Charleston Wrongful Death Lawyer
Someone you love has died because of what another person did, and you are being asked to make decisions in the middle of it. You do not have to decide anything today.
When you are ready, Brent Heist will explain your family’s options in plain language — at no cost, and with no pressure.
If You Have Lost a Family Member, We Are Sorry
Someone in your family has died, and someone else caused it. There is no version of this page that makes that easier, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
What a Charleston wrongful death lawyer can do is explain the process plainly. South Carolina law gives a family a way to hold the person or company responsible to account, and to be compensated for what was taken. It does not undo any of it. It is what the law has to offer, and it is worth understanding before anyone asks you to make a decision about it.
Most of the wrongful death cases we see in the Lowcountry come out of car crashes, commercial truck crashes, drunk drivers, and pedestrian and motorcycle collisions. Different facts, same law.
You do not have to decide anything today. Read what is useful, skip what is not, and call when you are ready.
If an insurance company has already called
It is common for an adjuster to reach out within days — sometimes before the funeral. You are not required to give a recorded statement, and you are not required to decide anything on that call.
It is perfectly fair to say you are not ready to talk and that someone will get back to them. Nothing is lost by taking a few days.
Wrongful Death and Survival: Two Separate Claims
This is the first thing most families are surprised by. When someone dies because of another person’s negligence in South Carolina, there are usually two different legal claims — not one. They compensate different losses, they belong to different people, and they are often brought at the same time.
The Wrongful Death Claim
Brought under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-51-10 et seq. It compensates the family beneficiaries for their losses — what the family lost when this person was taken from them.
The Survival Action
Brought on behalf of the estate for what your loved one themselves went through between the injury and the death — their pain, their medical bills, their lost wages.
Usually Both, Together
The two are different claims with different beneficiaries, but they arise from the same event and are often brought together in one case.
Money recovered on the wrongful death claim and money recovered on the survival action do not necessarily reach the same people. Keeping the two straight from the beginning — what is claimed, how it is proved, and where it lands — is a large part of what a lawyer is actually for in a case like this.
What Can Be Recovered for Your Family
Money doesn’t undo a loss, and we won’t pretend it does. What South Carolina law can do is ease the financial weight and formally recognize what was taken. Depending on the facts, a claim may recover the following.
The Family’s Wrongful Death Claim
The Survival Action, for Your Loved One
What any specific claim can recover depends entirely on the facts of the case. The categories above are general and not a promise of any outcome; prior results do not guarantee a similar result.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim
This is the single most confusing part for families, so here it is as plainly as we can put it. The family does not file the case directly.
Only the personal representative of the estate — the executor named in a will, or an administrator appointed by the probate court — has authority to bring and settle a wrongful death or survival action in South Carolina.
A widow cannot simply file on her own behalf. Nor can a son, or a mother, or a brother. The claim runs through the estate’s personal representative, even though the wrongful death money itself is for the family rather than the estate. It is a technical rule, and it catches almost everyone.
If no personal representative has been appointed
Then that has to happen first. Someone has to be appointed by the probate court before the claim can go anywhere. If your family has not done this — and most families have not, because there was no reason to think about any of it a week ago — that is a normal starting point, not a problem you created.
It is also something a lawyer handles routinely. It is usually the first thing we sort out, and it is not the hard part.
Who Receives Wrongful Death Compensation
Wrongful death proceeds don’t simply drop into the estate’s general assets to be divided with everything else the person owned. South Carolina sets out who receives them, in order of priority, under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-51-20.
The proceeds are then divided among those statutory beneficiaries in the same proportions they would take under South Carolina’s intestacy law. The proceeds go to the beneficiaries — not simply into the estate’s general assets.
In plain terms: the statute decides the category of who receives, and the intestacy rules decide the shares. This is worth understanding early, because families often assume the money follows the will. On the wrongful death claim, it follows the statute.
Families are rarely simple. Second marriages, adult children from a first marriage, a child on the way, a parent who had been out of contact for twenty years — all of it is common, and all of it can matter here. If your family situation is complicated, say so early. It is better dealt with at the start than at the end.
Court Approval and the Deadline
A judge has to approve the settlement
A wrongful death or survival settlement cannot simply be agreed between a lawyer and an insurance company and cashed. It must be approved by a court, under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-51-42. Probate courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit courts for this. The personal representative has to show the court that the terms are fair.
