Losing someone you love is never an easy thing, even when it is an expected end to a long and happy life. When a loved one is lost suddenly and seemingly without reason, the experience can be even harder for families to navigate. Taking time to grieve is important, but it’s also critical to ensure your legal rights are taken care of. When a death is caused by the negligence or wrongful acts of another party, surviving loved ones have the right to legal recourse in the form of a wrongful death lawsuit. Working with a skilled legal team with years of wrongful death claims experience is the best way to ensure a fair and favorable outcome.
What is a wrongful death?
According to North Carolina law, a wrongful death is a loss of life that occurs due to “a wrongful act, neglect, or default of another.” Wrongful deaths can occur as the result of a criminal act or an accident. The responsible party might be charged with a crime and have to move through the criminal justice system, or if there was no crime involved, can be the focus of a wrongful death action, which is a form of civil lawsuit.
Some examples of circumstances that lead up to a wrongful death case include:
- Airplane crash
- Car accident
- Commercial trucking accident
- Workplace injuries
- Drowning
- Electrocution
- Animal attack
- Murder
- Building collapse
- Bridge collapse
- Product malfunction
- Medical malpractice
- Defective products
This is far from a comprehensive list. Any death that occurs due to the choices, behaviors, or neglect of another party can become the focus of a wrongful death lawsuit.
How do attorneys prove wrongful death?
Building a successful wrongful death case requires a great deal of skill and experience. There are requirements that must be met in order to prove that the death of one individual happened due to the actions or neglect of another individual or organization.
Proving cause
The first step is to clearly establish that the other party caused the loss of life. In some cases, such as violent crimes, this is a relatively easy task. In many cases, however, determining who was responsible for a loss of life is incredibly complicated. It’s essential to present evidence that illustrates a clear causal link between the responsible party and the person who is deceased.
Proving proximate cause
This means establishing that the loss of life should have been a foreseeable outcome for the responsible party. In other words: in order to prove wrongful death, you must prove that the loss of life could have been predicted, based on all available facts. Here again, this is sometimes a simple matter, such as when a company continues to sell a product that their own testing has shown to be unsafe. But it can also be complicated, which is often the case in medical malpractice suits. Just because a situation is potentially dangerous does not mean that any resulting death will be a good fit for a wrongful death lawsuit.
Who can bring a wrongful death lawsuit?
Typically, the people who move forward with a wrongful death lawsuit are the individuals who are harmed by the loss of life. This is usually family members like the spouse, children, siblings, or parents of the deceased. However, if a personal representative was named in the person’s will, that individual has the option of seeking legal recourse. If there is no personal representative named, the court can decide if an individual should have the right to pursue legal action regarding the loss of life.
How can I help my attorney build a strong wrongful death case?
The most important thing a loved one can do to move a wrongful death case forward is to work closely with your attorney and provide any requested information as soon as possible. Your legal representative will need information about the deceased person’s income, benefits, investments, and career path to determine the appropriate damages to seek. They will also want to know more about your relationship to your lost loved one and the role they played in your family.
It can be difficult to discuss these issues in the aftermath of a terrible loss. But the best way to receive the compensation your family deserves is to paint a full picture to the court of who your loved one was and the importance they held within the family. When you choose a legal team with years of wrongful death claims experience, you’ll have guidance as you move through this process, and be kept up to date on the timeline and what is needed to move forward. That alone can go a long way toward easing anxieties and concerns, especially when a family is suffering financial strain after losing a loved one.
