Who Can Go To Court For Wrongful Death?
Michael Babboni
Wrongful Death
Perhaps the single most emotionally devastating of all the trials that can take place in court is one where a death is involved. For the crime of murder, the survivors usually count on the state to prosecute a criminal and see that justice is served, either through a jail sentence, or, in the most horrible crimes, an execution. But what if someone dies as the direct result of someone else, but it’s not considered a criminal act?This is where a wrongful death lawsuit can step in to bring justice that the police and penitentiary system can’t. In some cases, such as the infamous OJ Simpsons trial in California, a wrongful death lawsuit must as act as the last stand for justice when even a criminal trial fails.
However, unlike a criminal trial, where it is essentially the state that is going after a criminal, a wrongful death lawsuit has a very limited number of people that can start such a process and see it through to the end.
Family First
The immediate candidates for starting a wrongful death lawsuit are the closest family members. This means that the parents, spouse, or surviving children of the victim are all considered viable clients for a St. Pete lawyer to represent in a wrongful death lawsuit.
There are many different permutations of these immediate survivors. In the case of younger parents, if their child should die as a matter of negligence, then obviously there is no estate to be dealt with, and the wrongful death lawsuit is more a form of closure and punishment for the offending parties.
On the other hand, if a victim of, say, a drunk driving accident was a mother of a family, with children, and a significant partner in a business, making her a breadwinner as well, this changes things. Now the children have no parent, and the financial stability of a second parent looking after the children’s financial needs is also gone.
This means that the surviving spouse and the children can all be represented in a wrongful death suit. Moreover, because in this particular example, the victim shoulders some major financial responsibilities, the wrongful death lawsuit may also involve typical compensatory damages such as lost wages, pain and suffering, and even lost prospective accumulations, which is the amount that an estate would have been expected to grow by had the victim not died.
Other Candidates
In addition to the immediate family, there are other members who may also qualify to bring a wrongful death lawsuit to court. If there are blood relatives, or even adopted siblings that relied on the victim for financial support, these family members are also legally entitled. It’s important to note here that there usually needs to be some measure of financial dependency. Cousins, aunts and uncles with no close ties—either personal or financial—to the victim cannot take part. There is also a statute of limitations on a wrongful death lawsuit. If two or more years have passed, the court will no longer accept such a lawsuit.
If you’ve lost a loved one to someone else’s negligence, get an experienced wrongful death attorney to help get the closure and justice you need.