That can sound like one more hurdle in a year that has had enough of them. It is not. It is a protection, and it is there for your family. It means no one can quietly agree to a number without a judge looking at it, and it means the division among the beneficiaries is reviewed by someone whose job is to review it.
Three years from the date of death
The deadline for bringing a wrongful death claim in South Carolina is generally three years from the date of death, under S.C. Code Ann. § 15-3-530. The date of death — not the date of the crash or the injury, which are not always the same day. Claims against a government entity have shorter deadlines.
This page cannot calculate your family’s deadline. Too much depends on the specific facts of what happened and who was involved. If there is one practical thing to take from this page, it is this: speak with a lawyer about your dates rather than working them out from a website. Asking costs nothing.
Questions That Come Up Early
Two situations worry families more than almost anything else. Neither one shuts the door on a claim, and both are worth understanding early.
“What if my loved one was partly at fault?”
South Carolina uses modified comparative negligence. A wrongful death claim can still be brought as long as the person who died was not more than 50% at fault for what happened — though any recovery is reduced by their share of the blame.
Insurers know this, and they push fault toward the person who can no longer tell their side. Making sure the story is told fairly and completely is a real part of the work.
“There’s a criminal case — isn’t that separate?”
Yes. If the at-fault driver is charged — with DUI, reckless driving, or worse — that is the state’s case, and it runs on its own track. Your family’s wrongful death claim is a separate civil claim.
You do not need a criminal conviction to bring it, and a civil claim has a lower burden of proof. The two can proceed at the same time, and one does not have to wait for the other.
How the Process Works
No legal runaround. Here is what actually happens, in order.
You Talk to Brent
A conversation, at your pace, about what happened and what your family’s options are. No cost, no obligation. If coming to an office is too much right now, we can come to you.
We Sort Out the Estate
We handle the appointment of the personal representative if that has not been done, then investigate what happened and identify every insurance policy that may apply.
The Claim, Then the Court
We bring the wrongful death and survival claims and deal with the insurers. Any settlement goes to a judge for approval, and the proceeds are distributed to the statutory beneficiaries.
Brent Heist is a Charleston personal injury lawyer who has handled serious injury cases across the Lowcountry, including cases taken to trial. You pay no attorney’s fee unless we recover for your family; the fee comes out of the recovery, never out of your pocket. Case costs are separate and are set out in the written agreement you sign, and we will go through it with you line by line if that helps.
A Release Is Final
An adjuster may offer a settlement early — sometimes within weeks, and often before anyone has established what actually happened. Signing the release closes the claim permanently, for the whole family.
In South Carolina, a wrongful death settlement has to be approved by a judge. That protection exists for your family’s benefit. It cannot help you if the claim has already been signed away.
Charleston Wrongful Death Lawyer: Common Questions
Who can file a wrongful death claim in SC?
What is a survival action?
Who receives the money?
Does a court have to approve the settlement?
How long does my family have?
What does it cost to talk to a lawyer?
What Families Say About Brent
Heist Law Firm holds a 5.0-star rating across 112 Google reviews. A few, in our clients’ own words.
“Mr. Heist came through for me and my family when we were in a car wreck — came to the hospital to check on us. He treats clients like family.”
“Truly a blessing to me and my family. Brent was very informative and always responded when I called or texted. He cares about his clients.”
“You can tell the team knows what they’re doing and genuinely care about the best outcome. Strong, compassionate personal injury team.”
These are genuine reviews left by real Heist Law Firm clients on Google. Every case is different, and past results or client experiences do not guarantee a similar outcome in your case.
Brent Heist · Attorney & Founder
Your Lawyer Will Be Brent Heist
I started Heist Law to do things differently. I believe in straight talk, hard work, and treating people the right way.
A case like this is not a file to hand down the hall. You will not be passed to someone you have never met, and you will not have to explain your family to a new person every time you call. The Charleston wrongful death lawyer you meet is the one who handles your case.
If you want to know what the process looks like before you decide anything, I will walk you through it — and if your family does not need a lawyer, I will tell you that too.
Useful reading: South Carolina filing deadlines · The recorded statement trap