In legal jargon, a person who dies is a “decedent”. If the decedent has a will at the time of his or her death, it usually names an executor to carry out the decedent’s final wishes. This person is often a spouse or a child, but it could be anyone the decedent chose. If there is no will, a court will name an administrator to represent the estate.
The estate’s administrator or executor brings a wrongful death lawsuit or a survival lawsuit, according to New Jersey General and Permanent Statutes §2A:31-1. As noted above, the estate’s legal representative could be a spouse, child, or another family member, but their ability to bring a post-death action rests on their appointment as the estate’s legal representative, not on their familial relationship to the decedent. An attorney could help a family understand who is responsible for bringing a wrongful death suit on their behalf.