A wrongful death claim is a claim one can make if a party has negligently or intentionally caused the death of a loved one. If your loved one has suffered death because of another party, you are eligible to make a wrongful death claim. Whether or not the defendant has caused the death of the person intentionally or negligently does not matter in a wrongful death claim.
The Application Of A Wrongful Death Claim
There can be various situations in which a wrongful death claim can be applicable. It is applicable in any situation in which a victim has died because of the action of another party. This will include planned murder of a person, death due to medical malpractice, car accident deaths due to negligence, etc. If a person has died because of the negligence of a driver that led to a fatal accident, the loved ones of the deceased may successfully file a wrongful death claim against the driver.
If the deaths of a patient result from negligent acts of a doctor who was supposed to give proper care to the patient, the relatives of the patient may file a wrongful death claim against the doctor. Almost all kinds of personal injury cases, which resulted in the death of a person, are eligible for wrongful death claim. Work injuries that led to the death of a worker are not worthy of wrongful death claims since they will be handled under the worker’s compensation system.
The Proof Necessary For A Valid Claim
The success of a wrongful death claim will depend on the validity of proofs that are available. This is common in all personal injury claims and wrongful death claims. In a personal injury case involving negligence, the plaintiff should be able to prove that the defendant was indebted to fulfill a duty but that he failed in doing that, and that breach in duty caused the injuries. In a wrongful death claim, the system is the same except that the plaintiff should be able to prove that the breach of duty of the defendant directly caused the death of the deceased.
Who Can File A Wrongful Death Claim?
Usually, it is the representative of the state of the dead one, filing the wrongful death claim. He can do it on behalf of the survivors who were related to the deceased one. It is possible for the spouse of a deceased person to bring a successful wrongful death claim on behalf of the spouse.
If you are planning to make a wrongful death lawsuit, seek the help of a wrongful death attorney near to you.