Wrongful Death vs. Survival Action Wrongful death and survival actions are both strictly governed by the law. This means that they exist because the states passed laws that allowed these types of claims. Before these laws were enacted, when someone died, their personal injury claim died with them. Their estate had no chance of pursuing a personal injury claim after the death of the person pursuing it. There are two key differences between wrongful death laws and survival laws. The first being that wrongful death laws allow the estate to bring the lawsuit in the first place and set forth the legal procedure for bringing a wrongful death lawsuit.