Alabama Wrongful Death Laws (2026): Deadlines

Alabama treats a wrongful death claim differently from every other state. When a person dies because of someone else's wrongful act, omission, or negligence, Code of Alabama 6-5-410 lets the personal representative of the estate bring a lawsuit, but the only damages a jury may award are punitive. Alabama does not allow recovery of the family's financial losses, funeral bills, or grief in a wrongful death case, which sets it apart from the rest of the country. The deadline is two years from the date of death. A separate statute, Code 6-5-391, governs the death of a minor child and lets a parent commence the action in their own name.

Losing a loved one to another's conduct is painful, and the legal rules can feel cold by comparison. This guide explains how Alabama's wrongful death statute works in plain terms. It is general information, not legal advice. This guide is part of our Wrongful Death Laws by State series.

The deadline to file (statute of limitations)

Under Code 6-5-410, a wrongful death action must be commenced within two years from and after the death. Alabama courts have long held that this two-year period is not a typical statute of limitations that can be paused or extended in the usual ways. It is treated as a condition on the right to sue, so if the claim is not filed within two years of the date of death, the right is generally lost. The clock runs from the date of death, not from the date of the original injury or the date the family learns who was responsible. Because the rule is unforgiving, families often confirm the exact deadline early.

A separate timing rule applies when the person who died was a minor child. Under Code 6-5-391(a), the father, or the mother as specified in Code 6-5-390, may commence the action. The personal representative of the minor may commence it only if the father and mother are both dead, or if they decline to commence the action or fail to do so within six months from the death of the minor. That six-month window decides who holds the right to file rather than ending the claim outright, but it matters to a parent who wants to keep control of the case. Code 6-5-391(b) adds an election-of-remedies trap: an action brought under Section 6-5-391 is a bar to another action under either Section 6-5-391 or Section 6-5-410.

Who may file a wrongful death claim in Alabama

When an adult dies, Alabama channels the claim through one person. Code 6-5-410 provides that the personal representative, meaning the executor named in a will or the administrator appointed by the probate court, brings the action. In a Code 6-5-410 case, surviving spouses, children, and parents do not file separately in their own names; the personal representative sues on behalf of the heirs as a group. If no estate has been opened, the family typically needs to have a personal representative appointed before the lawsuit can proceed. This is different from many states that let beneficiaries sue directly, and it means opening an estate is usually a first step in an Alabama wrongful death matter involving an adult.

The rule is different when the person who died was a minor child. Code 6-5-391(a) gives the right to sue to the father, or the mother as specified in Code 6-5-390, so a parent commences the action in their own name and does not have to open an estate first. The personal representative of the minor steps in only if the father and mother are both dead, or if they decline to commence the action or fail to do so within six months from the death of the minor. Code 6-5-390 allocates the right between parents: parents lawfully living together as husband and wife have an equal right to commence the action, and if they are not living together as husband and wife, or if legal custody has been vested in one of them or in a third party, the party with legal custody has the exclusive right.

Wrongful death vs. survival action in Alabama

Most states separate two claims after a death. A wrongful death claim compensates survivors for their losses, while a survival action continues the claim the deceased person could have brought for their own injuries, such as pre-death pain and suffering and medical expenses. Alabama's survival statute, Code 6-5-462, allows certain personal claims to survive to the estate, but Alabama courts have held that an unfiled personal injury tort claim does not survive a person's death. In practice, the wrongful death action under Code 6-5-410 is the primary vehicle when death results from the wrong, and it absorbs the role that a survival action plays elsewhere.

Damages recoverable in an Alabama wrongful death case

This is where Alabama is unique. In a wrongful death action, the jury may award only punitive damages. The Alabama Supreme Court has explained that the damages in a wrongful death case are punitive in nature and are meant to punish the wrongdoer and deter similar conduct, not to compensate the family. The court applied that rule in Tatum v. Schering Corp., 523 So. 2d 1042 (Ala. 1988), stating that only punitive damages are recoverable in an Alabama wrongful death suit. The practical consequences are significant:

• The family cannot recover the deceased person's lost future income or lost financial support.
• Funeral and burial expenses are not part of the wrongful death award.
• Non-economic losses such as grief, loss of companionship, society, or consortium are not recoverable in the action.
• The size of the award turns on the degree of wrongfulness of the defendant's conduct, which is why even an accidental death can support a substantial verdict if the conduct was egregious.

This design means an Alabama wrongful death verdict can be large or small depending on how a jury views the defendant's conduct, independent of the household's actual financial dependence on the person who died.

Damage caps in Alabama wrongful death cases

Alabama places a general cap on punitive damages in civil cases under Code 6-11-21, but subsection (j) expressly states that the cap does not apply to wrongful death actions. The carve-out is broader than that one subsection. Code 6-11-29 provides that the punitive damages article as a whole does not pertain to or affect any civil action for wrongful death under Sections 6-5-391 and 6-5-410. Because the entire wrongful death award is punitive, and because both provisions carve wrongful death out, there is no statutory dollar limit on what a jury may award in an Alabama wrongful death case. Any reduction generally comes through ordinary post-trial and constitutional review of a verdict, not through a fixed statutory ceiling.

Punitive damages

Punitive damages are not merely available in an Alabama wrongful death action; they are the only damages available. This is the inverse of most states, where punitive damages are an extra category awarded on top of compensatory damages and only for especially reckless or intentional conduct. In Alabama, the wrongful death recovery is punitive by definition, so the question in a wrongful death trial is the amount of punishment the conduct warrants rather than the family's measurable loss.

Comparative or contributory fault

Alabama is one of a small number of jurisdictions that follow pure contributory negligence. If the deceased person is found to have contributed to causing the incident, even slightly, that finding can bar recovery completely in a negligence-based claim. This is a harsh rule compared with the comparative fault systems used in most states, and it makes the question of the deceased person's own conduct an important issue in many Alabama wrongful death cases.

How proceeds are distributed

Any wrongful death recovery is distributed to the heirs according to Alabama's statute of distribution, the same intestacy framework that governs who inherits when there is no will. Critically, Code 6-5-410 provides that wrongful death proceeds are not subject to the payment of the deceased person's debts or liabilities. The money does not pass through the estate to satisfy creditors; it goes to the statutory heirs, which protects the recovery from claims against the estate. Damages recovered under Code 6-5-391 for the death of a minor are likewise distributed according to the laws of intestate succession.

How to evaluate a wrongful death claim in Alabama

The two-year deadline in an Alabama wrongful death case is strict, and in a Code 6-5-410 case the requirement that a personal representative bring the claim means a family often needs to open an estate before filing. A parent whose minor child died sues under Code 6-5-391 in their own name instead, and should be aware of the six-month window that lets the personal representative step in. Because the entire recovery is punitive and turns on the defendant's conduct, these cases are evaluated very differently from compensatory wrongful death claims in other states. Keeping records such as the death certificate, any accident or incident reports, medical records, and correspondence can help when reviewing the situation. Most wrongful death attorneys offer a free initial consultation and work on a contingency fee, meaning a fee only if there is a recovery. No general guide can predict the outcome of a specific case, and nothing here is a promise of compensation. A licensed Alabama attorney can explain how the punitive-only rule and the contributory negligence defense apply to a particular set of facts.