When an accidental or intentional injury is caused by someone's negligence or wrongdoing, a Houston personal injury lawyer can help the injured victim to get justice. Unfortunately, sometimes an accidental or intentional wrongdoing leads to death. In these cases, the person who caused the injury does not gets away without legal liability just because he or she happened to kill the victim. Instead, family members of the deceased may bring a wrongful death case with the help of a Houston personal injury lawyer.
Suing for Wrongful Death
A wrongful death lawsuit may be brought against any person or entity that breaches a legal duty in a way that leads to death. For instance, when someone drives a car in a careless manner, breaks the rules of the road and causes a car accident that kills someone, the family members of the deceased can sue the negligent driver. The same is true when a defective product or bad drug leads to death, as well as in any situation where someone is negligent or intentionally does harm and causes the death of another person.
In order to bring a wrongful death action, the person who is trying to sue will need to have had a specific relationship to the deceased. A number of potential relatives can bring a wrongful death action. These relatives include spouses and parents of children under 18. Other relatives may also be able to bring a wrongful death action if they can prove they had a sufficiently close relationship with the deceased and/or were dependent upon the deceased for financial support.
An somekeyword will help you to determine if you have an appropriate relationship for bringing a wrongful death action and, if so, will help you to file the necessary court documents to begin your wrongful death lawsuit.
Damages for Wrongful Death
Damages for a wrongful death lawsuit are often very high. The compensation that will be paid in the lawsuit of course covers the funeral costs of the deceased as well as medical costs that were incurred before the victim passed away. Other types of damages include compensation for pain that the injured victim went through before he died.
If the deceased victim was providing any type of support or making a financial contribution to the family, then there will also be compensation for the loss of the deceased's wages. This can be a huge amount of damages since the lifetime of lost earnings that remained will be taken into account when factoring in what is owed for this category of damages.
Finally, the family members of the deceased suffer their own losses as well. Loss of companionship damages are available to the relative or relatives suing for damages since the relative now must endure the pain of losing a spouse, child, parent, etc.
To better understand the different types of wrongful death damages available and for help collecting the maximum damages available under the law, it is best to consult with a Houston personal injury lawyer.
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