beneficiary to be added to any trust or trusts established for the benefit of the beneficiary, wherever situated, whether the trust was created by the person whose death was caused by the wrongful action or omission or by any other person. The funds recovered shall be for the benefit of the beneficiary and shall be free from the claims of creditors.
- (c)
- (1) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the right to institute and the right to collect any proceeds from a wrongful death action granted by this section to a surviving spouse shall be waived, if the children or next of kin establish the surviving spouse has abandoned the deceased spouse as described in § 36-4-101(a)(13) or otherwise willfully withdrawn for a period of two (2) years.
- (2) If the period of two (2) years has passed since the time of abandonment or willful withdrawal, then there is created a rebuttable presumption that the surviving spouse abandoned the deceased spouse for purposes of this section.
- (3) In an action under this section, the child or next of kin shall serve the surviving spouse with process as provided in the rules of civil procedure or by constructive service as may otherwise be provided by law.
- (d) As used in this section, the word "person" includes an unborn child at any stage of gestation in utero.
Amended by 2021 Tenn. Acts, ch. 379, s 2, eff. 5/11/2021.
Code 1858, § 2291 (deriv. Acts 1849-1850, ch. 58, § 1; 1851-1852, ch. 17); Acts 1871, ch. 78, § 1; Shan., § 4025; Code 1932, §8236; Acts 1945, ch. 58, § 1; mod. C. Supp. 1950, § 8236; Acts 1953, ch. 210, § 1; 1959, ch. 240, § 1; 1975, ch. 284, § 1; 1978, ch. 742, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 20-607; Acts 1991, ch. 196, §1; 1998, ch. 866, §1; 2011 , ch. 366, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 157
cases (43 in the last 5 years), 1982–2026 · leading case: Timmins v. Lindsey, 310 S.W.3d 834 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009).
Timmins v. Lindsey, 310 S.W.3d 834 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009). “Tennessee’s wrongful death statutes, Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 20-5-106 — 113, are also survival statutes; they are distinguished, however, from the other survival statutes because, in addition to preserving whatever cause of action was vested in the decedent at the time of death, they…”
Woo-Jun Ki v. State, 78 S.W.3d 876 (Tenn. 2002). “§ 9-8-307(e) in context with the relevant wrongful death statutes, Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-5-106 and Tenn.Code Ann.”
Hathaway v. Middle Tennessee Anesthesiology, 724 S.W.2d 355 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1986). “This rule was changed in Tennessee when the General Assembly enacted Chapter 17, Public Acts of 1851 which is now codified at Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106 . This statute creates no new right of action but merely keeps alive the right the deceased would have had and passes it to…”
Foster v. Jeffers, 813 S.W.2d 449 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1991). “The nephews brought a wrongful death action against Howard four days after Margaret’s death, but their complaint was dismissed because the court found that pursuant to T.C.A. § 20-5-106, the right of action Margaret would have had, had she survived, passes to Wayne, as surviving…”
Jordan v. Baptist Three Rivers Hosp., 984 S.W.2d 593 (Tenn. 1999). “; nor shall any right of action arising hereafter based on the wrongful act or omission of another, except actions for wrongs affecting the character, be abated by the death of the party wronged; but the right of action shall pass in like manner as [described in Tenn.Code Ann. §…”
Jeremy Flax v. Daimler-Chrysler Corp., 272 S.W.3d 521 (Tenn. 2008). “2002); see also Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106 (Supp. 2006). “Although the living beneficiaries of the action may seek a limited recovery for their own losses in addition to those of the decedent, the right of action itself remains one that is ‘single, entire[,] and indivisible.”
White Ex Rel. Est. of White v. Lawrence, 975 S.W.2d 525 (Tenn. 1998). “See Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-5-106 ("The right of action which a person, who dies from injuries received from another .”
