Wisconsin Wrongful Death Settlement Calculator
Wis. Stat. §893.54 — no single filing deadline. General rule 3 years, motor-vehicle deaths 2 years, medical malpractice on a separate clock under §893.55
How long do you have to file a wrongful-death claim in Wisconsin? It depends on the cause of death. The general deadline is 3 years (Wis. Stat. §893.54(1m)(b)), but deaths arising from a motor-vehicle accident must be filed within 2 years (§893.54(2m)), and deaths caused by medical malpractice run on an entirely separate clock under §893.55(1m).
⚖ Wis. Stat. §893.54: General deadline 3 years, but motor-vehicle deaths get only 2 years. Medical malpractice deaths follow a separate clock under §893.55.
Your Injury
Your Estimated Settlement
$36,000 — $66,000
Pain and suffering = $15,000 in medical bills × 3.0 severity multiplier. Your bills are already included in that figure, so they are not added again.
What you'd actually take home
- Estimated settlement
- $51,000
- Attorney fee (33–40%)
- −$17,000 to −$20,400
- Roughly yours
- $30,600 – $34,000
Not included: case costs (court filing, expert witnesses, medical records) and any medical liens or health-insurance reimbursement. Those come out of your share too, so treat the figure above as an upper bound.
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Editorially Reviewed — Content reviewed for accuracy using published legal research, government data, and verified court records. See our methodology
Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
Wisconsin Wrongful Death — No Single Deadline
Wisconsin does not set one flat deadline for wrongful-death claims. Under Wis. Stat. §893.54(1m)(b), the general rule gives a surviving family 3 years to bring "an action brought to recover damages for death caused by the wrongful act, neglect or default of another." But §893.54(2m) carves out the most common cause of these claims: if the death arose from an accident involving a motor vehicle, the deadline shrinks to just 2 years from when the cause of action accrues. Case law (Christ v. Exxon Mobil Corp., 2015 WI 58) holds that accrual runs from the date the injury is discovered, or reasonably should have been discovered, by the wrongful-death beneficiary.
Deaths caused by medical malpractice are not governed by §893.54 at all. They fall under the separate medical-malpractice limitation, Wis. Stat. §893.55(1m): the deadline is the later of 3 years from the date of the underlying medical injury, or 1 year from when the injury was, or should have been, discovered. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has held that this clock starts on the date of the medical injury itself, not the date of death (Estate of Genrich v. OHIC Ins. Co., 2009 WI 67). Missing any of these deadlines bars the claim.
Wisconsin allows two alternative routes to bring the claim: Wis. Stat. §895.04(1) lets the action be brought either by the personal representative of the deceased, or directly by the person to whom the recovery belongs. Unlike most states, a statutory beneficiary does not always have to go through an estate representative. Recovery belongs, in order of priority, to the surviving spouse or domestic partner, with a court-protected share set aside for any surviving minor child under 18; if none survive, to the deceased's lineal heirs under §852.01; and if no lineal heirs survive, to the deceased's brothers and sisters.
Wisconsin Wrongful Death FAQs
How long do I have to file a wrongful-death claim in Wisconsin?
It depends on how the death occurred. The general rule under Wis. Stat. §893.54(1m)(b) is 3 years. If the death arose from an accident involving a motor vehicle, §893.54(2m) shortens that to 2 years. If the death resulted from medical malpractice, an entirely different deadline applies under §893.55(1m).
Why is the deadline only 2 years for car accident deaths?
Wis. Stat. §893.54(2m) singles out deaths "arising from an accident involving a motor vehicle" for a shorter 2-year window, running from when the cause of action accrues. Under Christ v. Exxon Mobil Corp. (2015 WI 58), accrual is the date the injury was discovered, or reasonably should have been discovered, by the wrongful-death beneficiary — not necessarily the date of the accident itself.
What is the deadline if the death was caused by medical malpractice?
Medical-malpractice wrongful-death claims are not governed by §893.54. Under §893.55(1m), the deadline is the later of 3 years from the date of the underlying medical injury or 1 year from when it was, or should have been, discovered. Estate of Genrich v. OHIC Ins. Co. (2009 WI 67) holds this clock starts on the date of the medical injury, not the date of death.
Who can file a wrongful-death claim in Wisconsin?
Wis. Stat. §895.04(1) allows two routes: the action may be brought by the personal representative of the deceased, or directly by the person to whom the recovery belongs. A statutory beneficiary is not always required to proceed through an estate representative.
Who receives the money from a Wisconsin wrongful-death settlement?
Recovery goes, in priority order, to the surviving spouse or domestic partner, with a court-protected share set aside for any surviving minor child under 18. If no spouse or domestic partner survives, recovery goes to the deceased's lineal heirs under Wis. Stat. §852.01. If no lineal heirs survive, it goes to the deceased's brothers and sisters.
Is there a cap on attorney contingency fees in Wisconsin wrongful-death cases?
For an ordinary wrongful-death or accident claim, Wisconsin sets no statutory cap on contingency fees — only the general reasonableness standard under SCR 20:1.5(a) applies. A fee scale does exist, but it applies exclusively to medical-malpractice claims under Wis. Stat. ch. 655.
What is the fee cap for medical-malpractice wrongful-death claims?
Wis. Stat. §655.013(1m) sets a scale that applies only to claims under ch. 655: 33 1/3% of the first $1,000,000 recovered, 25% of that same first $1,000,000 if liability is stipulated within 180 days of filing and more than 60 days before trial, and 20% of any amount above $1,000,000. This is an upper limit, not a standard rate. Under §655.013(1t), a court may approve a higher fee in exceptional circumstances, including an appeal, and §655.013(2) requires the attorney to also offer the client an hourly or per-diem billing option.
Does the ch. 655 fee scale apply to a car accident or premises-liability wrongful-death claim?
No. The §655.013 scale applies only to claims arising under ch. 655, which covers medical malpractice. A wrongful-death claim from a motor-vehicle accident, a defective product, or a premises-liability incident is not subject to that scale — it is governed only by the general reasonableness standard of SCR 20:1.5(a).
Related
Wrongful Death Calculators by State
Wrongful-death damages, caps, and who can file vary by state: