Denver Wrongful Death Lawyer

Losing someone you love to another person’s carelessness — whether in a highway crash, a construction site fall, or neglect at a Denver nursing home — is a grief no amount of money can undo. In the middle of that heartbreak, the law still imposes deadlines, and no family should have to face an insurer while they are barely getting through each day. When you are ready, a Denver personal injury lawyer can carry that legal weight for you.

• 20+ years beside grieving families: Levine Law founder Jordan S. Levine and our Denver attorneys have stood with Colorado families for more than two decades. Learn about the firm and the people who would handle your case.
• Results for families: The firm has secured multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements for injured people and their families, and our client reviews reflect the care behind that work.
• From crashes to unsafe property: From car accident cases to dangerous property and workplace deaths — on contingency, so your family pays no fee unless we win.
• A free, private consultation: Reach our Denver office at 303-333-8000, and see the awards and recognition our attorneys have earned.

Deadlines are especially important here. Colorado gives most families two years from the date of death to file, and four years if a hit-and-run driver fled. For deaths arising in 2025 or later, wrongful-death non-economic damages are capped at $2,125,000, or a family may elect a fixed solatium of $135,990 — so acting early protects both key evidence and your family’s options.

What should you do after a wrongful death in Denver?

Protect the record and your family’s legal rights before evidence is lost. That means getting the official report, keeping medical and money records, and talking with a lawyer before you sign anything from an insurer.

The early days are overwhelming. Still, a few steps can protect a future claim:

• Get the official report. If the death followed a crash, C.R.S. § 42-4-1606 requires a prompt report, and the Denver Police or the Colorado State Patrol will complete a crash report (form DR 3447). For a fatal workplace, property, or medical incident, ask for the incident report or records from the place involved.
• Keep every document. Hospital records, the death certificate, funeral and burial bills, and pay records all help show the losses your family suffered.
• Save physical evidence. Vehicles, faulty products, or property conditions can be fixed or thrown out within days. A quick letter from a lawyer asking that evidence be preserved can stop that.
• Do not give a recorded statement or sign a release from the at-fault party’s insurer until you have talked with a lawyer. Early statements are often used to shift blame or shrink a claim. If witnesses saw what happened, note their names and numbers — their accounts matter most when the parties’ stories do not match.

  
  

What actually happens after a fatal accident in Denver?

The process moves slower than families expect, while insurers move fast. Crash and incident reports from the Denver Police can take several days to finish. Records from Denver Health Medical Center, or an autopsy through the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner, may take longer still.

Meanwhile, the at-fault party’s insurer often calls the family within days. The tone may be kind, and an offer may come early. But those early offers come before anyone knows the full value of the loss. Accepting one — or giving a recorded statement — can permanently limit what your family can recover. It is fine to share only basic facts and to decline to sign anything until you have a lawyer.

What are the most common causes of wrongful death claims in Denver?

Most Denver wrongful death claims come from the same preventable carelessness that causes serious injuries. Here are the situations we see most:

• Motor vehicle crashes — fatal car, truck, and motorcycle crashes on fast roads like I-25, I-70, and the I-25/I-70 interchange known as “the Mousetrap”.
• Pedestrian deaths — a rising danger in Denver. City officials reported 35 pedestrian deaths in 2025, up from 26 in 2024, many along roads like Federal Boulevard and Colfax Avenue.
• Dangerous property — fatal falls, building failures, drownings, or poor security. These may fall under Colorado’s Premises Liability Act — the law about a property owner’s duty to keep the place safe.
• Medical negligence — preventable mistakes in diagnosis, surgery, or treatment.
• Workplace incidents — construction falls, equipment failures, and other on-the-job deaths.

Fatal negligence is common on Front Range roads. As of 2026, city officials report that Denver’s pedestrian deaths keep rising, part of a broader safety problem the City tracks through its Vision Zero crash dashboard.

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Who can file a wrongful death claim in Colorado?

Colorado law limits who may file and when, on a strict year-by-year schedule under C.R.S. § 13-21-201. Knowing where your family fits in that order is often the first legal question in a Denver wrongful death case.

• First year after death — only the surviving spouse may file (the spouse may let the children join).
• Second year after death — the surviving spouse, the children, or the deceased person’s heirs may file.
• If there is no surviving spouse or children — the parents of the deceased may file.
• Designated beneficiary — a person named under Colorado’s Designated Beneficiary Agreement Act may also qualify to bring the claim.

So timing and family ties directly control who has the legal right to sue — what the law calls “standing”. The wrong person or the wrong timing can sink an otherwise valid claim. That is why confirming who may file is so important early on.

Who is liable for a wrongful death in Denver?