Epperson v. City of Humboldt, 140 F. Supp. 3d 676 (W.D. Tenn. 2015). “Under § 20-5-106, [t]he right of action that a person who dies from injuries received from another, or whose death is caused by the wrongful act, omission, or killing by another,' would have had against the wrongdoer, in case death had not ensued, shall not abate or be…”
Brittany Noel Nelson v. Charles W. Myres, 545 S.W.3d 428 (Tenn. 2018). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106 (c). The legislature has also included a provision that parents cannot recover for the wrongful death of a child if the parent had essentially abandoned the child.”
Mangrum v. Owens, 917 S.W.2d 244 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1995). “In so holding, this Court found that T.C.A. § 20-5-106 does not provide for any preference to one natural parent over the other in connection with a right of action for wrongful death of a minor child.”
Tatum v. Schering Corp., 523 So. 2d 1042 (Ala. 1988). “Code Ann. § 2125.01 (Page 1976); Okla.Stat.Ann.”
Thompson Ex Rel. Thompson v. Crawford, 833 S.W.2d 868 (Mo. 1992). “Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-5-106 (Supp.1991); Jones v.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106(a) — 32 cases
Woo-Jun Ki v. State, 78 S.W.3d 876 (Tenn. 2002). “§ 9-8-307(e) in context with the relevant wrongful death statutes, Tenn.Code Ann. § 20-5-106 and Tenn.Code Ann.”
Epperson v. City of Humboldt, 140 F. Supp. 3d 676 (W.D. Tenn. 2015). “Under § 20-5-106, [t]he right of action that a person who dies from injuries received from another, or whose death is caused by the wrongful act, omission, or killing by another,' would have had against the wrongdoer, in case death had not ensued, shall not abate or be…”
Foster v. Jeffers, 813 S.W.2d 449 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1991). “The nephews brought a wrongful death action against Howard four days after Margaret’s death, but their complaint was dismissed because the court found that pursuant to T.C.A. § 20-5-106, the right of action Margaret would have had, had she survived, passes to Wayne, as surviving…”
Brittany Noel Nelson v. Charles W. Myres, 545 S.W.3d 428 (Tenn. 2018). “Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106 (c). The legislature has also included a provision that parents cannot recover for the wrongful death of a child if the parent had essentially abandoned the child.”
Jordan v. Baptist Three Rivers Hosp., 984 S.W.2d 593 (Tenn. 1999). “; nor shall any right of action arising hereafter based on the wrongful act or omission of another, except actions for wrongs affecting the character, be abated by the death of the party wronged; but the right of action shall pass in like manner as [described in Tenn.Code Ann. §…”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106(b) — 4 cases
Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee v. Sundquist, 38 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2000).
Kenneth M. Spires v. Haley Reece Simpson (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016).
Kenneth M. Spires v. Haley Reece Simpson (Tenn. Ct. App. 2016).
Gloria Spivey v. James Robinson (Tenn. Ct. App. 1997).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106(c) — 7 cases
Hollis v. Doerflinger, 137 S.W.3d 625 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003).
Miller Ex Rel. Miller v. Dacus, 231 S.W.3d 903 (Tenn. 2007).
Ankrom v. State, 152 So. 3d 397 (Ala. 2013).
Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee v. Sundquist, 38 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2000).
In Re Est. of Dante Lamar Edmonds (Tenn. Ct. App. 2019).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106(c)(1) — 3 cases
In Re Est. of Dante Lamar Edmonds (Tenn. Ct. App. 2019).
Merrell v. City of Harriman, Tennessee (TV1) (E.D. Tenn. 2023).
Smith v. Meigs Cnty. Gov't (E.D. Tenn. 2024).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106(c)(2) — 1 case
Latony Baugh v. United Parcel Serv., Inc. (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106(c)(2009) — 1 case
In Re Benjamin M., 310 S.W.3d 844 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106(c)(3) — 2 cases
In Re Est. of Dante Lamar Edmonds (Tenn. Ct. App. 2019).
Merrell v. City of Harriman, Tennessee (TV1) (E.D. Tenn. 2023).
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 20-5-106(d) — 2 cases
Tarinika Smith v. Church Mut. Ins. Co., 254 So. 3d 57 (Miss. 2018).
Castro v. Melchor, 366 P.3d 1058 (Haw. App. 2016).
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