Wrongful Death Statutes
Under traditional "common law" wrongful death actions did not exist. It was thought that the claim of the victim of a wrongful death died with that person. State legislatures realized that this rule failed to compensate family members and others who suffered certain economic and non-economic losses due to a person's death and enacted wrongful death laws to correct this problem.
California Wrongful Death Claimants
California's wrongful death laws permit only individuals with a certain relationship to the victim to file a wrongful death claim. Below are the heirs who may file these actions, in descending order of priority:
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The victim's surviving spouse, children, dependent stepchildren, dependent minors living in the victim's household for at least six months, and dependent parents.
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If there are no heirs as described above, then claimants include those who would be entitled to inherit the victim's estate under the law of intestate succession: Parents, whether or not they were dependent; if there are none, then siblings or children of deceased siblings; if there are none, then grandparents; if there are none, then children of a deceased spouse.
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If none of these relatives exist, the next of kin may file a wrongful death suit.
A wrongful death victim's personal representative can also maintain a wrongful death action on behalf of the individuals listed above. A personal representative is a person appointed by the probate court to handle the wrongful death victim's assets, or estate. When proceeds are received from the wrongful death suit, they may be distributed by the personal representative according to the wrongful death statute.
California Wrongful Death Lawyers
If someone close to you has died due to the negligent, reckless, or intentional behavior of another party, it is essential that you contact a well-established personal injury law firm. You should ensure that the law firm has extensive experience and expertise in prosecuting wrongful death cases and in particular the type of accident that caused the fatality.
Exceptional preparation of a wrongful death case is a requirement to maximize the chances of success. Proving the potentially high worth of a wrongful death case requires a great deal of skill and experience. Among the many responsibilities and tasks required of lawyers prosecuting a wrongful death include:
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Determining whether an estate should be created in a wrongful death case. When numerous claimants are entitled to recovery under the wrongful death statute, a thorough analysis may be required to determine whether a probate estate should be created and the claim brought in the name of the estate instead of the individual heirs.
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Establishing life expectancy. This requires a sophisticated analysis of the victim's age, health, activities, lifestyle and occupation.
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Determining the amount of lost financial support suffered by the heir in a wrongful death case. If the decedent was supporting the heirs financially at the time of death, an economic analysis of the victim's employment history, past wages, and expected future wages is required to ascertain the amount of economic damages to which the heirs are entitled.
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Establishing a monetary value in a wrongful death claim for loss of companionship, society and comfort. By their very nature these are non-economic damages and therefore not quantifiable through formulas or expert testimony. The extent of compensation heirs can recover in these types of damages relies in significant part on the preparation and artfulness of the lawyers they hire. Convincing juries of the amount to which the heirs are entitled for these damages must be done skillfully through the lawyer's capacity for persuasion and advocacy.
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Proving and explaining liability and damages in a wrongful death case to a jury This requires not only talent and skill but the employment of at times numerous experts. As a result these cases are often expensive to prosecute properly.
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Wrongful Death Statistics
Accidental deaths are among the leading causes of fatalities in the United States. According to the National Safety Council, a fatal injury occurs every five minutes. There were approximately 101,500 accidental deaths in the U.S. in 2003. The most frequent causes of accidental deaths are motor vehicle accidents, falls, poisonings, choking, fires and smoke.
Damages
A wrongful death action is intended to compensate the plaintiffs for their own losses rather than the losses incurred by the deceased. The plaintiffs are not entitled to certain types of damages normally recoverable in a personal injury claim, such as the wrongful death victim's medical expenses, lost income and property damage. These claims belong to the wrongful death victim's estate and may be recoverable by the personal representative of the victim in a "survival action." While a wrongful death action compensates the heirs for their own losses as a result of the victim's death, the claims in a survival action belonged to the wrongful death victim and passed to the victim's estate upon death.
In some cases, punitive damages are recoverable in a survival action if the victim survived the accident, however briefly, or if the property of the victim was damaged or lost before death. The only time brief survival or property damage are not necessary to obtain punitive damages is when the wrongful death resulted from a homicide for which the defendant has been convicted of a felony. In many cases, the survival action may be joined with the wrongful death claim and litigated at the same time.
Wrongful death laws recognize that certain people suffer their own economic and non-economic losses due to the wrongful death of someone close to them. In California, juries are allowed to award compensation to the heirs asserting the action based upon the following types of economic damages:
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the financial support that the wrongful death victim would have contributed to the heir during either the life expectancy of the victim or the heir, whichever is shorter;
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the loss of gifts or benefits that the heir would have expected to receive from the victim;
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funeral and burial expenses; and
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the reasonable value of the household services that the wrongful death victim would have provided to the heir.
A California jury is also permitted to award the monetary value of certain types of non-economic losses due to a wrongful death. These include:
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the loss of the victim's love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, and society;
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the loss of the enjoyment of sexual relations, if applicable; and
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the loss of the training and guidance of the victim, if applicable.
A jury is not permitted to consider the grief, sorrow or mental anguish of the heirs, the poverty or wealth of the heirs, or the wrongful death victim's pain and suffering. An exception exists in cases where a parent or sibling witnesses the injury or death of the victim. In such instances these heirs may claim damages for infliction of emotional distress. Hiring an experienced California wrongful death lawyer therefore
should not be delayed.
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