Fault comes down to negligence — being careless. Any person or company whose careless or wrongful conduct caused the death can be held responsible. Depending on the case, more than one party may share the blame.

• Careless drivers — the most common defendants in fatal-crash cases.
• Employers — an employer can be responsible for its worker. So a company may share the blame when a work or delivery driver causes a fatal crash, or when unsafe job conditions cause a death.
• Property owners and managers — responsible for deadly hazards on their property under Colorado’s Premises Liability Act, the law about an owner’s duty to keep the place safe.
• Product makers — when a faulty vehicle part, machine, or product played a part in the death.
• Government agencies — the City and County of Denver, the Regional Transportation District (RTD), or the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) may be at fault for a bad road design or a transit death. These claims fall under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act. That law says you must give written notice within 182 days (C.R.S. § 24-10-109).

Colorado uses a rule called modified comparative negligence (C.R.S. § 13-21-111) — a rule for how blame gets split. If the person who died is found 49% or less at fault, the payment drops by that share. At 50% or more, the family recovers nothing. Insurers know this. So shifting blame onto the person who died is a common defense move.

Attorney insight: what makes Denver wrongful death cases complex?

Unlike an ordinary injury case, a wrongful death claim turns first on strict rules for who may file and when — a wrong choice can sink it.

What makes Denver wrongful death claims hard:

• Who may file is limited year by year. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-201, only the surviving spouse may file in the first year; the spouse, children, or heirs may file in the second; parents may file if there is no spouse or children. Filing out of order — what the law calls standing — can defeat a valid claim.
• A separate survival action may run alongside the claim. The estate can bring a survival action (C.R.S. § 13-20-101) for what the person suffered before death, such as pre-death medical bills and pain. It is a distinct claim from the family’s wrongful death case, and both can move forward together.
• The damages choice is a major financial decision. For 2025 claims, wrongful death non-economic damages are capped at $2,125,000, or the family may elect a fixed solatium of $135,990 under C.R.S. § 13-21-203.5. Solatium needs no proof of grief and is not reduced by any fault blamed on the person who died.
• A government vehicle or road adds a 182-day deadline. If an RTD bus, a City of Denver vehicle, or a dangerous public road played a part, the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (C.R.S. § 24-10-109) requires written notice within 182 days. Many fatal pedestrian and transit cases involve public roads, so this deadline is easy to miss.
• Fault blamed on the person who died can cut the recovery. Under Colorado’s modified comparative negligence rule (C.R.S. § 13-21-111), the family recovers nothing if the deceased is found 50% or more at fault. Insurers press this hard, arguing the person was speeding, jaywalking, or otherwise to blame.

Being ready for trial means saving physical and digital evidence, working with medical, forensic, and economic experts, documenting the full financial and personal loss, and preparing every case as if it may go before a jury.

What damages can a family recover in a Colorado wrongful death claim?

A Colorado wrongful death claim can recover two kinds of money. Economic damages cover losses you can add up, like lost support. Non-economic damages cover grief and lost companionship. Colorado also allows a separate claim, called a survival action, brought by the estate.

Economic damages usually include:

• Lost financial support the person would have provided to the family.
• Lost benefits, such as health insurance, retirement contributions, and services the person provided.
• Funeral and burial costs.

Non-economic damages cover grief, the loss of companionship, and loss of consortium — the loss of the relationship itself.

Legal note on Colorado’s wrongful death damages

For claims that arise on or after January 1, 2025, Colorado caps wrongful death non-economic damages at $2,125,000 under HB 24-1472. Economic damages, like lost support and funeral costs, have no cap. Note this is a higher cap than the $1.5 million limit that applies to a personal injury claim. 

As another choice, a family may elect solatium — a fixed grief payment of $135,990 set by statute (C.R.S. § 13-21-203.5). With solatium, the family does not have to prove the amount of grief and loss, and the payment is not cut by any fault blamed on the person who died. 

Separately, a survival action— a claim brought by the estate (C.R.S. § 13-20-101) — can recover what the person suffered before death, such as pre-death medical bills and pain. Choosing between proving grief and electing the fixed solatium is a big decision, and one best made with a lawyer.

How long do you have to file a wrongful death claim in Colorado?

You usually have two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Colorado (C.R.S. § 13-80-102(1)(d)). Miss this deadline, and the claim is usually barred for good.

One important exception applies. If the death was caused by a hit-and-run or vehicular homicide in which the driver fled, Colorado gives the family four years. Deadlines can also change when children are involved. So it is smart to confirm your family’s exact deadline early.

Pitfall alert: the government-claim deadline is far shorter

Did the death involve an RTD bus, a City of Denver vehicle, or a dangerous road? Then a much shorter clock applies. Under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, you must give written notice within 182 days of finding out about the death. Miss it, and the claim is barred for good, no matter how much of the two-year window is left. So many fatal pedestrian and transit incidents involve public roads or vehicles that this deadline is easy to miss while a family is grieving.

