Colorado Wrongful Death Statute Explained

Colorado's wrongful death statute, codified at C.R.S. § 13-21-201 through 13-21-204, is the legal framework that decides whether a family can bring a claim when a person dies because of another party's wrongful act, neglect, or default — and, if so, who may file, what damages are available, and how long the family has to act. The statute is unusual in two ways. First, it uses a tiered, time-based system for who may sue, so the right person to file can depend on whether the claim is brought in the first or second year after the death. Second, it places a limit on noneconomic damages such as grief and loss of companionship. The most significant recent changes came from House Bill 24-1472, signed on June 3, 2024 and effective January 1, 2025, which raised the wrongful death noneconomic damages limit to $2,125,000 for claims that accrue on or after January 1, 2025, created a narrow path for siblings to bring a claim, and added inflation adjustments every two years beginning January 1, 2028. This guide walks through the statute section by section, explains what the 2024 amendments changed, and flags the practical issues families should understand before a deadline passes.

C.R.S. § 13-21-201: Who May Bring the Action

Section 201 sets out who has the right to bring a Colorado wrongful death action, and it divides that right by time. In the first year after the death, C.R.S. § 13-21-201(1)(a) allows the claim to be brought by the surviving spouse; by the spouse together with the deceased's heirs, or by the heirs alone, upon the spouse's written election; or, if there is no spouse, by the heirs or by a designated beneficiary who holds wrongful death rights under Colorado's designated beneficiary law (article 22 of title 15). In the second year, C.R.S. § 13-21-201(1)(b) opens the claim to the spouse, the heirs, the spouse and heirs together, or a designated beneficiary together with the heirs. In practice, the "heirs" in this context are usually the deceased's children or other descendants — which is why the family's structure, not just the timing, shapes who should file. For a plain-language walkthrough with examples, see our guide to who can sue for wrongful death in Colorado.

Parents, Siblings, and the Spouse's Right to Join

When the deceased was an unmarried minor or unmarried adult without descendants and without a designated beneficiary, C.R.S. § 13-21-201(1)(c) allows the father or mother to bring the claim, and both parents may join. The parents generally share an equal interest in the judgment, but when they are divorced, separated, or living apart, either parent can ask the court before trial to apportion any judgment fairly based on each parent's relationship with the child. HB24-1472 added a new, narrow category: siblings (or the heirs of siblings) may now bring the claim, but only if at the time of death there was no spouse, no heirs, and no designated beneficiary — or, if the deceased was unmarried without descendants, no mother and no father. The statute also protects a spouse or designated beneficiary who has not yet filed: if the heirs start a second-year action on their own, the spouse or designated beneficiary may join as a plaintiff by filing a motion within ninety days after being served with written notice of the lawsuit. Because C.R.S. § 13-21-203(1)(a) permits only one civil action for the wrongful death of any one person, families usually benefit from sorting out these roles together, early.

C.R.S. § 13-21-202: Cause of Action and Elements

Section 202 establishes the substantive cause of action. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-202, when the death of a person is caused by a "wrongful act, neglect, or default of another," and that conduct "would, if death had not ensued, have entitled the party injured to maintain an action and recover damages," the person or company that would have been liable remains liable notwithstanding the death. That language ties the wrongful death claim to the claim the deceased person could have brought had they survived. In practical terms, the family generally must prove the same basic elements the deceased would have had to prove — for a negligence case, that the defendant owed a duty, breached it, and caused the death and resulting losses.

The Derivative Nature of Wrongful Death Claims

Because the claim depends on whether the deceased could have sued, the principle that a Colorado wrongful death claim is derivative of the deceased's own potential personal injury action has real consequences. Defenses that could have been raised against the deceased — such as arguments about the deceased's own share of fault under Colorado's comparative fault statute (C.R.S. § 13-21-111) — can come into play in the family's case. The same structure means a family may face obstacles if the deceased would have been barred from suing, for example if the deceased had already settled and released the claim before death. A Denver wrongful death attorney will typically look at these derivative issues at the outset to determine whether a viable claim exists.

C.R.S. § 13-21-203: Damages and the Noneconomic Cap

Section 203 governs what a family can recover. Under C.R.S. § 13-21-203(1)(a), the jury may award damages it deems "fair and just," with reference to the necessary injury resulting from the death, and the statute expressly includes within noneconomic damages "grief, loss of companionship, pain and suffering, and emotional stress" to the surviving parties entitled to sue. Economic losses — such as the financial support the deceased would have provided, medical bills, and funeral and burial costs — are also part of the recovery. For wrongful death claims that accrue on or after January 1, 2025 (and for wrongful death actions filed during calendar year 2025), the statute limits recovery for noneconomic loss to $2,125,000. Before HB24-1472, the inflation-adjusted limit was $679,990, and that figure still governs actions filed before 2025. Starting January 1, 2028, and every two years after that, the new limit will be adjusted for inflation. For a deeper look at each category of loss, see our Colorado wrongful death damages guide, and for how these rules interact with case value, see the range of wrongful death settlement amounts.

Exceptions and Separate Limits

Several parts of Section 203 change the general rule, and each one can matter a great deal to a particular family:

• Felonious killing: The noneconomic limit does not apply when the wrongful act causing death constitutes a felonious killing, as defined in C.R.S. § 15-11-803(1)(b) and determined in the manner described in § 15-11-803(7).
• One action per death: Because only one civil action may be brought for any one decedent, the noneconomic limit applies to the family's combined claim — not separately to each family member.
• Medical malpractice: Wrongful death claims against health-care professionals or health-care institutions have their own phased noneconomic limit under the Health Care Availability Act: $555,000 (2025), $810,000 (2026), $1,065,000 (2027), $1,320,000 (2028), and $1,575,000 (2029), with inflation adjustments after that.
• Government defendants: Damages in claims against a public entity or public employee are controlled by the limits in the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, C.R.S. § 24-10-114, rather than the general wrongful death limit.

