RCW 4.20.020

Wrongful death—Beneficiaries of action.

Applied in 98 court decisions — leading case 103 Wash. 2d 131 - Ueland v. Pengo Hydra-Pull Corp. (1984)

Most recently applied in Kellogg v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp. (February 2022)

2019 c 159 s 2; 2011 c 336 s 90; 2007 c 156 s 29; 1985 c 139 s 1; 1973 1st ex.s. c 154 s 2; 1917 c 123 s 2; RRS s 183-1.

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

Every action under RCW 4.20.010 shall be for the benefit of the spouse, state registered domestic partner, child or children, including stepchildren, of the person whose death shall have been so caused. If there is no spouse, state registered domestic partner, or such child or children, such action may be maintained for the benefit of the parents or siblings of the deceased.

In every such action the trier of fact may give such damages as, under all circumstances of the case, may to them seem just.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.