Does a plaintiff have a right to seek punitive damages in a wrongful death action?

Given that the primary purposes of punitive damages are punishment and deterrence of like conduct by the wrongdoer and others, a rational justification exists for the legislative denial of the right to seek punitive damages to the class of persons who are heirs of a decedent whose claim for such damages survived and was enforceable by the personal representative. Where such claim survives and is recoverable in an action by the personal representative of the decedent (Dunwoody v. Trapnell, supra, 47 Cal.App.3d 367, 369, 120 Cal.Rptr. 859), to grant the heirs an additional, separate and independent right to recover punitive damages in a wrongful death action would permit double punishment for the same tortious conduct and could also lead to double recovery of punitive damages by the heirs. The purpose of punishment and deterrence will have been served by the enforcement of the punitive damage claim that survived the decedent. ³⁰ There is a likelihood that the heirs would share in the personal representative's recovery of such damages.