"Because the legislature caps noneconomic damages, the uncapped economic losses, such as lost earnings, medical bills, and funeral costs, call for careful documentation in every family's claim."

C.R.S. § 13-21-204: Statute of Limitations and Filing Deadlines

Section 204 provides that all wrongful death actions "shall be brought within the time period prescribed in section 13-80-102." That section sets a two-year statute of limitations for wrongful death actions (C.R.S. § 13-80-102(1)(d)), and C.R.S. § 13-80-108(2) provides that a wrongful death claim accrues on the date of death — not the date of the accident or injury. That can matter when a person dies days, weeks, or months after being hurt. There is one statutory extension: under C.R.S. § 13-80-102(2), a wrongful death action against a defendant who committed vehicular homicide and, as part of the same criminal episode, left the scene of an accident that resulted in a death must be brought within four years. The interaction between the two-year deadline and the tiered standing rules creates particular urgency: heirs who are waiting for the second year to file on their own have, at most, about twelve months left before the window closes. Our article on the Colorado wrongful death filing deadline covers the timing rules in more detail, and how to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Colorado explains the steps once the right plaintiff is identified.

Relationship to the Survival Statute (C.R.S. § 13-20-101)

Colorado's wrongful death statute operates alongside, but separately from, the survival statute, C.R.S. § 13-20-101. A wrongful death claim compensates the surviving family members for their own losses. A survival action, by contrast, continues a claim the deceased already had at the time of death, and it is brought or continued by the personal representative of the deceased's estate. Section 13-20-101(1) states that a survival action "shall not preclude an action for wrongful death," so both may proceed from the same incident. But the survival statute sharply limits what the estate can recover in personal injury cases: damages are "limited to loss of earnings and expenses sustained or incurred prior to death" and "shall not include damages for pain, suffering, or disfigurement, nor prospective profits or earnings after date of death." The statute also provides that punitive damages are not awarded after the death of the person against whom they are claimed. The distribution of wrongful death and survival action proceeds also follows different paths, because survival recoveries belong to the estate.

What HB24-1472 Changed

Much of what families read online about Colorado wrongful death law predates the 2024 amendments. The main changes made by HB24-1472, which took effect January 1, 2025, are:

• Higher noneconomic limit: $2,125,000 for wrongful death claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025, and for wrongful death actions filed during 2025. Because a wrongful death claim accrues on the date of death, the date of death is usually what decides which limit applies.
• Inflation adjustments: The limit will be adjusted for inflation on January 1, 2028, and every two years after that.
• Sibling standing: Siblings, or their heirs, may bring the claim in the narrow circumstances described in C.R.S. § 13-21-201(1)(a)(V) and (1)(b)(I)(E).
• Phased medical malpractice limits: A separate, step-by-step increase for wrongful death claims against health-care providers, reaching $1,575,000 in 2029.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does C.R.S. § 13-21-201 through 204 cover?

These sections of the Colorado Revised Statutes make up the state's wrongful death framework. Section 201 establishes who can file and when, Section 202 defines the cause of action, Section 203 governs damages and the noneconomic limit, and Section 204 incorporates the filing deadline in C.R.S. § 13-80-102.

Can the wrongful death damages cap be exceeded in Colorado?

For claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025, noneconomic damages such as grief and loss of companionship are limited to $2,125,000, unless the death resulted from a felonious killing as defined in C.R.S. § 15-11-803, in which case the noneconomic limit does not apply. The noneconomic limit does not cap economic losses such as lost financial support, medical bills, and funeral costs. Medical malpractice and government-defendant cases follow different limits.

Can a sibling file a wrongful death claim in Colorado?

Sometimes. Since January 1, 2025, siblings (or their heirs) may bring the claim, but only if at the time of death there was no surviving spouse, no heirs, and no designated beneficiary — or, if the deceased was unmarried without descendants, no surviving mother or father.

Is the Colorado wrongful death statute the same as the survival statute?

No. The wrongful death statute (C.R.S. § 13-21-201 through 204) creates a claim for surviving family members' own losses. The survival statute (C.R.S. § 13-20-101) lets the estate continue the deceased's own claim, but in personal injury cases it limits recovery to lost earnings and expenses before death and excludes pain, suffering, and disfigurement.

Has Colorado's wrongful death statute been amended recently?

Yes. HB24-1472, signed June 3, 2024 and effective January 1, 2025, raised the noneconomic damages limit to $2,125,000, added limited sibling standing, phased in higher medical malpractice wrongful death limits, and set inflation adjustments every two years starting in 2028.

Sources

• Colorado General Assembly, HB24-1472, Session Laws 2024, Chapter 325 (signed June 3, 2024; effective January 1, 2025)
• Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services, Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 13 (C.R.S. §§ 13-20-101, 13-21-201 through 13-21-204, 13-80-102, 13-80-108)

Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information contained herein is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not act or refrain from acting based on this information without seeking professional legal counsel. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

If you need help understanding how Colorado's wrongful death statute applies to your family's situation, Conduit Law provides experienced guidance through every step of the process. Read our comprehensive Colorado wrongful death guide or call (720) 432-7032 for a free consultation.