LATEST IN THE LAW

Important Things You Must Know Before Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Pt 1

May 29, 2019 0 Comment Category: Wrongful Death

A wrongful death lawsuit is charged against a person if someone else lost their life because of the defendant’s negligence or due to an intentional harm. In simple words, the family of the deceased person can file a wrongful death claim against the person who is legally responsible for their loss. Usually, these claims will be filed by wrongful death lawyers, on behalf of the surviving family of the deceased person or other affected parties.

The wrongful death situations include the defendant’s negligence, such as failure to act wisely, incompetence, carelessness, etc., that resulted in the death of the opposite party. Besides, the scenarios such as a person crossing the road struck down and killed by an intoxicated motor vehicle driver, a person severely mugged and killed by a person for their money and belongings are some other situations that are liable to claim a wrongful death suit.

Of course, losing your loved one can be extremely heartbreaking and your entire life may turn upside down. Even though you cannot bring back your lost family member by filing a case against the person whose reckless actions caused your loss, you can surely hold them responsible and make sure that the defendant gets the punishment he/she deserves. Besides, you can claim for your damages as well. Note that if the deceased was an earning member in your family, you may have to face many financial issues in the future. You can seek coverage for all such damages through a wrongful death claim.

While you can obtain compensation from the guilty to recuperate your financial loss through wrongful death suits, it comes under the civil lawsuit and you cannot impose any criminal charges on the defendant. However, you can claim for the hospital bills, funeral charges, transportation, and even for your pain, suffering, loss of a personal relationship, emotional stress, etc. You can either consult any of the wrongful death lawyers out there for this purpose and file the case, or you may go for out of court settlements.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Personal Injury Lawsuit?

Now, most people will be wondering about the liability or criteria to file a wrongful death claim. In most cases, the immediate family of the deceased person such as the wife, children, parents, and siblings are qualified to file the lawsuit. In case the only close family member of the deceased is a minor, he/she must be assisted by an adult. Note that the adult must have the legal guardianship of the child and must be able to manage the wrongful death lawsuit on the child’s behalf. If the deceased person has no immediate family members, the next person in the line to have his assets, such as his sibling’s kids, grandparents, stepparents, cousins, etc., can file the claim.