29.3 The Statutes

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

29.3 The Statutes. The Arizona Wrongful Death Act is composed of three statutes. A.R.S. § 12-611, titled simply “Liability,” describes the parties potentially liable under the act, i.e., who can be sued for wrongful death. If a party would have been liable under Arizona law for causing harm to the decedent “if death had not ensued,” then they are likewise liable for damages in a wrongful death action. This is true even if the decedent was killed by conduct that would constitute murder or manslaughter under Arizona’s criminal statutes.¹³ Thus, the Wrongful Death Act neither expands nor contracts substantive tort liability under other Arizona law.

A.R.S. § 12-612 defines the “Parties plaintiff” to a wrongful death action, i.e., who can sue the alleged tortfeasor. There are four groups of potential wrongful death plaintiffs:

· The decedent’s husband or wife;

· The decedent’s children, both natural and adopted;

· The decedent’s natural parents, adoptive parents, or guardians;

· The personal representative for the decedent’s estate.¹⁴

If the personal representative brings the action, he or she does so not for his or her own benefit but rather on behalf of either the decedent’s spouse, children, parents, or guardians, or “if none of these survive, on behalf of the decedent’s estate.”¹⁵ Any parent or guardian can bring the action on behalf of the decedent.¹⁶ If there is a recovery in a wrongful death action, the amount recovered is split among all the potential beneficiaries listed in subsection A “in proportion to their damages.”¹⁷ If none of the listed potential beneficiaries survive then the recovery becomes an asset of the decedent’s estate, to be distributed pursuant to the decedent’s will or the intestacy statutes just as any other asset of the...