Elements of a Wrongful Death Lawsuit
To know for sure whether you have a wrongful death claim, you must contact an experienced attorney. Each situation is unique, but this page provides some basic information that tends to be common to wrongful death cases.
What is Present in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Although the only way to know if you have a wrongful death claim is to consult an experienced attorney, elements common to most cases include:
- A person’s death
- Someone’s negligence caused the death
- Surviving family members suffered a financial injury as a result
Wrongful death is caused by an act of negligence, not a criminal act like murder. When someone is negligent in fulfilling some duty owed to your loved one – such as diagnosing a disease correctly – his or her intent was not to kill anyone, but even without intent the carelessness resulted in a preventable death.
After a death in the family, you may find in addition to your grief you are burdened by medical bills for your loved one’s treatment and funeral expenses, as well as losing a household income and other financial contributions.
A wrongful death claim lets you pursue compensation to deal with the financial consequences of the death. It is also a way to hold the person responsible for the death accountable.
Finding out if you have a Wrongful Death Claim
Our attorneys can determine if you have a claim only after meeting with you. During a free legal consultation, we can review aspects of your case such as:
- Are you an eligible family member or beneficiary of the deceased?
- Is there evidence someone else’s negligence led to the death?
- Can you show current or future financial losses as a result of the death?
Our compassionate attorneys will pursue compensation aggressively, so that you may begin to recover from the financial repercussions of your loved one’s death, and so you may begin to focus on healing emotionally without the financial burden on your shoulders.