Wrongful death claims are intended to help families recover damages and to hold the responsible parties accountable. Your wrongful death attorney can give you more details about who is eligible to file a wrongful death claim in your case, what’s going to be involved in the process, and your legal rights.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim? Answers from a Wrongful Death Attorney in Katy, TX
Primary Claimants
Those with the most direct legal right to file a wrongful death claim are immediate family members: the spouse, children, and parents of the deceased. The law views these relatives as the ones who are most affected by the death, both emotionally and financially.
A spouse can claim loss of companionship and emotional distress, while children may be entitled to compensation for the loss of parental guidance and support. Parents may also file claims based on the emotional suffering and the loss of future financial support their child may have provided.
Adult Children or Parents of Adult Children
Adult children of a deceased parent can also file a wrongful death claim because the law acknowledges that the death of a parent impacts adult children, not just minors. The key factor here is often whether the adult child was financially or emotionally dependent on the deceased parent. If they were, they may be entitled to seek damages for their loss.
Similarly, parents of deceased adult children can file wrongful death claims if the circumstances permit. If the deceased adult child was contributing to their parents’ well-being through financial support or caregiving, the parents may have a valid claim.
Legal Guardians and Adoptive Parents
Courts recognize that guardianship or adoption establishes a legal and emotional connection, and this means a guardian or adoptive parent can also be an eligible claimant in a wrongful death lawsuit. Guardians who were taking care of a minor child at the time of death as well as adult guardians who were responsible for disabled or special needs wards may be able to bring a claim if the legal status of their guardianship has been formally recognized by the court.
The Personal Representative of the Estate
If no eligible family members exist, or if none are willing to file, the personal representative or executor of the deceased person’s estate may then file a wrongful death claim. The estate representative is the person or entity responsible for handling the deceased’s legal and financial affairs after their death, and this means they are also responsible for any lawsuits related to the estate. The personal representative, however, would be filing a claim on behalf of the deceased’s estate and beneficiaries, not for themselves. This means any financial recovery would be distributed to the estate’s heirs.
In cases where the deceased did not have a will appointing such a representative, the court may appoint an administrator to act as the personal representative. This person would then responsible for filing the wrongful death lawsuit, if applicable, and ensuring that any compensation gets properly distributed according to the state’s laws of intestacy (the laws that apply when there’s no will detailing how assets are to be distributed).
Siblings and Other Relatives Are Not Eligible
Under Texas law, siblings and more distant relatives generally are not entitled to file a wrongful death claim, regardless of how close their relationship to the deceased might have been or even if they were financially dependent upon them.
In addition, if the personal representative or executor of the deceased person’s estate files a wrongful death claim, the lawsuit would be brought on behalf of the estate and for the surviving spouse, children, and parents; not siblings or more distant relatives. Siblings or other distant relatives cannot file a wrongful death claim even under special circumstances.
Can Multiple Parties File a Wrongful Death Claim?
In cases where there are multiple eligible claimants, such as both a spouse and children, the wrongful death claim will usually still be filed as a single lawsuit, just with multiple parties as claimants. Should the suit be successful, the court may then determine how any compensation would be divided among the claimants: especially if the family members can’t agree.
Statute of Limitation
In Texas, the statute of limitations for filing a wrongful death lawsuit is two years from the date of the person’s death. There are, however, some exceptions that can extend this deadline. In rare cases, the statute of limitations might be extended if the wrongful cause of death was not immediately clear. If you were to discover later that negligence actually caused the death, the two-year clock may be allowed to start from the time of discovery rather than the actual date of death.
If the deceased had minor children, the statute of limitations may be “tolled” or paused until the children reach the age of 18, but remember that this exception applies only to the children’s ability to file a claim, not the claims of other family members. A spouse, for example, would need to bring a claim within the two-year window, even if there are minor children involved. Finally, there’s another exception in cases where a defendant intentionally concealed their role in the wrongful death. In that case, the statute of limitations may be extended until the fraud is investigated.
Typical Damages Awarded in a Wrongful Death Case
Economic Damages
Lost earning capacity is usually the biggest part of the economic damages in a wrongful death case, though a close second may go to medical expenses in some cases. You’ll need to bring in experts to estimate the deceased’s future earnings, taking into account their salary, normal bonuses, benefits they would have accrued, their age and the remainder of working life they had, their career path, and with adjustments for life expectancy, inflation, and any raises or promotions the person might reasonably have been expected to receive.
Medical, funeral, and burial expenses are also included in economic damages. You’ll need receipts and bills for medical treatment, funeral arrangements, and burial services to determine the amount owed. Loss of financial support is also awarded: this looks at all the income and financial benefits the deceased would have provided to their family members, so it includes things like health insurance, pension benefits, and retirement contributions.
Non-Economic Damages
There is no set formula for non-economic damages. Juries and judges use their discretion to determine appropriate amounts based on factors such as the closeness of the relationship between the deceased and the claimant, the emotional impact of the loss, the precise nature of the negligence that caused the wrongful death, and the quality of the deceased’s life. Juries in Texas often consider factors like the deceased’s character, how involved they were in their family’s lives, and the emotional void left by their absence.
Punitive Damages
If punitive damages are awarded, they are calculated based on the defendant’s actions. The court will look at the degree of negligence involved, the overall harm caused, and even the attitude of the defendant to decide if it believes it’s necessary to send a message that the conduct was unacceptable. Punitive damages, however, are capped under Texas law.
If you have lost a loved one and believe their death was caused by someone else’s negligence, contact the Law Office of Shane McClelland in Katy, TX, for guidance right away.