Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Your question is unclear as to the nature of the lawsuit. If the children are suing for the wrongful death of their parent, then under most circumstances, the proceeds should be split equally. As for the disabled sibling, if she cannot act in her own best interest, then the best thing for her is to have a court appointed conservator.

Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 established a separate statutory cause of action in favor of specified heirs of a person who dies as a result of the "wrongful act or neglect" of another. Under a wrongful death cause of action, the enumerated heirs are entitled to recover damages on their own behalf for the loss they have sustained by reason of the decedent's death.

The heirs' wrongful death action is separate and distinct from the victim's action which "survives" to the estate under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.20. Whereas damages recovered in a "survival" action belong to the victim's estate, damages recoverable in a wrongful death action belong to the parties plaintiff personally - the damages are not part of the estate and do not descend through the estate (e.g., pursuant to decedent's will or by intestate succession) (Tyrell v. San Francisco (1977) 69 Cal.App.3d 876.)

Only those classes of persons expressly set forth in Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 may maintain a wrongful death action. (Reynolds v. City of Los Angeles (1986) 176 Cal.App.3d 1044, 1053.)

Each claimant has a personal and separate cause of action for decedent's wrongful death. However, as a procedural matter, the actions are deemed to be 'join, single and indivisible." There cannot be a series of suits against defendant. Rather, the so-called "one action rule" generally requires that all claimants join or be joined in a single action. (Cross v. Pacific Gas & Elec. Co. (1964) 60 Cal.2d 690, 693-694: Valdez v. Smith, (1985) 166 Cal.App.3d 723, 726; Ruttenberg v. Ruttenberg, (1997) 53 Cal.App.4th 801, 807.)

The defendant has no obligation to locate and join all possible claimants. Rather, the wrongful death claimants have a duty to join in the action if they want to participate in the recovery. (Smith v. Premier Alliance Ins. Co. (1995) 41 Cal.App.4th 691, 699.)

Any claimant who brings a wrongful death action is responsible for joining all other known claimants. (Smith v. Premier Alliance Ins. Co., 41 Cal.App.4th 697.)

Claimants who do not join or are not joined as parties to a wrongful death action ordinarily are barred from maintaining a later independent suit against the defendant. They may, however, have a cause of action against the claimants who did sue. (Smith v. Premier Alliance Ins. Co, supra 42 Cal. App. 4th 697; see also Canavin v. Pacific Southwest Airlines, (1983) 148 Cal. App. 3d 512, 530.) A claimant not mentioned in the judgment is not entitled to share in it. (Ruttenberg v. Ruttenberg, 53 Cal. App. 4th 810, see also Watkins v. Nutting, (1941) 17 Cal. 2d 490, 499.)