Help For Family That Has Filed Wrongful Death Claim

No one likes to hear that a loved one has died. The grief experienced by someone that receives such news gets increased, if the decedent has died a violent death at the hands of someone else. When responding to such news, the grieving family has the right to file a wrongful death claim.

Who might be the target of such a claim?

• It could be a member of the medical profession.
• It could be a negligent driver.
• It could be some division of a company that has chosen to market a defective product.
• In rare cases, it might be someone that has performed an act of violence on the now-deceased relative.

What sorts of factors determine the size of the settlement, once a wrongful death claim has been filed?

• The age of the person that is now deceased.
• The earning potential of the decedent, at the time that he or she was killed.
• The decedent’s income at the time when he or she was killed all of a sudden.
• The ages of the decedent’s dependents.
• The education and training received by the person that is now deceased.
• Any medical bills given to the family, after the injured relative had died, following a time when he or she struggled to recover from the effects of an accident, or from the effects of an attack.
• The cost of the funeral expenses.
• Information on the amount of pension or health insurance that the grieving family had a right to claim.

The role of the insurance company of the person responsible for the fatal accident or the fatal attack.

That company will supply the defendant with a team of lawyers. Those lawyers will work to limit the influential nature of any factor that has been listed above. For instance, an injury lawyer in Cornwall might suggest that the decedent had acquired only a limited amount of education and almost no special training. That would suggest that the decedent did not have a high earning potential.

If someone does not have a high earning potential, then his or her family members do not stand to suffer much of a loss, following a wrongful death. If they cannot prove expectations for a large inheritance, then the calculated settlement would not be very great.

Alternately, the same insurance company might question any claim that the decedent was eligible for a large pension or a large payment from the decedent’s health insurance company. Such a claim could be used to underscore the basis of a request for a large settlement.

Finally, it should be noted that the defendant’s insurance company gets held responsible for giving the grieving family the payment that it was granted, upon completion of a wrongful death lawsuit.