There’s nothing more painful than dealing with a loved one’s death. This is especially true if it’s unexpected, avoidable, and is caused by someone else. The anger, confusion, grief, and other negative emotions may start to overpower you as you can’t fully accept the death of your family member. Because of this, it feels like it’s your responsibility to seek justice for your loved one by filing a wrongful death lawsuit.
Essentially, wrongful death refers to a legal action that can be filed when a person dies because of someone else’s fault. It usually falls as a personal injury claim because damages are sought-after against the party who caused an individual’s death. Some common examples of wrongful death cases can include vehicular accidents, slip, and fall accidents, medical malpractice, product liability, and similar situations.
Keep reading this article to learn how to find justice for your loved one’s wrongful death.
- Work With A Wrongful Death Attorney
Unless you’re a legal expert by yourself, you need the assistance of an experienced attorney to seek justice for a wrongful death through legal means. They can examine the details of your loved one’s death to determine the proper legal remedy. This way, you can receive compensation for all the losses you and your family have sustained.
Generally, having a lawyer in your corner can be beneficial in the following ways:
- They can offer invaluable legal advice as to the steps you should take to ensure you have a strong argument in court.
- They can help calculate your claim’s actual worth, including certain economic and non-economic damages. These can include medical and funeral expenses, lost income, lost household services, pain and suffering, loss of love and companionship, and other losses.
- They can identify whether you’re eligible to file a wrongful death case. Depending on the different state laws, the responsibility to initiate a claim falls to the surviving spouse, the surviving children of the deceased, the personal representative of the deceased’s estate, and the surviving parents if the deceased is dependent on any of them at the time of death.
By consulting with an attorney, you’ll have a higher chance of getting a more desirable outcome for your case. You’ll receive not just the compensation you need but also the justice you deserve.
- File The Wrongful Death Case Before The Deadline Expires
Another way to ensure you get justice for your loved one’s wrongful death is to file the case within the statute of limitations applicable to your state. It refers to the time limits you should bring a lawsuit to court. Your failure to do so may prevent you from enforcing your right to sue the at-fault party.
Although the statute of limitations differs from state to state, you usually have two years from your loved one’s wrongful death to institute the case. Hence, it’s essential to be mindful of the deadline to avoid legal problems later. The earlier you file a wrongful death lawsuit, the higher your odds of winning your case and receiving justice for your deceased loved one.
- Prepare Your Case Thoroughly
It’s also crucial to prepare for your wrongful death case to ensure a more favorable result. Like other personal injury cases, the success of your wrongful death lawsuit may depend on how ready you are to support your claim in court. Once you file the case, the judge and the jury will hear the arguments presented by the parties and decide on the matter. However, if you’re unprepared, you compromise your chances of persuading the court to favor your case. To avoid this from happening, you need to be ready to back up your claims.
For instance, you should have a convincing argument on why the at-fault party should be liable for compensation. You can do this by proving wrongful death. You should demonstrate that the death results from another person’s negligent acts or a breach of duty.
For negligence, you should provide evidence that their careless or reckless actions directly caused the death. It should be proven that if they haven’t been negligent, your loved one would still be alive. When it comes to breach of duty, you should show that the at-fault party owes a duty of care toward the deceased, and the former breached that duty, resulting in the latter’s death.
Once you establish the responsible party’s liability with the help of your lawyer, you can improve the likelihood of having a successful wrongful death lawsuit in the end.
Bottom Line
Going through a grieving period for your loved one’s wrongful death can be a complicated process for everyone. But, although you can no longer bring back the person’s life, there are still ways to find the justice your family needs. By keeping the information mentioned above in mind, you can gain compensation for all the losses you’ve sustained.
