4 Tips for Winning a Wrongful Death Claim
Wrongful death is a term describing a death caused by another person's recklessness, negligence, or intentional act. Under the law, the surviving family members of the deceased have the right to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the person responsible.
A wrongful death claim is filed when someone dies due to somebody else's legal fault. It can stem from fatal accidents, including complex medical malpractice, product liability, or car accident cases. It can also be possible if the act that resulted in the loss of life was intentional.
A wrongful death lawsuit can be filed by the deceased's estate, immediate family members, financial dependents, putative spouses, life partners, distant family members, and anyone who suffers financially from the death. This article outlines four tips for winning a wrongful death claim.
Hire a Wrongful Death Lawyer
Wrongful death claims can be complex because the facts involved are often clouded. These cases involve multiple legalities, and missing them can weaken your case. Fighting a wrongful death lawsuit without any legal background, knowledge, and experience can jeopardize your winning chances. However, hiring a wrongful death attorney from a reputable firm, such as The Tinker Law Firm PLLC, can increase the possibility of succeeding.
A wrongful death lawyer can scrutinize the circumstances that resulted in your loved one's death, help you understand your legal rights, figure out liability, and file a case on your behalf seeking compensation for losses arising from your loved one's passing. With the help of your attorney, you can prove your claim and win the case.
Prove Every Element of a Wrongful Death Claim
Your wrongful death case can't succeed without the requisite elements. To win the claim, your lawyer should prove the following:
Negligence: In a wrongful death claim, your attorney must prove that your loved one's demise was either partly or wholly due to the defendant's recklessness, carelessness, or negligence
Causation: This involves establishing how the defendant's negligence resulted in your family member's death
Breach of duty: To succeed in a wrongful death case, your attorney should prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant owed the victim a duty and establish how that duty existed and that it was breached due to negligent actions
Damages: To prove your claim, the victim's death should cause quantifiable damages, including medical expenses, hospitalizations, burial costs, loss of income and potential earnings, the victim's pain and suffering before death, and loss of guidance, inheritance, and protection
Present Evidence of Intention
While most deaths are accidental or natural, some can be caused intentionally. Proving that there was a deliberate intention by the defendant to cause your loved one's wrongful death is an effective way to strengthen your claim. While wrongful death and murder often go hand in hand, they're different and are treated as such by the court. Murder is treated as a capital offense. Alternatively, wrongful death gets into the picture once the defendant is acquitted of the murder charges but may still be held responsible for wrongful death.
Stick to the Statutes of Limitations
Statutes of limitations put stringent time restrictions on your legal right to file a wrongful death claim. Every state has varying regulations regarding statutes of limitations. Familiarize yourself with your state's laws to ensure your claim is filed on time.
Endnote
Wrongful death cases can be quite emotional and challenging because they constantly remind you of the loss of a loved one. This makes it even harder to put together a successful lawsuit. However, implementing these tips can help you win a wrongful death claim.
About the Author
LTC News sponsored content like this reaches an audience interested in aging, caregiving, health care, lifestyle, long-term care, and retirement planning. Your sponsored content article can live on LTC NEWS indefinitely - or for one year, easily and affordably.
Sponsored Content
Contributor since August 21st, 2017
Editor's Note
Poor quality long-term care can lead to wrongful death. You see this with poor-quality nursing homes. Wrongful death suits in nursing homes may be brought when an elderly patient dies due to a caregiver's recklessness, negligence, or intentional act. While wrongful death can occur with quality providers, the likelihood increases with providers who cut corners.
Under the law, the surviving family members of the deceased have the right to seek financial compensation for their losses, including medical costs, lost wages, loss of companionship, and funeral expenses. When a wrongful death suit is successful, the deceased's family may be awarded monetary damages that will help them to recover and move forward. This can provide much-needed closure and a sense of justice for the grieving family members.
Ideally, you want to ensure good-quality care. To access your choice of quality care, Long-Term Care Insurance can be helpful. The guaranteed tax-free benefits can pay for the quality care you want in your desired setting.
