Wrongful Death Attorneys

Wrongful death is a claim in common law jurisdictions against a person who can be held liable for a death. The claim is brought in a civil action, usually by close relatives, as enumerated by statute. Under common law, a dead person cannot bring a suit, and this created a legal hole in which activities that resulted in a person's injury would result in civil sanction but activities that resulted in a person's death would not.

The standard of proof in the United States is typically preponderance of the evidence as opposed to clear and convincing or beyond a reasonable doubt. In Australia and the United Kingdom, it is 'on the balance of probabilities'. For this reason, it is often easier for a family to seek retribution against someone who kills a family member through tort than a criminal prosecution. It should be noted, however, that the two actions are not mutually exclusive; a person may be prosecuted criminally for causing a person's death (whether in the form of murder, manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, or some other theory) and that person can also be sued civilly in a wrongful death action (as in the O.J. Simpson cases).

In most, if not all common law jurisdictions, there was no common law right to recover civil damages for the wrongful death of a person. However, many jurisdictions have now enacted statutes to create a right to such recovery. The issue of liability will be determined by the tort law of a given state.

A wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the decedent was killed as a result of the negligence (or other liability) on the part of the defendant, and that the surviving dependents or beneficiaries are entitled to monetary damages as a result of the defendant's conduct.

This type of claim is different from a normal negligence lawsuit, which is filed by the person injured for the resulting damages. Originally under “common law” (the general legal principles passed from England to the United States over hundreds of years), a wrongful death claim did not exist based upon the reasoning that the claim died with the victim where there was no way to compensate him for damages. The surviving family members then could not claim damages from the person who caused the victim's death. Over the years, states have passed "wrongful death statutes" that provide compensation for persons who may have been damaged from the death of the victim as well as an incentive to act carefully and safely. Today, all states have some form of a wrongful death claim action in force.

While state “wrongful death statutes” were drafted independently of each other and are often unique, they all follow the same general principles. A wrongful death claim generally consists of four elements: (1) the death was caused, in whole or part, by the conduct of the defendant; (2) the defendant was negligent or strictly liable for the victim’s death; (3) there is a surviving spouse, children, beneficiaries or dependents; and (4) monetary damages have resulted from the victim’s death.

Conditions for filing wrongful death claim

The death must have been caused, in whole or in part, by the defendant's conduct, even though there was no direct intention to kill the victim. The defendant must have been deemed negligent or strictly liable for the victim's death. Also the deceased has dependent party such as family members who have suffered from emotional and monetary damages as a result of the death.

Wrongful death attorneys

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