Dealing with a death in the family is never easy. It is even more complicated when your loved one is killed due to another person or entity’s negligence, and the grief is even more daunting. Without notice, someone rings your doorbell or calls you on the phone, and your world is thrown upside down. Dealing with this type of loss takes a lot of stamina and the help of close friends and family members. There is no one way to handle a death in the family. However, it helps the bereaved learn more about wrongful death and what can be done.

Let’s look at who can place a wrongful death claim, the types of accidents, what this lawsuit covers, and what can be done to make a difficult time easier. We’ll also explore what a wrongful death lawyer in Nevada City can do to make it easier financially. We know that none of this will make losing a loved one any easier, but it will make the transition period less of a financial burden.

A representative for the family sues for wrongful death and is usually the executor of the deceased person’s estate. Some of the people who might have a share in the claim include:

• Members of the immediate family: This consists of the spouse, children, adopted children, or parents of a decedent who isn’t married.
• Putative spouse or domestic partner: In California, a putative spouse could be divorced or separated from the decedent but was still supported by that person. The spouse may also believe the marriage was still valid, although it wasn’t. This ruling by California courts resulted from Ceja v. Rudolph & Sletten, Inc., a case in which the deceased husband had neglected to divorce his first wife before marrying again.
• More distant members of the family: Siblings, parents, and grandparents may place a claim if no closer family members survive.

Many different types of accidents result in a person’s demise. They range from automobile crashes to the failure of a doctor to treat a patient appropriately. In every case, someone dies prematurely or unnecessarily. This causes the family overwhelming grief and, on occasion, anger. They wonder why this happened and how someone could care so little for a person’s life that their loved one was taken from them. Some of the more common types of wrongful death accidents are:

• Car accidents
• Medical malpractice
• Products liability
• Construction accidents

Wrongful death lawsuits allow the family to collect compensation for the financial losses resulting from the demise of a loved one. It is a personal injury lawsuit and must be filed at a specific time, or the ability to mount a claim will be lost. If this time limit, called the statute of limitations, is not met, the court will not allow the suit to proceed. In an average family, the deceased’s support made it possible to pay household bills and the mortgage, support children living in the household, and set up inheritance plans. When an unexpected wrongful death occurs, such payments become more difficult.

As mentioned above, specific types of damages need to be recovered by the deceased’s immediate family. They are:

• Medical expenses incurred before the individual’s death are usually collected through a survival action. This type of claim is where the family files a personal injury claim for the deceased. It is a survival action because it persists despite the person’s death. It can also include the decedent’s pain and suffering before their death.
• Burial and funeral expenses: Today, end-of-life items such as burial and funeral costs are high. This is almost impossible to pay for many families, and a wrongful death claim will help.
• Loss of income: This category includes the deceased’s income and the future salary they would have made.
• Loss of benefits: This is also covered in a wrongful death lawsuit. It includes life and health insurance premiums and all retirement benefits.
• Other losses: Loss of companionship, consortium, love, and affection can be claimed.

Nevada City wrongful death lawyer Ed Smith discusses the different types of claims:

Losing a loved one is tragic enough, but grief is worsened when they are taken away because of wrongful death. For free and friendly advice, please call our Nevada City wrongful death lawyers at (530) 392-9400 or (800) 404-5400.

^{Editor’s Note: updated [cha 10.19.23] Photo by Mayron Oliveira on Unsplash cd cha [cs 761]}