Personal Injury & Wrongful Death Lawyer in Hollis, Queens
Hollis is a residential neighborhood in southeast Queens, bounded by two of the borough’s hardest-working arterials — Hillside Avenue and Jamaica Avenue — both carrying dense bus service, commercial traffic and pedestrians all day. Most claims here are the ordinary run of collisions and falls. But when a crash on a road like Hillside Avenue takes a life, the family faces a body of law that works quite differently from an injury case, and on a much shorter clock.
A wrongful death case is actually two claims
Under EPTL § 5-4.1, a wrongful death action is brought by the personal representative of the estate — not by relatives in their own names — and it must be commenced within two years of the death. That is a year shorter than the ordinary personal injury deadline, and it catches families who assume the usual three years applies. Where a criminal prosecution is pending against the same defendant, the representative generally has at least one year from the end of that criminal action, even if the two years has run.
Two distinct claims are normally brought together:
- The wrongful death claim, which compensates the surviving distributees for their pecuniary losses — lost financial support, lost parental guidance to children, lost household services, plus funeral and burial expenses. New York is notably restrictive here: grief and the loss of companionship itself are not recoverable under the traditional measure.
- The survival claim, brought on behalf of the estate for what the person themselves endured between the injury and death — conscious pain and suffering, and their own medical expenses. Where there was an interval of awareness, this is often the larger part of the case, and proving it depends on records and witnesses from those hours.
Practically, the first step is not litigation at all: someone must be appointed by the Surrogate’s Court as administrator or executor before a claim can be filed. That appointment takes time, and it should be started early rather than after the family has settled other affairs.
Injury claims on the avenues
For non-fatal collisions, no-fault covers treatment and part of lost earnings regardless of fault — drivers, passengers, and people struck while walking or cycling — with the NF-2 application generally due within 30 days. Compensation for the injury itself requires the serious injury threshold in Insurance Law § 5102(d), and the deadline against a private driver is the three years under CPLR 214. Under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1146 drivers owe a standing duty of due care toward pedestrians and cyclists on the roadway, and under CPLR 1411 a share of fault reduces recovery proportionally rather than barring it.
Where an MTA bus or a City vehicle is involved — a live possibility on both Hillside and Jamaica Avenues — a Notice of Claim under General Municipal Law § 50-e is due within 90 days, and that requirement applies to a wrongful death claim as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
My husband died. Can I bring the case in my own name?
Not directly. The claim belongs to the estate and is brought by its personal representative, who is appointed by the Surrogate’s Court. That will very often be you, but the appointment has to happen first. We handle that step as part of the case, and it is a reason to make contact early rather than waiting.
My mother was retired. Is there still a claim?
Yes. Pecuniary loss is broader than a pay check — it includes the value of household services, childcare and the guidance a parent or grandparent provided. And the survival claim for conscious pain and suffering before death exists regardless of earnings. Cases involving retired people and children are frequently and wrongly assumed to be worth nothing.
There is a criminal prosecution going on. Should we wait for it to finish?
No. The two proceedings are separate, and the criminal case pays the family nothing. It can be worth coordinating, and the statute provides some protection where a prosecution is pending — but evidence still needs preserving now, and waiting risks losing it.
How is a settlement divided among the family?
Wrongful death proceeds are distributed among the distributees according to their respective pecuniary losses, which is not always an equal split, and the allocation is subject to court approval. Survival-claim proceeds pass through the estate. Where family members disagree, the court resolves it — a reason to have the structure explained at the start.
Courts that hear Hollis injury and wrongful death cases
- Queens County Supreme Court, Civil Term — 88-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, and 25-10 Court Square, Long Island City.
- Queens County Surrogate’s Court — where the personal representative of an estate is appointed before a wrongful death action can be filed.
- NYC Civil Court, Queens County — 89-17 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica.
Our Office & Directions from Hollis
Yakov Mushiyev & Associates, PC
1 Cross Island Plaza, Suite 325
Rosedale, NY 11422
Phone: 718.775.3110
Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Home and hospital visits available.
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Nearby: Saint Albans · Queens Village · Jamaica · Cambria Heights · Personal Injury Practice · All Queens Locations
This page is general information about New York law, not legal advice about your situation. Wrongful death deadlines are shorter than injury deadlines. Speak with an attorney before relying on anything here.