No amount of money can bring back a loved one after a wrongful death, and a fair settlement will not ease the pain that you and your family will need to endure after this horrible loss caused by someone else’s recklessness or negligence. However, there is no reason that you should need to take on the financial burden caused by this tragic accident, which is why a wrongful death claim is such an important step to take.
The first step is to hire a wrongful death attorney in Boca Raton, which, in itself, can feel like an insurmountable task. 1-800-Injured makes it easy to find an attorney in your area who is ready and willing to take your case as soon as possible. 1-800-Injured is an attorney and medical referral service. As soon as you contact us, we will be able to connect you with an attorney who can speak directly with you about your situation during a free initial consultation, and give you peace of mind knowing that there is someone who can help you and your family get the compensation that you deserve while alleviating much of the legal stressors that may come with this process.
Read more below about wrongful death claims and lawsuits in Boca Raton, and contact 1-800-Injured as soon as possible to be connected with an experienced attorney with ease.
What Are the Criteria of a Wrongful Death Case?
After losing a family member or a loved one in an accident or seemingly-avoidable situation, it is understandable that you may want to seek answers about your legal options. At the same time, it can feel inappropriate to think about administrative steps after you and your family have gone through such a traumatic experience. Your attorney will be able to give you the emotional space that you need to focus on your personal needs and family life, while they take on the stress and shield of the legal process.
For a loss to qualify as wrongful death, and qualify the surviving dependents or family members for compensation, the following criteria must be present:
- The defendant must have had a “duty of care” that they were expected to uphold
- The defendant must have failed their duty of care
- This failure or abdication of the duty of care must have caused an accident
- The accident must have caused the death in question
As you can imagine, there are many different ways that this situation can occur, so in order to get clarity about your own personal situation, contact a wrongful death attorney in Boca Raton today so that you can learn about whether or not your situation qualifies, and how they can help you move forward with a case.
Who Is Eligible to Seek Compensation in a Wrongful Death Claim?
If you have determined that you have lost a loved one in a situation that qualifies as wrongful death, the next step is to determine whether or not you have a legal right to seek compensation. Typically, the plaintiff in a lawsuit is the estate representative, but they will act on behalf of a variety of family members, loved ones, and dependents, including the following:
- The surviving spouse of the deceased
- Children of the deceased – both adults and children. Children are entitled to additional compensation in many instances
- Parents of the deceased
- Other dependents of the deceased who are financially impacted by this loss
There are a number of other relationships to the deceased that may qualify an individual to seek compensation in a Boca Raton wrongful death, but there are many specifics that depend on a variety of legal and relational arrangements. These should be discussed with your attorney as soon as possible so that you can get an understanding of how to move forward with your case.
Determining Compensation After a Boca Raton Wrongful Death
The issue of compensation will be central to your wrongful death case, and when you are working with an experienced wrongful death lawyer through the process they will make sure to investigate every possible area that may indicate additional monetary damages that you are suffering, and are therefore entitled to. As with any personal injury case, a wrongful death lawsuit seeks compensatory damages that are further divided into economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the basis of all personal injury cases and seek compensation for measurable monetary impacts in the case. For a wrongful death, these will include things like the medical bills for the deceased, in addition to the financial impacts that you suffer such as the loss of their income and financial support, among other things.
Wrongful death economic damages can be much more complicated than another tort case, since there may be the question of long-term financial impacts stemming from the loss of a primary earner. Depending on the plaintiff’s relationship to the deceased, there are many different specific economic damages that they may be entitled to. Your attorney will be able to help you make sense of these questions or will be able to bring in outside help so that you can quantify these figures clearly.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages in a wrongful death case are also different from other tort cases, because they seek compensation for the emotional impacts of the surviving family members or loved ones who are filing the claim. This loss is significant, and while there is no amount of money that will bring a loved one back after a wrongful death case, it can provide the surviving family members with financial stability as they work to come to terms with the reality of this situation and begin rebuilding their lives.