A death that has been a result of some other person’s negligence is termed as wrongful death. For any such deaths, you can file a lawsuit and get compensation. However, it is necessary that you get well versed with a wrongful death lawsuit before applying for one.
You will also need a skilled lawyer to prove your case. Thus, it is recommended you go for firms such as Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein, LLP. To help you out, we have answered all the questions related to wrongful death lawsuits below.
What cases are considered to be wrongful death?
As mentioned above, any deaths that have been caused due to the negligence of a third party are termed as wrongful death. To give you a better idea, below are some of such cases:
- Car or motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle accidents or pedestrian crashes
- Faulty, defective medication, and wrong medical advice
- Harms caused by defective products
- Slip and fall accidents triggered by a third party
- Premises liability accidents
- Accidents by commercial or any large vehicle
What all needs to be proved?
You will only be able to get compensation once you have proved that the death has been intentional or the fault of someone else. For the same, you’ll have to prove a list of things. These are:
- The duty of care is the first and the foremost thing you’ll have to prove. The party that is under the blame should possess the duty of care. Therefore, you’ll have to prove that. It can be quite tricky to prove the duty of care in car accidents.
- The second thing that you’ll have to prove is the fact that the duty of care has been breached. For instance, if your loved one has passed away due to faulty medicine, the duty of care resided with the chemist or the doctor. So, you’ll have to prove the duty of care has been breached.
- This is the most important thing for your case. You’ll have to prove that the breach was the result of the death. For the case mentioned above, you’ll have to give evidence that it was the medicine that caused the death.
- After you’ve proven all the points mentioned, you will be required to list down all the losses suffered by you due to the death of the individual.
What type of compensation can you get?
There are two types of people who can get compensation for the death:
- The family members of the deceased can claim the damages suffered and demand compensation. They can be their spouse, children, parents, adoptive parents, or children. The family members who demand compensation are called survivors.
- The second type is the estate. It refers to the collective legal designation of the property left behind.
As a survivor, you can demand compensation for emotional loss, funeral expenses, medical bills, future earnings, etc. At the same time, the estate can demand compensation for expenses spent on injury, lost earnings, and net accumulations.
That was all! Now you know everything about filing a wrongful death lawsuit.
