If your loved one has been killed due to the negligent actions of someone else, whether that’s in an accident or at the hands of a medical professional in a malpractice case, you may be able to bring a wrongful death case against the liable party. Talk to a wrongful death lawyer in Katy, TX as soon as possible to find out more about what’s possible given the specifics of your case.
What Compensation Is Available in a Katy, TX Wrongful Death Case?
It’s very difficult to generalize because every case is unique, and the compensation available to you will depend on the unique circumstances of your situation. The best way to get an idea of what compensation might be available is to talk with an attorney immediately and lay out all the circumstances of your case.
Having said that, there are some types of damages that wrongful death claimants are usually able to request compensation for. For example, most cases include medical bills for your loved one’s care related to the accident or malpractice that caused their death. You may also be able to recover some compensation for pain and suffering that was experienced by the deceased prior to their death as well as compensation for funeral costs.
Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to also get compensation for loss of income that the deceased would have brought in had they continued to live and work, the loss of services that they would normally have provided if they were alive, and the loss of inheritance that they would otherwise have left to you. You may also be able to get compensation for loss of consortium or companionship.
In some cases, Texas will also award what it calls “exemplary damages.” You may be more familiar with the term “punitive damages,” but the idea is the same. These are not awarded in every case and are fairly rare, and that’s because the point of exemplary damages is not to compensate but to punish and deter. The state will usually only consider these damages if the defendant’s behavior was particularly egregious or willful.
Contact a Wrongful Death Lawyer
Because these cases can be so complicated and it’s so hard to know how to calculate what to claim, it’s critical to consult with a qualified lawyer who has experience in Texas personal injury law and with the Texas court system. A lawyer will be able to give you a good sense of what your claim is worth and how to negotiate it, and a lawyer will also help you make estimates for all the difficult calculations, such as figuring what a potential inheritance would have been had the deceased lived a normal lifespan.
Other Important Questions
How Much Are Wrongful Death Claims Worth, On Average?
This is a common question but almost impossible to answer here. The damages in a wrongful death suit can be anywhere from a couple of thousand dollars to millions, depending on many different factors. For instance, a lot depends on how old the deceased was and how good their health was. If someone’s negligence killed a young and healthy person with many years of working life ahead of them, the family can be assumed to have been deprived of many years of income. Conversely, if the deceased was near the end of their working life or had a life-threatening illness, the numbers will be smaller.
Other factors that will come into play include the deceased person’s earning ability, the age of their survivors, how high the medical and funeral expenses were, how much suffering the deceased went through, and whether the actions of the liable party were negligent or willful.
Who Is Eligible to Bring a Claim?
You are only eligible to bring a claim in Texas if you are the spouse, child, or parent of the deceased. Legally adopted children and parents of legally adopted children are also eligible. If none of the family is willing or able to bring a claim, the personal representative of the deceased estate can then bring a claim, but only so long as no family members object.
Do I Need to Bring a Claim If There’s a Criminal Case Ongoing?
If your loved one was killed by someone who was committing a crime or is otherwise being prosecuted on criminal charges, you do still have to bring a wrongful death claim if you want to be compensated. A wrongful death claim is a civil matter and is not settled by criminal charges. Just because the negligent party is convicted or exonerated at a criminal trial does not mean that your case will win or lose. The two are separate, though they can influence each other.
Who Is Actually Being Asked to Pay in a Wrongful Death Claim?
In most cases, it will be an insurance company that pays out for a wrongful death claim. For example, if your loved one was a victim of medical malpractice, the doctor or healthcare facility responsible will usually have malpractice insurance. If your loved one died in a car accident, the other party’s car insurance should pay.
How Do You Prove Negligence in a Wrongful Death Claim?
For a successful claim, you must prove the other party was negligent. Only if they were negligent can they be held liable. There are four important elements to proving negligence. The first is showing that the negligent party owed your loved one a duty of care. If the deceased was killed in a car accident, for example, the other driver had a duty of care to follow all the rules of the road, to drive carefully, and not to drive impaired in any way.
Once you’ve established that there was a duty of care, the next step is showing that the negligent party breached that duty of care. For example, if a driver in question above was drunk, that would be considered a breach of duty of care. If a property owner was aware of a hazard but did not fix it, and this hazard caused an accident that killed your loved one, this would be a breach of duty of care.
The third step is proving that it was the breach in duty of care specifically that caused the actual injuries that led to your loved one’s death. This can be difficult to show, but your lawyer will be able to take the existing evidence and make a convincing case for showing that “but for” the action or lack of action on the part of the negligent party, your loved one would still be alive. The fourth and final element in any personal injury case is showing that actual damages were suffered as a result of the accident caused by another’s negligence. In a wrongful death case, this is usually fairly straightforward.
If you’ve lost a loved one due to the negligence of another party, you can bring a claim for wrongful death. These claims can be difficult to prosecute, however, and you will want an experienced attorney to help. Contact the Law Office of Shane McClelland in Katy, TX and Sugar Land, TX today for a free consultation on your case.