Did you know that 60,000 Americans bleed to death every year? What’s even more concerning is some of these deaths are caused by other individuals, either due to willful harm or accidents. Losing a loved one as a result of someone else’s carelessness or misconduct can really take its toll on a person.
While you may not be able to get your loved one back, there’s a way to make the wrongdoer pay for their actions, both figuratively and monetarily. Filing a wrongful death claim can help you seek compensation or even get the responsible party imprisoned.
Read on to learn about wrongful death claims as a result of excessive bleeding. We’ll discuss everything from how wrongful death claims work to the type of damages available.
What Constitutes a Wrongful Death?
Wrongful death is the loss of life as a result of someone else’s negligence, carelessness, intentional harm, or criminal action. Contrary to what most people believe, wrongful death is not limited to individual actions – even entities like corporations or manufacturers who make a faulty product leading to someone’s death can be held liable.
That said, most wrongful death cases typically fall under two categories:
- Negligence: This is where someone’s careless actions or negligence leads to the death of another person. This can include anything from a car accident and slip and fall cases to defective products and pet attacks.
- Malpractice: Malpractice cases are typically linked to professionals like doctors who fail to meet the expected standard of care, leading to someone’s death.
Who Can Sue for a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Wrongful death lawsuits are widely considered a type of personal injury case. As such, family members, dependents, and representatives of the estate can file a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the victim. That said, the qualifications for who can file the lawsuit vary from one state to another.
However, most states in the US can allow any of the following individuals to file a wrongful death claim.
- Surviving spouse, children, or domestic partner: Any member of the deceased immediate family, including the spouse, children, and grandchildren, is entitled to file a wrongful death claim.
- Putative spouse: A putative spouse is someone in a relationship with another but not legally married to them. To qualify as a putative spouse, the person should, in good faith, believe they are married. This means that even if they’re not legally married, they can still file a claim.
- Interstate successor: An interstate successor is a person who inherits the belongings of a deceased person without a will. This mostly happens when the deceased victim has no children, spouse, or surviving partner.
- Financial dependents: Anyone who, even if not directly related by blood or marriage, relied on the deceased for financial support can file a wrongful death claim.
How to Do Wrongful Death Lawsuits Work?
Wrongful death claims work much like personal injury cases. To win, you must follow the correct legal process, which typically includes hiring a lawyer and compiling the necessary evidence. You must also be able to prove fault.
In a typical wrongful death claim, you must be able to prove the following elements:
Breach of Duty
Society and morality dictate that everyone has a duty of care to act in a way that doesn’t cause harm to those around them. However, the legal realm is a bit complex. It doesn’t necessarily recognize this duty – it only recognizes a duty of care in cases where the at-fault party was directly responsible for ensuring the deceased’s safety.
Therefore, you first need to prove the at-fault party had a duty of care to the deceased. You also have to show that they breached that duty of care. For instance, if a doctor fails to administer the right treatment to a person’s injuries, leading to death, you must be able to show that they breached that duty either due to negligence or plain carelessness.
Negligence and Causation
If you’re bringing a wrongful death case before a court, you must show that the deceased’s death was caused by the defendant being careless, negligent, or reckless.
What Types of Damages are Available in Wrongful Death Claims?
Damages in a wrongful death claim generally fall under two categories: economic damages and non-economic damages. Let’s break it down for you.
Economic Damages
While you may not be able to get your loved one back, you can seek financial compensation for the financial hardships experienced as a result of your loss. These financial hardships can arise from the following:
- Medical expenses: Any medical expenses incurred prior to the deceased passing constitute economic loss. This includes everything from the cost of emergency services, rehabilitation, hospital bills, and any ongoing medical care prior to the deceased death.
- Funeral and burial expenses: The average funeral costs in the average cost of a funeral in the US that’s not accounting for any third-party costs like catering and transportation. Wrongful death lawsuits enable families to recoup some of the costs in the form of damages.
- Lost wages and benefits: Lost wages refer to any future earnings the deceased may have earned if they lived. This also includes any associated benefits such as healthcare insurance and retirement contributions that could have benefited their dependents.
Non-economic Damages
The loss of a loved one usually brings a lot of emotional distress and psychological suffering. Although these damages are not quantifiable like economic damages, they still count as damages and, therefore, are eligible for compensation.
In most cases, the court may rely on expert witnesses to determine the cost of compensation. That said, most jurisdictions have caps on non-economic damages, which may limit the amount of recoverable damages.
Hire a Reputable Attorney
Countless people lose their lives every day in otherwise preventable circumstances, including exsanguination. If you or anyone close to you has lost a loved one in such circumstances, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit.
To increase your chances of winning the case and getting fairly compensated, you should consider hiring an experienced attorney, particularly one who specializes in wrongful death claims.