Why do you need a wrongful death lawyer in Denver?

A lawyer levels the field against insurers and companies that are built to pay as little as possible. That matters most in fatal cases, where the losses are severe, fault is often fought over, and the family should not have to negotiate while grieving.

• Insurance companies guard their profits, often by fighting fault or downplaying the value of a life.
• Fatal claims often involve several parties — more than one driver, an employer, or a government agency — and overlapping insurance policies.
• Proving lost financial support and non-economic losses takes careful financial analysis and records.

Opponent playbook

Insurers often press a grieving family for a fast, low settlement before anyone knows the full value of the loss. They may dispute who was at fault, or downplay what the family lost. These offers can come within days of the death, when families are least ready to weigh them. A lawyer counters by fully documenting both the economic loss, like lost support and benefits, and the non-economic loss, and by weighing whether the fixed solatium is the better option. Most of all, the lawyer handles the insurer directly, so your family does not have to.

In fatal crashes on I-25, I-70, or at high-crash intersections like South Santa Fe Drive and West Alameda Avenue, insurers often argue the person who died was partly to blame — speeding, jaywalking, or reacting slowly. Under Colorado’s 50% rule, shifting enough blame onto the person who died can reduce or even wipe out the family’s recovery. So this is where the fight usually happens. A lawyer pushes back by locking down the DR 3447 report, scene evidence, vehicle “black box” data, and witnesses before that evidence is lost, and by hiring economists to document the full financial loss.

What does the wrongful death claim process look like?

Wrongful death claims follow the same basic steps: a free meeting, an investigation, a demand for payment, and negotiations. If the other side will not be fair, the next step is filing a lawsuit in Denver District Court.

Here is how the process works:

1. Free consultation: We meet to review what happened, decide who can legally file the claim, and make sure we meet all deadlines.
2. Investigation: We collect police reports, medical files, financial records, photos, and witness statements to build your case.
3. Negotiation: We send a formal request for payment to the insurance company, often using an expert’s report to show the financial impact on your family.
4. Settlement or trial: If the insurance company refuses to offer a fair amount, we will file a lawsuit at the Second Judicial District (Denver District Court, 1437 Bannock St) and prepare to take your case to trial.

The time this takes depends on how complicated your case is and how busy the court is.

How do you choose the right Denver wrongful death lawyer?

Look for real experience with fatal-injury cases, knowledge of Denver courts and insurers, clear and caring communication, and true trial readiness — not marketing slogans.

• Does the firm have relevant experience?

For more than 20 years, Levine Law has represented families and injured people across the Denver metro — in wrongful-death, catastrophic-injury, and motor vehicle claims. The firm’s results include a $1.3 million settlement for a driver hit by a red-light runner and a $770,000 verdict in a truck crash (see case results; past results do not guarantee future outcomes). A track record with serious cases matters far more than advertising.

• Do they know the local courts and insurers?

Choose a lawyer who knows how cases move through Denver District Court (Colorado’s Second Judicial District) and how Front Range insurers work. Levine Law is based in Denver’s Cherry Creek area. Founding partner Jordan S. Levine helped set Colorado law on holding insurers accountable in Crowell v. ICAO — the same insurer accountability that shapes many fatal claims.

• Are they ready to go to trial?

The strongest settlements often come when the insurer knows your lawyer is ready to try the case. Levine Law’s attorneys hold an AV Preeminent rating — Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer rating for a lawyer’s legal ability and ethical standards — and have been recognized by Super Lawyers and the National Trial Lawyers (these recognitions reflect each group’s own selection criteria).

• Are the fees clear?

Levine Law works on a contingency, “No Win, No Fee” basis — no attorney’s fee unless the firm recovers for your family — and consultations are free. Ask any lawyer to explain, in writing, how fees and costs come out of a recovery.

Client testimonials

Levine Law’s clients often describe steady, caring communication during difficult times.

“This injury has impacted my life in ways that I never could have imagined, and to have some closure brings me and my family great peace.” — Kim M., client testimonial

You can read more verified reviews on our Levine Law Reviews page.

Disclaimer: Client reviews are individual experiences and are not a guarantee of any particular result.

Case results that reflect real experience

Nothing can restore a life, but holding the responsible party accountable can steady the family left behind. Levine Law has done that at trial, and has fought for others who survived catastrophic harm:

• $3.7 million verdict — An 88-year-old woman went to a nursing home for short-term recovery care. The staff did not properly clean or check her medical tube, which led to a serious infection that caused her death.
• $2.6 million settlement — A rollover crash left a mechanic partially paralyzed, and the insurer tried to deny the benefits.
• $925,000 settlement — A pedestrian was struck by a driver who ran a red light and suffered two broken legs.

