Georgia Wrongful Death Actions:Who Has The Right To Sue? (Part II)

In Part I of this series, we set forth the provisions of Georgia law for wrongful death actions where surviving spouses were involved. In this article, we shall address actions by surviving children under Georgia’s wrongful death statute where a spouse does not survive to bring such a case.
If a parent is killed due to the negligence of a third party and is not survived by a spouse but is survived by children, the cause of action for the wrongful death vests with the surviving children. The fact that a child is born out of wedlock is not an issue and all surviving children are treated equally. A minor child has to bring such an action through a responsible adult or a Court Appointed Guardian. Step-children, however, have no right to pursue a wrongful death action for the death of their step-parent.
If a single parent is killed, such as a single working mother, obviously, a surviving ex-spouse has no right to bring the claim for wrongful death because such a claim belongs to the children and not to an ex-spouse. If the ex-spouse, however, is appointed as a Guardian of the children born between the two, such an ex-spouse could be appointed by the Court to protect the interests of the children. However, any recovery for the wrongful death of the deceased single parent would belong solely to the children and the ex-spouse could collect nothing in his or her own individual capacity, but would rather proceed solely in a fiduciary capacity.
Under Georgia law, as set forth in our prior article, if a deceased individual is married at the time of his or her death, the surviving spouse has the cause of action and may file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover, not only for themselves, but also for any surviving children.