If you’ve found yourself reading this page, you might be experiencing an intense state of grieving and may even be in disbelief after a person suddenly lost their life. You may feel emotions; you might feel angry at those responsible for the accident, trapped by your depression, or anxious about how to continue living your life after this tragic event. Many who have suffered through losing a loved one feel it is difficult to breathe and often have difficulty getting out of the house or completing their normal daily activities. These emotions are common and are natural to losing somebody due to a preventable accident.

If you have lost a family member in a tragic accident due to negligence and need legal guidance, call our Oroville law firm at (530) 392-9400 to schedule a free no-obligation consultation with one of our wrongful death lawyers.

There was no warning for many people that the accident would happen. This means that you might not have been able to tell the person you love goodbye. In other cases, people can share a conversation or embrace their loved ones without realizing they won’t ever be able to talk to them again. In every one of these cases, the tragedy is made more difficult by knowing that the accident wouldn’t have happened if another person or entity had prevented it. After suffering such a difficult loss, people must take the necessary steps to recover and continue living. A critical step on the road to recovery is speaking with an experienced Oroville wrongful death lawyer who can help you find out what you are owed and help you pursue the payments you deserve from those who caused the accident.

We understand that the grieving process following a fatal accident can overwhelm people, and we also know that this feeling means many want to postpone legal action. However, negligent parties and insurance companies usually are not going through the same emotions. Liable parties typically immediately begin doing everything in their power to defend themselves from having to pay for damages. Because of this, having a legal expert on your team as soon as you are able can be vitally important. The faster your Oroville wrongful death lawyer can investigate your case, the more prepared they will be to prevent evidence from being obscured.

Having an Oroville wrongful death attorney early on not only means preventing responsible parties from defending themselves, but your lawyer will also be able to handle all the deadlines, paperwork, and details in your case. With an attorney on your side, you don’t need to worry about negotiating with insurers, interviewing witnesses, filling out the proper forms, and all of the many complicated details of claiming the payment you deserve for your terrible loss suffered.

The legal term “wrongful death” is outlined in the California Civil Code of Procedure 377.60. The term refers to deaths caused by the fault or negligence of another party. This party can be an individual, a group of individuals, a company, a government body, or any entity determined to have been negligent in an accident.

The goal of any wrongful death case is to ensure that those who have lost a person they love and depend on are justly compensated for losses related to their loved one’s death. While a person’s life can never fully be compensated for, wrongful death claims usually seek repayment for financial and emotional damages that dependents and family members suffer after losing their loved one.

Before filing a civil lawsuit, your lawyer will often file a wrongful death claim against the negligent party’s insurance company. Over 90 percent of wrongful death claims are settled in negotiations with insurers before the case goes to trial. However, a case may have to be argued in court when a settlement can’t be reached. When this happens, your Oroville wrongful death lawyer will become invaluable and take on the vital task of constructing your case, filing lawsuits, drafting pleadings, depositing, gathering admissions and documents, and more.

The types of damages that can be recovered in a wrongful death vary widely and depend on the precise details of every case. However, some of the more common types of payment include the following:

• Medical Costs – Many times, people injured in accidents receive medical treatments in an ambulance or hospital before they lose their lives. The costs of these treatments are typically recoverable through wrongful death claims.
• Pain and Suffering – these losses are non-economic, meaning they do not have a set value. While knowing how much a hospital bill is worth is easy, some damages can be more challenging to agree on and might even require a jury’s decision when settlements can’t be reached. Pain and Suffering payments can include money for loss of parental guidance, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, loss of consortium, and more.
• Loss of Income – If the person you lost was an income earner in your family, you could claim payments for the income the decedent would have made in the future had the fatal incident not occurred.
• Loss of Services – The people we love improve our everyday lives by helping us with household services. These services include cleaning, repairing things around the house, cooking, caring for young children, and more. Often, the labor our loved ones perform for free would be very costly if we hired somebody else. For this reason, the services that your loved one provided you with can also be pursued through a wrongful death claim.

The below video is a helpful way to learn more about what can be recovered in a wrongful death claim.

The loss of a loved one can be a devastating experience. If a person you love was killed in an accident, please talk to us so we can give you free, friendly advice. Call (800) 404-5400 or (530) 392-9400. We’ve assisted Oroville families and individuals who claim fair repayment for personal injury and wrongful death damages since 1982. See our past cases on our verdicts & settlements page.

^{Editor’s Note: updated[cha 8.17.23] Photos: “funeral” by Annie Spratt on pixabay ms cha [cs 1054]}