If someone close to you has died due to another persons negligent or reckless actions, you may be able to pursue fair compensation for the following:
- Medical expenses
- Funeral expenses
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of future income
- Pain and suffering prior to death
Whether you can bring such a claim, and how much compensation you ultimately receive, depends on several factors:
- Relationship. Not everyone is entitled to wrongful death damages from another persons demise. You need to be a direct beneficiary of the person concerned essentially, you need to be someone who would have received part of that persons estate had they died without a will. Therefore, spouses and children have first priority, then parents. If there are no spouses, children or parents, then a representative may bring a claim on behalf of the deceased’s estate. It is at this point that siblings may be included.
- Amount. The amount depends on a calculation of how much the deceased would likely have earned during normal life expectancy, how much he or she would have given to family (as opposed to spending in other ways), how much in labor or comfort he or she would have provided to members of his or her family and how much the person suffered due to the actions that led to his or her death.
Even a casual glance at this information indicates that wrongful death claim is not something to try to handle by yourself. Not only are there strict timelines, but evidence must be produced that the death was, in fact, wrongful, as well as evidence of the deceased’s earning capacity and prior spending habits.
All of this is information that a Lancaster wrongful death attorney is accustomed to assembling. If someone very close to you has died in what you consider a wrongful death, do not hesitate. Call a Lancaster wrongful death lawyer immediately. The attorneys of McDonald At Law can help.