If a family member dies in a road traffic accident, who receives the compensation?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

The closest relatives, each in their own right and not as heirs. The law recognises five groups of injured parties, namely the spouse or unmarried partner, the parents, the children, the siblings and close companions (“allegados”) who lived with the victim. Each receives their own amount under the statutory compensation scale for traffic accidents (the “baremo”), without sharing it with the others. As this money is not part of the estate, it is paid even if the inheritance is renounced. Funeral expenses are also paid, together with the support lost by those who were financially dependent on the deceased. Who receives compensation The surviving spouse. An unmarried partner receives the same if the partnership was entered in a register or formalised in a public document, if they had lived with the victim for at least the last year or if they had a child together, even if they had lived together for less time. In Catalonia this definition in the scale applies rather than the one in the “Código Civil de Cataluña”, the Catalan Civil Code, which normally requires more than two years of living together. The parents, the children and, in some cases, the grandparents and grandchildren. The siblings. Close companions, meaning people who had lived with the victim as family for at least the previous five years and were especially close to them. Anyone who in practice filled the role of one of them, for example someone who brought the victim up like a parent without being one. The law presumes that all of them suffer harm. They can only be refused compensation if it is shown that, given their circumstances, there was none. What is paid Each relative, their own amount, which the scale sets according to the degree of kinship and other circumstances, such as age or the years spent living together. The reasonable expenses caused by the death, such as transporting the body, the burial and the funeral service. What those who were financially dependent on the deceased no longer receive, such as the spouse or dependent children. This also applies if the deceased had no salary because they looked after the home, which the scale values as work. The cost of the medical or psychological treatment the relatives need because of what happened. For accidents occurring on or after 26 July 2025 it is paid for up to twelve months and, for earlier ones, up to six. If the victim contributed to the accident or to the harm, for example by not wearing a seatbelt, all these amounts can be reduced proportionately, by 75 % at most. If the accident was solely the victim's fault, compulsory motor insurance does not pay. What the relatives receive for the death is not subject to the “impuesto de sucesiones” (the Spanish inheritance tax) and, up to the amount resulting from the scale, is not subject to income tax either. What forms part of the estate and the time limit What was owed to the deceased for damage to their car or other belongings does form part of the estate and is received by their heirs. The same applies to what they were entitled to for the days they spent injured, if they did not die instantly. Each relative has one year from the death to claim against the insurer of the vehicle responsible, in Catalonia too. If there are criminal proceedings over the accident, the time limit starts to run when you are notified that they have ended. It is advisable for all of you to claim at the same time and in writing, with the death certificate and documents proving the family relationship or that you lived with the deceased. If you also want to claim against the driver, do so within that same year.