Colorado Wrongful Death Laws (2026): Deadlines & Who Can Sue

When a Colorado family loses a loved one because of someone else's negligence or wrongful act, state law lets certain survivors or the estate bring a claim. There are two related claims: a wrongful death claim for the survivors' own losses and a survival action for the deceased person's own claim. Colorado sets its own deadline to file, decides who may sue and in what order, and limits some categories of damages. This guide explains those rules in plain language. It is general legal information and attorney advertising, not legal advice.

The deadline to file in Colorado

The statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim in Colorado is generally two years from the date of death, set by C.R.S. 13-80-102. This is the key deadline, and missing it almost always ends the case permanently. An ordinary motor-vehicle death does not get a longer deadline; it stays on the standard two-year clock. The one motor-vehicle-linked exception is four years, and only where the defendant committed vehicular homicide and left the scene of the accident as part of the same criminal episode, under C.R.S. 13-80-102(2). Claims against a government entity also carry shorter notice deadlines under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act. Because the right to sue itself opens up over the first two years (explained below), confirm both the filing deadline and your standing with a licensed attorney as early as possible.

Who can file a wrongful death claim

Colorado uses a tiered, time-sensitive structure under C.R.S. 13-21-201 that is unusual among the states. During the first year after the death, only the surviving spouse may bring the wrongful death claim, although the spouse may elect in writing to have the deceased person's heirs join the claim, or to let the heirs bring the action alone instead. During the second year, the surviving spouse and the heirs may sue (either together or separately). If there is no surviving spouse and no children, the deceased person's parents may bring the claim. A person formally named as a designated beneficiary may also have the right to sue. For wrongful death actions filed on or after January 1, 2025, HB 24-1472 also added a sibling of the deceased as an eligible claimant in limited circumstances, generally where there is no surviving spouse, no descendant, no designated beneficiary, and no surviving parent. Because the order and timing of standing matter, families should identify early who holds the right to file.

Wrongful death versus survival actions

Colorado recognizes two distinct claims that can arise from the same death. A wrongful death claim compensates the survivors for their own losses, such as lost support and lost companionship. A survival action, brought by the personal representative on behalf of the estate, continues the claim the deceased person could have brought had they lived, with any recovery belonging to the estate. The survival recovery is narrower than many families expect: in a tort action based on personal injury, C.R.S. 13-20-101(1) limits the damages recoverable after death to the loss of earnings and expenses sustained or incurred before death, and it expressly excludes damages for pain, suffering, or disfigurement, as well as prospective profits or earnings after the date of death. Pursuing both can meaningfully affect the total recovery, and an attorney can explain how they fit together in a given case.

Damages you can recover

Colorado wrongful death damages fall into a few categories. Economic damages cover the financial support and net contributions the deceased would have provided and reasonable funeral and burial expenses. Noneconomic damages cover the survivors' grief, loss of companionship, and emotional stress, often described as the value of the relationship that was lost.

Colorado gives survivors a choice. They may prove and recover their actual noneconomic damages (subject to the cap discussed below), or they may elect in writing to recover a fixed statutory amount called solatium instead, without having to prove the specific value of their grief. C.R.S. 13-21-203.5 sets the solatium at $50,000, and C.R.S. 13-21-203.7(1) indexed that figure for inflation through January 1, 2024. The Secretary of State certified the resulting amount at $135,990 for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2024, and no further solatium adjustments are scheduled. The solatium is awarded on top of economic damages and funeral expenses. A separate survival action does not add pain and suffering to the recovery, because C.R.S. 13-20-101(1) limits the estate's damages to the earnings and expenses lost before death.

Damage caps and punitive damages

Colorado does cap noneconomic damages in wrongful death cases, and the limits were raised substantially by recent legislation. Under HB 24-1472, C.R.S. 13-21-203(1)(a) caps noneconomic damages at $2,125,000 for any wrongful death claim that accrues on or after January 1, 2025, and for any wrongful death action or binding arbitration filed on or after January 1, 2025 and before January 1, 2026. That filing window has now closed, so the accrual date is what controls in practice: a death that occurred before 2025 is governed by the earlier certified limit, which the Secretary of State set at $679,990 for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2024 and before January 1, 2025. The $2,125,000 cap is scheduled to adjust for inflation beginning in 2028. Economic damages (such as lost support) are not subject to this cap. A crucial exception applies: if the death was caused by a felonious killing, the noneconomic cap is removed entirely. Medical-malpractice wrongful death claims are governed by their own separate, phased limits.

Colorado allows exemplary (punitive) damages where the wrong was attended by circumstances of fraud, malice, or willful and wanton conduct. They are added by amendment after the case is underway rather than pleaded at the start, and they are subject to their own statutory limits.

How fault affects the claim

Colorado follows modified comparative fault under C.R.S. 13-21-111. If the person who died was partly responsible, any recovery is reduced in proportion to their share of fault, and recovery is barred only if the deceased person's negligence was as great as the negligence of the party from whom damages are sought. In practice, the claim can still succeed where the deceased was less at fault than the defendant, with the award reduced accordingly.

How proceeds are distributed

Colorado law directs how a wrongful death recovery is divided among the people who hold the claim. When both a surviving spouse and children share in the recovery, the statute provides for the award to be apportioned among them, and courts can allocate it to reflect each person's loss. The wrongful death recovery is for the survivors and is not used to pay the deceased person's debts; recovery in the separate survival action belongs to the estate and is distributed under the deceased person's will or Colorado intestacy rules.

How to move forward

Losing a family member to someone else's wrongful act is devastating, and the legal deadlines do not pause for grief. The practical steps are to preserve records, including the death certificate, medical and accident records, and proof of the deceased person's earnings and the family's losses; to confirm who currently holds the right to file given Colorado's first-year and second-year rules; and to speak with a licensed Colorado attorney promptly because of the deadline. Most wrongful death attorneys offer a free consultation and work on a contingency basis, meaning no upfront fee and payment only out of any recovery. No outcome can be promised, and reading this does not create an attorney-client relationship.