Any type of fatal accident caused by negligence can result in a wrongful death suit. Wrongful death suits are civil actions and they are different from a criminal prosecution for homicide or manslaughter, which is brought by the government in order to punish a wrongdoer.
Wrongful death suits allow the estate of the deceased person to file a lawsuit against the negligent party who is legally liable for the death. Members of the estate might include surviving spouses, sons and daughters of the deceased, and possibly others deemed by the court to be beneficiaries of the estate. Friends, no matter how close, cannot bring a wrongful death lawsuit.
Damages in a wrongful death suit may include:
- The deceased person’s pre-death pain and suffering (or survival claim)
- The medical costs that the deceased incurred as a result of the injury before death
- Funeral and burial costs
- Loss of the deceased person’s expected income
- Loss of any inheritance as a result of the death
- Value of the goods or services that the deceased would have provided
- Loss of care, guidance, and nurturing that the deceased would have provided
- Loss of love and companionship
In a wrongful death suit, the jury determines the amount of the damages after hearing the evidence. The jury’s determination is not the final word, the size of the award may be adjusted by the court for a variety of reasons. For example, if the decedent was consistently irresponsible with money, or, made very little money, this might reduce the family’s recovery. A case dealing with the death of an adult will likely be worth more financially than a case dealing with the death of a child.
Wrongful death suits require extensive pre-trial discovery, including depositions, interrogatories, medical testimony, actuarial accounting and extrapolations, and more. This all requires substantial legal expertise and large amounts of advanced funding.
No amount of compensation can restore a lost life and no award of damages can replace your loved one. But monetary compensation is the method by which our legal system provides justice. The laws are very complex and you may not realize that you can recover for a certain type of damage, and that could harm your case and potentially your family’s financial well-being. There are time sensitive deadlines to contend with in order to recover the full amount of damages in a wrongful death suit.
Contact the Dysart Law Firm to explore your legal options today.