When Does a Boca Raton Car Accident Lead to a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Boca Raton car accidents can lead to wrongful death lawsuits. However, not every car accident automatically leads to one of these claims. In order to file a wrongful death lawsuit, you and your family must carefully review the situation and determine whether you might be eligible. Consider speaking about your unique circumstances with a wrongful death attorney in Boca Raton.

A Death is Necessary for a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Perhaps most obviously, a death must occur to trigger a wrongful death lawsuit. If your family member is severely injured but not deceased, you can still move ahead with a normal personal injury lawsuit. A death involves specific damages that are not possible to pursue in other cases, such as loss of consortium and funeral expenses.

In many cases, car accidents leave victims in vegetative or comatose states. In this situation, a family might face the difficult decision of continuing medical treatment or disconnecting their relative from life support. Although the latter decision can be challenging, it paves the way for a wrongful death lawsuit without powers of attorney or other legal steps.

You Also Need to Establish Negligence in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

A wrongful death lawsuit is still a lawsuit at its core. As with all personal injury lawsuits, it is necessary to establish negligence if you want to achieve success. Negligence has four elements, including duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages. Families and their legal counsel must establish each of these elements.

This is not always easy, and a personal injury lawsuit requires more legal steps than a “no-fault” PIP claim. However, wrongful death lawsuits can be much more rewarding than no-fault insurance. With help from an experienced lawyer, families can establish negligence with greater confidence.

Only Certain People Can File Wrongful Death Lawsuits

If you want to file a wrongful death lawsuit, you must be related to the decedent (the person who died) by either blood or marriage. Often, the spouse takes on the responsibility of filing this type of lawsuit. However, adult children or parents may also file, depending on the circumstances.

If none of these close relatives are available to take legal action, the responsibility might fall instead to a more distant relation. This might be a cousin, a sibling, an aunt, a grandparent, an uncle, or someone even more distant. To determine whether you might be eligible to file this type of claim, consider speaking with an experienced injury attorney.

Can a Wrongful Death Attorney in Boca Raton Help Me? 

If you want to determine whether you can file a wrongful death lawsuit in Boca Raton, it makes sense to speak with an experienced lawyer. These legal professionals can review your unique situation and recommend the most appropriate legal steps. In contrast, online research may only provide broad, generalized information. Continue this conversation with Steinberg Law today.

Source:

 leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.21.html