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An Unfiled Alabama Injury Claim Generally Ends When the Injured Person Dies
In Alabama, an injury claim that has not been filed in court generally does not survive the death of the person who was hurt.
A claim filed before the death does survive, and a personal representative can carry it forward.
If the injury itself caused the death, the family generally has a wrongful death claim, but without a filed lawsuit, the person's own medical bills and pain before death cannot be recovered.
For an older or medically fragile person, filing early can be what keeps the claim alive.
Don Worley, admitted in Alabama, can review where your family member's claim stands and whether it should be filed now.
Call (888) 713-6653 for a free review, with no fee and no costs unless we recover.
Law reviewed November 5, 2026, against the Code of Alabama and the Alabama Supreme Court's opinions.
Injury Claims and Death in Alabama at a Glance
- A lawsuit filed before the death keeps the injury claim alive under Ala. Code § 6-5-462
- A death caused by the injury generally gives the family a wrongful death claim, with two years from the death
- A claim not yet filed can be lost if the person dies of something unrelated
What Ala. Code § 6-5-462 Says About Claims That Survive a Death
"...an unfiled tort claim does not survive the death of the person with the claim."
Alabama's survival statute draws its line at the courthouse door. It says "all personal claims upon which an action has been filed" survive in favor of the personal representative.[1] The Alabama Supreme Court has read that plainly. In Malcolm v. King (1996), it called this the general rule, in the words quoted here.[2]
That rule surprises almost everyone, and it comes at the worst possible time. A family caring for someone badly hurt is rarely thinking about a court filing, and the two-year deadline looks far away. Alabama's statute of limitations tells you the last day to file. It does not protect a claim if the person dies before that day arrives.
Four Outcomes Depending on the Filing Date and the Cause of Death
Two questions decide what remains. Was a lawsuit filed before the person died? And did the injury cause the death?
| Situation | What Happens to the Claim | What Can Be Recovered |
|---|---|---|
| Lawsuit filed, and the injury caused the death | The injury claim survives, and the personal representative can add a wrongful death claim to the same case. | The estate can seek medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering up to the death. The heirs can seek punitive wrongful death damages. |
| Lawsuit filed, and the person died of something else | The injury claim survives to the personal representative. | The estate can pursue the injury damages. There is no wrongful death claim. |
| No lawsuit filed, and the injury caused the death | The injury claim does not survive. The family's route is a wrongful death claim, as long as the person could still have sued when they died. | Punitive wrongful death damages. The person's own medical bills and pain before death cannot be recovered. |
| No lawsuit filed, and the person died of something else | The injury claim generally ends with the person. | Generally nothing on that injury claim, however strong it was. |
The Court set out the first row in King v. National Spa & Pool Institute (1992), holding that the statute "means exactly what its plain language states."[3] It shows what a filing date can be worth. In Malcolm, the injured man had sued the other driver before he died, but no claim against a radiologist was on file. The claim added after his death did not relate back, so the Court reversed a $750,000 compensatory verdict and left the wrongful death award in place.
Our page on how an Alabama jury sets a wrongful death award explains the punitive measure, which rests on the defendant's conduct and no statute caps against a private defendant.
Older Adults, Nursing Home Residents, and Others Most at Risk Under This Rule
This rule falls hardest on the people who already have the least time. If any of these describes your family member, ask about filing now, even if the deadline seems far off.
- An older adult after a fall or crash. A broken hip or a serious car crash can start a long decline, and the person may die of pneumonia, a heart condition, or something a doctor will not tie to the injury.
- A nursing home or assisted living resident. Bedsores, falls, and neglect are often discovered when the resident is already frail. Our page on nursing home abuse and neglect in Alabama covers the rules for those claims.
- A person with a serious illness. Cancer, heart disease, or diabetes can take someone before a slow-moving injury claim is resolved, and the injury claim goes with them if it was never filed.
- A person with a catastrophic injury. Brain and spinal cord injuries can bring complications months or years later, and whether the injury caused the death may become the central dispute.
- A person waiting on an insurer. Friendly settlement talks do not preserve the claim. A negotiation that runs for months can run past a death.
When a person in one of these situations calls us, the filing date is one of the first things we discuss.
Why Filing Early Protects a Claim Even When Settlement Is the Goal
Filing a lawsuit does not mean you will end up in a trial, and it does not stop settlement talks. Many filed cases still settle. What filing does in this situation is lock in the claim.
A filed case can also protect the evidence that only the injured person can give. If someone's health is failing, a lawyer can ask to take testimony early, on video, so a jury can still hear from them. And filing tends to change the pace, because the insurer now has a court date to plan around.
It costs you nothing up front. You owe no fee and no costs unless we recover, so the cost of filing should not be what holds a family back.
What the Family Must Do After a Plaintiff Dies, Including Rule 25's Six Months
A filed claim does not carry itself forward. These steps need attention soon after a death.
- Open the estate. A personal representative appointed by the probate court brings or continues the claim, though a parent can bring a minor child's death claim directly.
- Substitute the personal representative. Under Ala. R. Civ. P. 25(a)(1), the case can be dismissed unless the motion is made within six months after the death is noted on the court record.[4]
- Add the wrongful death claim on time. It has its own deadline of two years from the death, and it requires that the person could still have sued when they died.[5]
- Watch for new defendants. A claim against someone not named before the death survives only if it relates back to the same conduct or occurrence. In Malcolm, a crash lawsuit filed before the death did not carry a later malpractice claim against a radiologist. That is one reason to name every responsible party early.
Where the Money Goes, From the Estate to the Family Under § 6-5-410
The two kinds of recovery travel different roads, and that matters to a family dealing with medical bills and debts.
Injury claim proceeds belong to the estate, and the estate's obligations come into play. Wrongful death proceeds are different. By statute, they "are not subject to the payment of the debts or liabilities" of the person who died, and they pass under the statute of distributions.[6]
When both claims exist, a careful lawyer keeps them separated from the first filing through the final distribution, because each dollar's label decides who receives it.
If the Person Who Caused the Injury Dies, and the Six-Month Estate Deadline
The rule runs differently when the wrongdoer is the one who dies. Your claim, filed or not, survives against that person's personal representative under § 6-5-462, and a wrongful death claim does not end with the defendant's death either.
A separate trap applies. Alabama's non-claim statute, Ala. Code § 43-2-350, generally requires a claim against an estate to be presented within six months after letters are granted, or five months from the first published notice if that is later, or it is "forever barred." The Alabama Supreme Court has applied it to wrongful death claims, even when only liability insurance would pay. Filing suit in circuit court within that time counts as presenting the claim, and the personal representative's knowledge of your claim does not.[7]
If the driver or other person who hurt you has died, tell us right away, because this deadline can arrive long before the two years do.