Essential Steps After a Loved One’s Wrongful Death

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Essential Steps After a Loved One’s Wrongful Death

Death is hard.

Losing a loved one is something that no one wants to happen. It can be very tragic, leaving you with immeasurable grief and emotional suffering.

But when that death could have been prevented by another person?

The pain is so much more.

Millions of Americans die each year from accidents and unintentional injuries. Most of these deaths were preventable. They happened because someone else was careless or irresponsible. Every day in America, countless families lose loved ones due to preventable causes.

Thankfully, families who suffer from these types of losses do have legal options available to them. There is a course of action that can be taken, one that will allow the grieving family to hold the liable party responsible for their actions.

In this article, we will talk about what this course of action is and how it can help you deal with your loss. We will cover the following topics:

• The Meaning of Wrongful Death
• First Steps to Take After the Death
• How to Protect Your Legal Rights
• Finding the Right Legal Assistance

The Meaning of Wrongful Death

The term wrongful death means that the death of a loved one happened due to the fault of someone else. That can be due to the negligence, carelessness, recklessness, or even intentional action of the liable party.

This can occur under various circumstances such as medical malpractice, car accidents, workplace accidents, or defective products. In fact, according to the statistics from the last couple of years, an estimated 250,000 Americans die each year from preventable medical errors.

The number is truly shocking.

This does not take into account the thousands of preventable deaths that occur due to drunk drivers, unsafe working conditions, or faulty products on the market every year. The early consultation with a wrongful death lawyer in this process can be of immense help to a grieving family. This will help you navigate this complicated situation while also protecting your legal rights.

The emotional suffering is a given. The stress of this event alone is unimaginable.

But the financial consequences also have to be taken into account. The lost income that your family is now missing due to your loved one’s passing is definitely something you need to cover.

Immediate Steps To Take

Here’s the thing…

The steps you take during the first few days, weeks, and months after your loss have a major impact on your ability to seek justice later on. Time is not your ally here.

Document everything. This will include medical records, police reports, witness information, and any communications with insurance companies. Don’t discard anything.

Preserve evidence. Physical evidence is the first to go. Anything at the accident scene will disappear very soon. Photographs of the property, the scene, and the injuries as well as the witness statements become more and more difficult to get as time goes by.

Don’t sign anything. In the first few days and weeks after a wrongful death, insurance companies may approach you with offers to settle. These initial offers are always very low.

And most importantly…

Be aware of your statute of limitations. In most states, the statute of limitations for wrongful death lawsuits is two years from the date of the incident. In some states, you have even less time to file a lawsuit. Once this deadline has passed, you lose your right to file a lawsuit forever.

Understanding Wrongful Death Legal Services

The wrongful death legal services are there to make this process easier on you. This is a legal help that will deal with everything on your behalf. It will help you through this trying period of your life while also maximizing your compensation.

A wrongful death legal service will typically do the following:

• Investigate the details and the cause of the death
• Identify all parties that may be liable for the death
• Value all of your damages
• Handle all the communications with the insurance companies
• File the lawsuit and make sure to do it before the deadline
• Represent you in the court, should that be necessary

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?

Each state has certain eligibility requirements when it comes to bringing a wrongful death lawsuit.

In most cases, these requirements include the following:

• Surviving spouse
• Children of the deceased victim
• The parents, mostly if the deceased is a minor
• The personal representatives of the estate

The legal services and the individual states also allow extended family members to file a wrongful death claim if they were financially dependent on the deceased. The key is to know your state’s specific regulations on this topic.

Common Causes of Wrongful Death Claims

The wrongful death claims are as diverse as life itself. This means that they occur in the most diverse circumstances and locations.

The most common cause for wrongful death is motor vehicle accidents. Every year, car accidents take thousands of preventable lives. These are caused by negligent, drunk, and reckless drivers.

Medical malpractice is also a very common cause for death. This includes the surgical errors, but also misdiagnosis, and errors with medication.

The third most common cause is workplace accidents, especially in construction and manufacturing. Product liability is another cause for wrongful death. It happens when the products are defective or extremely dangerous.

Devastating isn’t it?

The only thing all these circumstances have in common is a lack of care from the part of the party who caused your loved one’s death.

What Compensation Is Available?

The wrongful death verdicts and settlements can award you compensation for a variety of losses.

There are economic and non-economic damages, and both of them can be compensated. The economic ones are the ones that can be easily calculated, like the medical expenses, funeral and burial costs, lost income and benefits, and even lost inheritance.

The non-economic damages include the less measurable losses like loss of companionship, the loss of guidance for minor children, and the mental pain and suffering.

There are also punitive damages. This is a special type of damage that the court may award in very serious cases that have caused emotional trauma to the victim.

The Importance of Acting Quickly

One thing that most people don’t realize is that evidence doesn’t stick around forever.

For example, surveillance video tapes are overwritten as new videos are recorded. Witnesses move or relocate. The crucial pieces of evidence at the accident scene are removed or deteriorate as time passes by.

The longer you wait to investigate the circumstances of your loved one’s death and to build your case, the harder it will become to prove liability. Insurance companies know that. They are counting on that, waiting for the grieving family to wait for them to begin taking action so the evidence is no longer available.

You don’t want that to happen to you.

Wrapping Things Up

The death of a loved one is already an immensely difficult experience. When that death was preventable, it just became ten times worse.

Families that are faced with these types of situations do have legal options to take, though. They have the ability to file a wrongful death lawsuit, to seek justice, and financial compensation.

The right first steps will make a huge difference in your ability to achieve that. By documenting everything, not missing any deadlines, and seeking the help of the qualified wrongful death lawyer, you will set yourself up for success.

The legal process will not bring your loved one back. There’s nothing that can do that. But it will give your family the financial stability that you need and hold negligent parties responsible for their actions.

That is something you need to fight for.