People can be overwhelmed by a combination of grief and mounting expenses when they unexpectedly lose their loved ones. When people are killed because of the negligence or wrongful acts of other people or entities, their surviving loved ones may file wrongful death civil lawsuits against the people who are responsible for their loved one’s death. A wrongful death lawyer Beverly Hills at the Valley Accident Lawyers understands the devastation that families experience when they lose their loved ones and works hard to help people hold the wrongful actors accountable for their actions.
What is wrongful death
Wrongful death occurs when someone causes the death of another through negligence or wrongful acts. Many wrongful death cases involve motor vehicle accidents. When a person fails to exercise reasonable care to avoid injuring someone else, the failure can result in serious injuries or deaths.
Under California law, specific surviving family members have the right to file wrongful death lawsuits against the negligent person or entity that caused their loved one’s death. The surviving family members should contact an experienced wrongful death lawyer Beverly Hills for help with filing a lawsuit.
Wrongful death actions can be filed at the same time as criminal cases that might be filed against the defendants. Since these lawsuits involve monetary damages instead of a potential loss of liberty, the burden of proof for a wrongful death claim is lower than the burden of proof for a criminal case. This means that it is possible to hold a defendant accountable in a wrongful death civil lawsuit even if he or she is acquitted in a criminal case for the same conduct. A famous example is O.J. Simpson. While he was found not guilty in his criminal trial, he was found guilty in the wrongful death lawsuit that was filed against him by the families of his victims and ordered to pay damages.
Damages in a wrongful death lawsuit
Plaintiffs may be able to recover monetary damages to pay for their losses when they file wrongful death lawsuits. Some of the types of damages that might be recovered include the following:
- Medical expenses involved with caring for the victim from the time that he or she was injured until he or she died
- Funeral and burial costs
- Lost income
- The decedent’s future income losses
- Physical pain and suffering that the victim suffered until he or she died
- Loss of consortium
- Lost inheritance rights
Why it is important to get legal help from an experienced attorney
Experienced wrongful death lawyers work with teams of experts to build strong cases for their clients. A lawyer might hire investigators to independently investigate the accident and work with an accident reconstruction expert to determine what happened immediately before the accident. This helps to show the liability of the defendant.
A lawyer will analyze the evidence that he or she gathers to build the claim on behalf of his or her clients. The attorney will value the claim and build evidence to show the extent of the losses that were caused to the surviving family members.
Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in California?
Cal. Civ. Code 377.60 specifies who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in California. The people who can file are listed in order of priority. Someone who has a lower priority can only file a lawsuit if a person of a higher priority is no longer living.
The immediate family members of the decedent have the highest priority, including the surviving spouse, children, dependent stepchildren, dependent minors, and other dependents who live in the home.
If the decedent does not have any surviving members of his or her household, people with other specific relationships may file lawsuits. These people include the parents, siblings, the children of deceased siblings, children of a deceased spouse, or the grandparents of the deceased person. If no other relatives survive, the next of kin can file a lawsuit.
Contact the Valley Accident Lawyers
Losing a loved one because of the actions of someone else can be devastating. If you have lost your loved one because of someone else’s negligence, you should consult with an experienced wrongful death lawyer Beverly Hills at the Valley Accident Lawyers. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation by calling us at 818.565.6600.
We Help People with Wrongful Death Cases in These Areas
Beverly Hills | Encino | Granada Hills | Northridge | Porter Ranch | San Fernando | Santa Clarita | Sherman Oaks | Sun Valley | Sylmar | Valencia | Valley Glen | Van Nuys
