According to A.R.S. Section 12-612, an action for wrongful death can be brought on behalf of the surviving spouse, adult or minor children and parents of the decedent. The action can be brought by individuals or by the personal representative of the deceased person on behalf of those individuals. Wrongful death lawsuits cannot be brought by brothers, sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunts, fiancés, or live-in boyfriends or girlfriends.

Homeowners insurance sometimes provides insurance coverage for members of the household who injure or kill people. Homeowners insurance covers the actions of their insured regardless of whether the acts take place in the home or out on the street. (Homeowners policies generally exclude coverage for deaths or injuries arising out of the use of a motor vehicle. However, these are often covered by automobile insurance.)

However, if an adult intentionally kills another person, homeowners insurance will generally not cover this act, since most homeowners' insurance policies contain an 'intentional act exclusion'.  Under the intentional act exclusion, insurance coverage will not cover harm caused by an insured if the insured acted with a specific intent to injure the victim.

In Arizona, all individuals are required to have liability insurance on their vehicle in a sum not less than $15,000 Per Person and $30,000 Per Occurrence. In addition, insurance companies are required to offer their insureds uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage up to the amount of the liability policy limits. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage provides coverage in the event that the third party who caused the motor vehicle accident either has no insurance or has inadequate insurance to pay for the damages that he has caused. Uninsured motorist coverage and underinsured motorist coverage only provide coverage for bodily injury or death and do not provide for property damage.

Uninsured motorist and underinsured motorist coverage are portable. In other words, if a person is walking across a street and is killed by an uninsured driver or underinsured driver who has run a red light, the pedestrian's uninsured(UM) or underinsured(UIM) motorist limits will provide coverage, despite the person not being inside a vehicle.  Similarly, if a person is on a bicycle or in another individual's car and is struck by an uninsured or underinsured driver, a UM/UIM policy will cover him/her.

Over the past several years, litigation has taken place as to whether drive by shootings are covered by car insurance. The Arizona courts have held that drive by shootings are not covered by car insurance as the injuries do not arise out of the use of the vehicle and also because these occurrences are not 'accidents' as defined in automobile insurance policies. See generally Ruiz v. Farmers Insurance Company of Arizona, 177 Ariz. 101, 865 P.2nd 762 (1993); Benevides v. Arizona Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Fund, 184 Ariz. 610, 911 P.2nd 616 (App. 1995).  However, homeowners insurance may cover the action of a juvenile shooter or provide coverage if an adult negligently provides a gun to the shooter. When a juvenile 14 years or younger commits what appears to be an intentional act, the parents' homeowners insurance may provide coverage for the harm that their child causes.

Under Arizona law, the parents of a minor are liable in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for each tort of the minor. Under the statute, parents are automatically liable for intentional offenses that their children commit. However, it may be difficult to collect from the parents if they do not have the money to pay such a judgment.  A parent may also be liable because of his or her own negligence in failing to adequately supervise a minor.  Homeowners insurance may provide coverage for the parents' negligence.

Other entities that bear responsibility for a death.  For example, if a bar or restaurant serves an individual alcohol when they know or should know that a person is intoxicated, that establishment may bear some responsibility for a death caused by their intoxicated patron. Unlike a licensee, a social host is not responsible if an adult guest becomes intoxicated and then causes an accident. However, a social host can be liable if he or she serves alcohol to a minor and the minor causes an injury or death as a result of driving while intoxicated.

Shopping malls, stores, nightclubs, pizza parlors, concert venues and sports arenas have a duty to exercise reasonable care for the safety of people invited to their property. For example, if a mall has reason to know of gang activity at the mall and fails to provide reasonable security to prevent violence, the shopping mall may be liable for violence that occurs. The standard of care that each business must comply with is a question of fact usually established by expert testimony. Experts in security view the crime data for the business and other pertinent information to determine what the business was required to do to provide adequate security and whether that standard was met in each particular case.  Other entities that may bear responsibility for a death include a government entity for bad road maintenance or design. All entities that at all responsible for a death should be held accountable for their actions