At the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine, we understand the challenges families face after the sudden death of a loved one. What can add to their sorrow is knowing that someone else’s negligence or recklessness caused their loved one’s untimely death.
Whether your loved one died due to a car wreck, a construction accident, medical malpractice, a dog bite, or another wrongful action, you may be eligible to file a wrongful death claim. A personal injury lawyer in Palm Bay, FL, can help you pursue compensation for the emotional and financial losses from your family member’s death.
Investigating Your Loved One’s Death
We will investigate the circumstances of your loved one’s death to prove negligence and build a robust wrongful death claim.
Doing so often requires us to secure evidence from different sources. For example, if a drunk driver hit your loved one’s car, we would collect information that may include:
- An accident report
- The driver’s blood alcohol content at the time of the crash
- The driver’s past driving violations
- Eyewitness statements
- Photographs of the accident scene
- Your loved one’s medical records that show the nature and severity of your loved one’s injuries
By using this and other evidence, we can show how the impaired driver’s negligent behavior caused the accident that led to your loved one’s death.
The type of evidence we secure will differ based on the circumstances of your loved one’s death.
Using Expert Witnesses and Specialists to Bolster Your Case
Depending on the circumstances of your family member’s death, we may use the services of expert witnesses and specialists.
For instance, if the other party claims they did not cause the accident that killed your loved one, we may ask a specialist to reconstruct the crash to show how the accident happened and to prove fault. We may also have a medical expert witness testify about the injuries that led to your loved one’s death.
Other Parties May Be Liable for Your Loved One’s Death
Our thorough investigation may show that another party’s negligence contributed to your family member’s death. For example, if your loved one died in a construction accident, we may secure documents showing that another construction company onsite violated state or federal safety regulations and created a deadly hazard.
Employer Liability
In some cases, we may be able to hold an employer liable for their employee’s actions, such as in a truck accident case.
Proving Negligence in Your Wrongful Death Claim
To recover compensation in a wrongful death claim, a personal injury lawyer must successfully prove four elements of negligence. We collect substantial evidence during our investigation so that we can establish the following:
- Duty of Care: The defendant had a legal obligation to act in a manner that would not harm your loved one.
- Breach of Duty: The defendant failed to fulfill their obligation, acting negligently or irresponsibly.
- Causation: There’s a direct link between the defendant’s actions and the unfortunate passing of your loved one.
- Damages: As a result, you’ve incurred significant losses, such as medical and funeral costs, lost income, and the anguish of pre-death suffering.
Damages You May Recover in Your Wrongful Death Claim
Our Palm Bay wrongful death lawyer can help you estimate the value of the damages that you suffered due to your loved one’s death. Per Florida Statute § 768.21, all survivors are eligible to recover damages for the value of their loved one’s lost support and services and for mental pain and suffering.
The statute also allows survivors to recover damages based on their relationship to the deceased. For instance:
- A surviving spouse may recover damages for loss of companionship and protection.
- Surviving minor children can recover damages for lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance.
- Surviving parents of a minor child can recover damages for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. Surviving parents of an adult child may recover for mental pain and suffering if there are no other survivors.
- Family members who paid for their loved one’s medical or funeral expenses may be eligible for reimbursement.
A wrongful death attorney in Palm Bay, FL, can estimate the damages you and other family members may be entitled to receive.
Negotiating a Wrongful Death Settlement with an Insurance Company
We want you to focus on grieving and spending time with your family, not on communicating and negotiating with insurers. We can file and negotiate the wrongful death claim on your behalf.
Insurers typically offer low settlements to save money, but we will fight to persuade the insurer to offer the compensation you deserve.
If the insurance company refuses to negotiate fairly, our injury lawyers may file a wrongful death lawsuit to recover the compensation you and your family deserve.
Although no amount of money can replace your loved one, we want to obtain a fair award for you and your family.
You Have a Limited Time to Recover Compensation — Do Not Delay
The statute of limitations serves as a vital deadline in the pursuit of justice. In Florida, the law grants you two years from the date of your loved one’s death to file a wrongful death lawsuit. This timeframe is crucial because it not only preserves the integrity of evidence but also ensures the efficiency and fairness of the legal system.
Understanding the importance of the statute of limitations is essential. It’s the legal system’s way of ensuring that claims are made while evidence is still fresh and memories are clear, thus facilitating a fair trial. If you initiate legal proceedings after this period has lapsed, you are very likely to be barred from bringing your case to court altogether. This means that no matter how strong your claim is, or the extent of the negligence you’re alleging, the court typically will not hear your case.
Missing this critical deadline can have profound consequences. You may lose the right to compensation for damages and miss the opportunity to hold the responsible party accountable for their actions, which can be a significant part of your healing process.
Your attorney will ensure that you meet all legal deadlines so you don’t miss the opportunity to seek justice after your loved one’s passing.
Schedule a Free Consultation Today
At the Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine, our Palm Bay wrongful death attorneys have years of experience helping families in their time of grief, and we can help you, too.
We work on contingency, which means you only pay us if we recover compensation in your case. Contact us today for a free consultation.
We Can Help.