Wash. Rev. Code » Title 4 · Chapter 4.20
Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 4.20.010 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026
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(1) When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of another person, his or her personal representative may maintain an action against the person causing the death for the economic and noneconomic damages sustained by the beneficiaries listed in RCW 4.20.020 as a result of the decedent's death, in such amounts as determined by a trier of fact to be just under all the circumstances of the case.
(2) This section applies regardless of whether or not the death was caused under such circumstances as amount, in law, to a felony.
[ 2019 c 159 s 1; 2011 c 336 s 89; 1917 c 123 s 1; RRS s 183. FORMER PARTS OF SECTION: 1917 c 123 s 3 now codified as RCW 4.20.005. Prior: 1909 c 129 s 1; Code 1881 s 8; 1875 p 4 s 4; 1854 p 220 s 496.]

Notes:

Retroactive application—2019 c 159: "This act is remedial and retroactive and applies to all claims that are not time barred, as well as any claims pending in any court on July 28, 2019." [ 2019 c 159 s 6.]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 120 cases (17 in the last 5 years), 1953–2025 · leading case: Deggs v. Asbestos Corp., 381 P.3d 32 (Wash. 2016).
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Deggs v. Asbestos Corp., 381 P.3d 32 (Wash. 2016). · cites it 7× “Analysis ¶9 ‘When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of another his or her personal representative may maintain an action for damages against the person causing the death.”
Herskovits v. Grp. Health Coop., 664 P.2d 474 (Wash. 1983). · cites it 8× “First, we have never before considered whether the loss or reduction of a chance of survival is a compensable injury.”
Philippides v. Bernard, 88 P.3d 939 (Wash. 2004). · cites it 6× “His sister, as personal representative of his estate, filed a wrongful death action under RCW 4.20.010. Philippides' parents brought an action for loss of consortium under RCW 4.”
Tait v. Wahl, 987 P.2d 127 (Wash. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 12× “Because Tait, her children, and the decedent's non-dependent brother are not beneficiaries under Washington's wrongful death and survival statutes, RCW 4.20.010, -.020, -.046(1), -.060, and the common law does not recognize a cause of action against a person who wrongfully…”
Gray v. Goodson, 378 P.2d 413 (Wash. 1963). · cites it 11× “Thereafter, Effie Woods properly could not institute the wrongful death action against the defendant General Motors Corporation, since RCW 4.20.010 requires that the personal representative maintain the action.”
Philippides v. Bernard, 151 Wash. 2d 376 (Wash. 2004). · cites it 3× “His sister, as personal representative of his estate, filed a wrongful death action under RCW 4.20.010. Philippides’ parents brought an action for loss of consortium under RCW 4.”
Wilson v. Steinbach, 656 P.2d 1030 (Wash. 1982). · cites it 2× “and Jane Doe Steinbach under the wrongful death and survival action statutes, RCW 4.20.010 and RCW 4.20.046. The trial court granted respondents' motion for summary judgment and dismissed the claims.”
Beggs v. Dep't of Soc. & Health Servs., 171 Wash. 2d 69 (Wash. 2011). · cites it 4× “Second tier beneficiaries under the wrongful death statute may recover only if they were dependent on the deceased ¶23 Beggs brought actions under RCW 4.20.010, .020, .046, and .060. The beneficiaries allowed by RCW 4.”
Woodall v. Avalon Care Ctr.-Fed. Way, 231 P.3d 1252 (Wash. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 4× “[48] "`The wrongful death statute, RCW 4.20.010, provides that when the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act of another, his personal representative may maintain an action *1258 for damages against the person causing the death.”
Est. of Dormaier v. Columbia Basin Anesthesia, PLLC, 177 Wash. App. 828 (Wash. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 4× “, concurring), a plurality of our Supreme Court recognized a medical patient’s lost chance of survival as an actionable injury under the wrongful death statute, RCW 4.20.010. The plaintiff alleged the defendant’s negligent failure to diagnose the decedent’s lung cancer “ led to…”
Deggs v. Asbestos Corp., 354 P.3d 1 (Wash. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 6× “¶11 RCW 4.20.010 is the wrongful death statute: When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of another his or her personal representative *500 may maintain an action for damages against the person causing the death.”
Kellogg v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp., 504 P.3d 796 (Wash. 2022). · cites it 4× “7 Although RCW 4.20.010 was amended at the same time as RCW 4.”
Show all 120 citing cases →
— Wash. Rev. Code § 4.20.010(1) — 9 cases
Kellogg v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp., 504 P.3d 796 (Wash. 2022). “7 Although RCW 4.20.010 was amended at the same time as RCW 4.”
Burrows v. 3M Co. (W.D. Wash. 2020).
Est. of Wangsheng Leng v. Lucht (W.D. Wash. 2020).
Burrows v. 3M Co. (W.D. Wash. 2021).
Dold v. Snohomish Cnty. (W.D. Wash. 2021).
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