[WSBAPT] Wrongful Death Settlement Heir Distribution Split?

[Eric Nelsen]

This is a confusing area of law because the case law has to be pieced together along with the statutes. Wrongful death proceeds are not estate assets; they belong directly to the beneficiaries. But the beneficiaries can’t be plaintiffs themselves; it’s the PR’s job to handle the WD lawsuit and collect funds on their behalf. If the PR settles for a lump sum, then the lump sum has to be allocated among the WD beneficiaries, spouse and children in your case.

The allocation among the statutory beneficiaries can be whatever those beneficiaries can agree is fair. In the absence of agreement, there needs to be a TEDRA action to allocate the proceeds. It’s basically a mini-trial with the judge sitting as trier of fact, and each party presents evidence showing their individual lost of love, care, affection, and society resulting from death of the decedent, and the judge allocates on that basis.

Beware—brother’s waiver of “inheritance” does not automatically include waiver of right to wrongful death proceeds, because the proceeds are not inherited but are damages awarded to the beneficiaries directly by a trial (or in a settlement).

Attached are my CLE materials on the PR’s duties in wrongful death cases, and distinguishing wrongful death from the decedent’s own personal injury case arising from the medical malpractice.

You should check with a CPA before relying on me, but I am pretty sure that because WD money was never the decedent’s money, it’s also not part of the decedent’s estate for tax purposes, and so is not subject to estate tax. There can be taxable portions of the settlement and a CPA would be a good idea, but the tax issues are for the beneficiaries rather than the estate itself.

Sincerely,

Eric

Eric C. Nelsen
Sayre Law Offices, PLLC
1417 31st Ave South
Seattle WA 98144-3909
206-625-0092
eric at sayrelawoffices.com<mailto:eric at sayrelawoffices.com>

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Ryan Castle
Sent: Wednesday, April 1, 2026 3:24 PM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Wrongful Death Settlement Heir Distribution Split?

Smart People,

New one for me. Decedent has asset of medical malpractice wrongful death settlement. Died intestate in 2023. Has surviving spouse and two adult children. Daughter was appointed as Adminsitrator with support of surviving spouse/mother and brother. Brother waived all claims to inheritance. Mom/survivng spouse wants all medmal settlement funds to go to daughter.

My understanding of RCW 4.20 wrongful death statute is that medmal funds are seperate property of surviving spouse and child, and therefore need to be split amongst the two. How do we determine that split? Based on my research on google, it appears that mom and daughter can decide how to split. But does judge have to approve of split? Can mom and daughter enter into contract where mom waives her rights to medmal proceeds? Heir disclaimer period is long gone.

We want to avoid mom gifting her share to daughter to avoid gift tax. But would estate taxes be due if daughter receives more than $2.193 million (2023 exemption threshold, and no spousal exemption)?

--

Ryan Castle
Castle Law Firm, PLLC
Managing Attorney
T: 360-592-3504
1313 E. Maple St., Suite 790
Bellingham, WA 98225
https://ryancastlelawfirm.com/


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20260401/e9908885/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Sorting Out PR Duties in Wrongful Death 2020 11 11.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 341497 bytes
Desc: Sorting Out PR Duties in Wrongful Death 2020 11 11.pdf
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20260401/e9908885/SortingOutPRDutiesinWrongfulDeath20201111.pdf>