Quality care is costly. An LTC policy will protect your income and assets, help you access quality care, and reduce the stress and anxiety otherwise placed on those you love.
Most people get their coverage in their 50s.
Long-Term Care Specialists Help You Plan and Save Money
The information and experience that a Long-Term Care Insurance professional can offer can help you choose the best plan to suit your needs.
Specialists can assist with explaining the various forms of coverage, evaluating your needs in light of your present health, financial situation, and family size, and evaluating prospective insurance options to find the best match for your needs and budget.
Both the premiums and the underwriting guidelines differ significantly between insurance companies. You can save time and money by using a specialist's help to compare the potential costs and coverage of the top companies. These long-term care planning professionals can also help you understand the tax advantages of Long-Term Care Insurance and how it relates to retirement planning.
Top Insurers for Long-Term Care Insurance
A qualified Long-Term Care Insurance specialist will match you with the best company to save you money. A specialist will put together accurate quotes from all the top companies based on your age, health, family history, and other factors.
Resources on LTC NEWS
LTC NEWS offers news, guidance, and resources to assist you in long-term health care planning. Additionally, LTC NEWS provides reviews of various Long-Term Care Insurance plans.
Here are some of the resources that are available on LTC NEWS:
Parent’s Health Declining? Do They Need Care Now?
Get quality care for your parent or parents if they require it. LTC NEWS can assist. We've put together a few comprehensive guides to help you along the way.
Find help locating quality caregivers or long-term care facilities and get recommendations for a proper care plan, whether a person has a policy. - Filing a Long-Term Care Insurance Claim.
Make sure your loved one uses their Long-Term Care Insurance if they are fortunate enough to have it. Families sometimes postpone taking advantage of the benefits thinking family members can provide care, saving the benefits for later when it is deemed "more necessary."
Delaying the use of available Long-Term Care Insurance benefits is not a good idea. The policy provides you with access to quality care when someone needs it. It also gives loved one’s time to family instead of caregivers.
These four guides can be very helpful as you try to find appropriate long-term care services for a loved one:
Today's Reverse Mortgages Can Benefit Older Families
Some people have a large portion of their savings in their homes. With the help of reverse mortgages, you can find ways to pay for quality in-home care, pay for LTC Insurance, and even assist with cash flow during retirement.
Yes, today's reverse mortgages may be the perfect way to pay for a Long-Term Care Insurance policy or even cover the cost of in-home care if you or a loved one is currently in need.
Asking an expert with your questions will help you learn more. Mike Banner, a columnist for LTC NEWS and the host of the television program "62 Who Knew," will respond to your inquiries about long-term care, reverse mortgages, aging, and health.
- Just "Ask Mike." - Reverse Mortgages | LTC News.
Be Part of LTC NEWS and Improve Your Website's Traffic and SEO
Writing an article for LTC NEWS can improve your website or blog's SEO and gain exposure and traffic at the same time by being a contributor to LTC NEWS. Getting your company's website URL on LTC NEWS can improve SEO by helping to increase your visibility online. Additionally, being on LTC NEWS can help boost your website's authority in the eyes of Google and other search engines, leading to a higher ranking in search results.
You can promote yourself, your business, and your website or blog. It can include links to other sites, and you can share the article link once
published on your website or social media. However, it must have editorial content exclusive to LTC NEWS and not just an advertisement.
Email your story idea or article: newsroom@ltcnews.com - LTC News Contributors | LTC News
Marketing and Advertising on LTC NEWS
LTC NEWS can help you drive traffic to your website and attract people who are interested in your products and services. Furthermore, you can also improve the SEO of your website so your site shows higher on the search engines. The goal is to get more customers that can find you when they search for your products and services.
There are various marketing options available with LTC NEWS. Traditional advertising, sponsored content articles, strategic alliances, and more are available.
Learn more about how LTC NEWS can help market your business, drive traffic, and improve SEO - Advertise With Us | LTC News.
Sharing News with LTC NEWS
Include LTC NEWS in your press release distribution. If your group, organization, business, political committee, etc., have news to share, send it to LTC NEWS. Email - newsroom@ltcnews.com
