In most cases, the first step in a wrongful death claim is to establish an estate administration for the decedent’s estate, since the estate representative is usually the individual who pursue a wrongful death case. If no estate is established for the decedent, any qualifying surviving family can pursue the case. Once someone decides to pursue a wrongful death claim on behalf of a decedent and his or her surviving family members, the first step is providing the party or parties alleged to have wrongfully caused the decedent’s death with notice of your claim.