If you are reading this page, it is possible that someone you love recently lost their life because of a sudden, unpredictable accident. People often feel overwhelmed in these situations and may have difficulty accepting what happened. Furthermore, a fatal accident can leave families in difficult financial situations.

As Truckee wrongful death lawyers, it’s our job to help families recover financially and personally after fatal accidents. If you have lost a loved one in a tragic accident caused by someone else’s negligence, call our law office at (530) 392-9400 for a free consultation.

Our law firm will only accept cases that involve a deadly or severe injury. Because we specialize our practice this way, our legal team is an expert in high-value cases. We have decades of experience helping families hold at-fault parties and insurance companies responsible for damages.

Even though we focus on significant cases, we handle many different kinds of fatal accidents. These include:

• Car accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Bicycle accidents
• Medical malpractice
• Products liability
• Workplace accidents
• Construction accidents
• Boat accidents
• Farm equipment accidents
• Plane accidents
• Traumatic brain injury cases

Suddenly, losing somebody you love is a tragedy, and people facing such a loss often go through an intense grieving process. After a deadly accident, it is common to feel intense feelings, including confusion, anxiety, anger, fear, sadness, and more. Sometimes, those who’ve suffered a traumatic loss may feel shocked and unable to process what happened. While grieving is a different process for everybody, what’s important is to take steps to take care of yourself and support the people you love.

While you may feel lost, there are several things you can do to find comfort. Many can process their feelings with their family and friends or members from communities like churches or groups of others who’ve experienced a similar loss. Sharing your feelings and relying on the support of others can be easier to cope with and heal. If you would like to learn more about the process of grieving, take a moment to watch the following video:

After deadly accidents, the decedent’s family and those who relied on them for financial support can seek compensation for their losses from at-fault parties by filing a wrongful death claim. Wrongful death claims are described in the California Code of Civil Procedure. This code states that, for a deadly accident to be considered a wrongful death case, the fatality must have been caused by the negligent action or inaction of one or more at-fault parties.

People eligible to seek payments through wrongful death claims include:

• Spouses
• Children
• Putative spouses or putative spouses of children
• Grandchildren of deceased children
• Minors that relied on the decedent for at least 50% of their financial support

In California, settlement and verdict payments are issued as one lump sum, and eligible parties must divide the payment privately.

Losing a loved one isn’t just emotionally painful and can cause families serious financial problems. Losing somebody in your family often means losing a critical source of income, possibly leaving you unable to afford your living expenses. Furthermore, our loved ones often provide household services that are very important and expensive to hire someone else to perform. These services include home repair, childcare, cooking, cleaning, and more. Furthermore, decedents often receive medical care for injuries related to their accidents before they pass away. Families can also seek payments for these medical expenses through wrongful death claims.

Essentially, wrongful death damages are divided into two separate categories. All the damages described above are economic because they come with an easily identifiable price. The other category is non-economic damages, which provide payments for damages that are harder to define. These include things related to your suffering, like loss of companionship, parental guidance, and more. Because the value of these losses is difficult to quantify, at-fault parties may try to pay less than they truly deserve, so it is essential to have an experienced lawyer who knows how to ensure you receive fair compensation.

Wrongful death claims can be critical for families, so you must know your attorney can confidently and effectively handle your claim. Thankfully, it’s not hard to research and find a great lawyer if you know how to look. Remember to keep these things in mind during your search:

• Reputation – Your lawyer should be well respected by their peers and those they’ve previously worked with. You can find out about a lawyer’s reputation simply by looking them up on reviews like Avvo or Yelp and seeing what people say.
• Experience – Your lawyer should be an expert, which means they need a long history of dealing with cases like yours. For information about your lawyer’s past work, check out their settlements and verdicts or ask them about their previous successes.
• Resources – Wrongful death cases can be costly, and at-faulty parties frequently put up a fight, pouring time and money into defending themselves. Sadly, this means that smaller law firms cannot keep up. An excellent way to determine whether your attorney has the resources to do everything they can to ensure you receive fair compensation is to ask whether they would take your case to trial.

Deadly accidents can leave families devastated. If you lost somebody you love, please call our Truckee wrongful death attorneys as soon as you can at (800) 404-5400 or (530) 392-9400.

Our law firm has worked with families in the Truckee area since 1982, helping them obtain the settlements and verdicts they deserve after fatal accidents.

^{Editor’s Note: updated [cha 9.8.23] Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash ms llo [cs 970] cha}