More outcomes are listed on our Cases & Verdicts page.

Disclaimer: Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome; every case is decided on its own facts.

Areas served

Levine Law represents grieving families throughout the Denver metro and Front Range, including:

• Aurora
• Lakewood
• Glendale
• Boulder
• Colorado Springs
• Fort Collins
• Loveland

We also handle the causes behind many fatal claims, including car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, and premises liability.

Local resources

Hospitals & Emergency Care in Denver

• Denver Health Medical Center — the only Level I trauma center in the City of Denver; 777 Bannock St, Denver, CO 80204
• Saint Joseph Hospital — 1375 E 19th Ave, Denver, CO 80218
• HCA HealthONE Rose Medical Center — 4567 E 9th Ave, Denver, CO 80220
• HCA HealthONE Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center — 1719 E 19th Ave, Denver, CO 80218

Reports & agencies

• Colorado DMV — Crash Records — request your Colorado Traffic Crash Report (DR 3447). Denver Police Records line: 720-913-6029
• Colorado DMV — Report a Crash
• Denver Vision Zero — Crash Data Dashboard

Courts

• Denver District Court (Second Judicial District) — City and County Building, 1437 Bannock St, Denver, CO 80202

Disclaimer: We provide these resources for convenience only; we do not endorse or profit from them.

Frequently asked questions

Who can file a wrongful death claim in Colorado?

Colorado picks one person to file first so a grieving family is not stuck with several lawsuits fighting over the same death. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-201, the surviving spouse gets the first say — for the first year after the death, only the spouse may file. This gives the person closest to the deceased time to decide what to do, without pressure from other relatives. If a year goes by and no one has filed, the spouse, the children, or other heirs may step in during year two. If the person who died had no spouse and no children, the parents may file instead. A person named under Colorado’s Designated Beneficiary Agreement Act may also qualify. Wrongful death cases in the Denver area are filed in Denver District Court.

How long do I have to file a wrongful death claim in Colorado?

You usually have two years from the date of death under C.R.S. § 13-80-102(1)(d). If the death came from a hit-and-run or vehicular homicide where the driver fled, the deadline grows to four years. Claims against public agencies like RTD need written notice within 182 days.

What is a survival action, and how is it different?

A survival action (C.R.S. § 13-20-101) is a claim brought by the estate to recover what the person suffered before death, such as pre-death medical bills. A wrongful death claim pays the surviving family for their own losses. Both can move forward together in the Second Judicial District.

How much is a Denver wrongful death case worth?

It depends on lost financial support, benefits, funeral costs, and non-economic losses. For claims that arise on or after January 1, 2025, Colorado caps wrongful death non-economic damages at $2,125,000 under HB 24-1472. Or a family may choose a fixed grief payment (solatium) of $135,990. Economic damages have no cap.

What is solatium in a Colorado wrongful death case?

If your family loses a loved one, you may be able to get money for your grief and the loss of your family member’s companionship. In Colorado, there is a special option called “solatium.” Solatium is a set amount of money—$135,990 for cases starting on or after January 1, 2025—that a family can choose to take instead of having to prove the exact amount of their grief in court. Choosing this option has a key benefit: even if the other side argues that your loved one was partly at fault for the accident, this payment will not be reduced. It is a fixed amount that does not change based on who is blamed for what happened. This is a big decision, so it is helpful to talk to a lawyer about whether this is the right choice for your family.

Contact a Denver wrongful death lawyer today

If your family has lost a loved one to someone else’s negligence in the Denver area, Levine Law is available 24/7 to review your claim and explain your options at no cost.

Call 303-333-8000 or contact us online for a free, no-obligation consultation.

Attorney Review Disclosure

This content has been reviewed by the attorneys at Levine Law to help ensure its accuracy and compliance with applicable Colorado law. Legal services are provided by attorneys licensed to practice in the State of Colorado.

Denver Office
Levine Law LLC
4500 Cherry Creek S Dr #400
Denver, CO 80246
24/7 Hotline: (303) 333-8000

Other Cases We Take On

Beyond wrongful death, Levine Law helps injured Coloradans across a range of practice areas:

• Car Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Motorcycle Accidents
• Uber & Lyft / Rideshare Accidents
• Pedestrian Accidents
• Bicycle Accidents
• Slip & Fall Accidents
• Premises Liability
• Traumatic Brain Injuries
• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Nursing Home Abuse
• Catastrophic Injury

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes; every case is evaluated on its own facts. This content has been prepared for review by Colorado-licensed attorneys at Levine Law.