A wrongful death claim occupies the same area of the law as the personal injury lawsuit. An attorney must demonstrate that there was negligence, which substantially contributed to the death of the victim. This is similar to the burden of proof in personal injury law, which is that there were negligent actions, or actions not taken, which were a substantial factor in the resulting harm.
Negligence does not necessarily mean that someone intended for a death to occur. While wrongful death suits can stem from murders, or from assaults that ended in fatal injuries, the majority of wrongful death claims occur because a person, or an entity (such as a hospital) did not act reasonably, but rather acted negligently. A failure to act is also considered to have been "not reasonable" and is therefore possible negligent behavior. Negligence is not a crime. But a negligent person can be held accountable for the damage their actions caused.
In the instance of wrongful death, the damage can include compensation to pay medical bills of the deceased; to cover funeral expenses; to make up for the income they would have earned and the financial support that they can no longer provide; and damages for the fact that family members will never again have the companionship, support or consortium (intimate relations) of the victim. Wrongful death claims can be brought on behalf of surviving spouses, children, parents, and other relatives.
It is natural, when a loved one has been killed in an untimely way, to want to strike out, and strike back if it was the fault of someone else, such as a texting driver or a careless doctor. But the desire to make someone pay and the actual ability to force them to pay damages are two different things. For one thing, the payment most often will come from an insurance company. The profit model of the insurance industry necessitates NOT paying, or paying as little as possible in order to maximize profits. Insurance firms use a formula to determine a dollar value that will be offered. Many people find these offers to be woefully inadequate. And so they hire a wrongful death attorney, to go up against the insurer. If you feel you are due a wrongful death settlement, a skilled trial lawyer can determine if you have a case and if so, will be able to go up against the insurer on your behalf.
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