Answering A Few Basic Questions About Wrongful Death Cases

When another party is responsible for the death of one of your loved ones, it is important for you to pursue justice. However, if the death was the result of an accident, your options for justice may be limited to filing a wrongful death lawsuit. While this can be a highly effective way of getting monetary compensation from the party responsible, it can be common for the survivors in these cases to be fairly uninformed about taking legal action. By learning the following couple of wrongful death questions and answers, you will have a more complete understanding of your options.

Will The Court Only Consider The Deceased's Earnings When Calculating Compensation?

There is a common misconception among some people that the earnings power of the deceased will be the only factor in determining compensation. Fortunately, this is far from the case as the courts recognize that there are many ways in which the deceased could have helped your quality of life. For example, if your loved one's responsibilities were primarily limited to childcare and maintaining the home, it would still be possible for you to obtain compensation as these can be extremely important responsibilities that will need to be fulfilled. The exact rules for the type of compensation that you can receive may vary greatly from one state to another, but an experienced wrongful death attorney can help you to better understand your options.

Who Is Eligible To File A Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Unfortunately, there are often strict limitations in place as to who is eligible for filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Typically, this right is reserved to the immediate family of the deceased, such as the parents, spouse or children. However, there may be some instances where it is possible for business partners to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

What If You Are Unable To Afford To Hire An Attorney For Your Wrongful Death Case?

Sadly, there are some individuals that will not attempt to pursue this type of justice because they automatically assume that they will be unable to afford an attorney for this task. Luckily, you should be relieved to learn that wrongful death attorneys work on a contingency fee. With this type of billing arrangement, the wrongful death attorney will not charge the client unless they collect damages, and they will also often cover the court costs involved in pursuing the case. If you are awarded compensation for the wrongful death claim, the attorney will simply subtract the fee and any court costs involved with representing your case before disbursing the remainder to you.