What is a decedent's successor in interest in a wrongful death action?

Code of Civil Procedure section 377.11 defines a decedent's successor in interest as "the beneficiary of the decedent's estate or other successor in interest who succeeds to a cause of action or to a particular item of the property that is the subject of a cause of action." A person acting as a decedent's successor in interest "'step[s] into [the decedent's] position[]' as to a particular action." (Exarhos v. Exarhos (2008) 159 Cal.App.4th 898, 905.) In contrast, a wrongful death claim brought in one's individual capacity belongs "'not to the decedent,'" but to the person bringing the suit. (Wilson v. John Crane, Inc. (2000) 81 Cal.App.4th 847, 860.)

Where, as here, claims are brought by a single plaintiff acting in two different capacities, there are two different plaintiffs. (Quiroz v. Seventh Ave. Center (2006)

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