What Constitutes a Wrongful Death Claim in New York?
A wrongful death case, a civil claim, arises when a person dies due to the negligence of another person or entity. In other words, your lawyer must prove that the negligent or intentional conduct of the person who caused the accident was the direct and proximate cause of the victim’s injuries and death. In New York, the family can recoup compensation with a wrongful death lawsuit.
The sudden death of a family member is not only emotionally devastating but can result in staggering economic burdens for survivors who depended on the deceased. When negligence contributed to a loved one’s death, surviving children and immediate family members have the right to pursue compensation for these losses. These cases can be especially complex to litigate, which is why you need the guidance of a New York wrongful death lawyer from Douglas & London.
What Are the Elements of a New York Wrongful Death Claim?
The elements of a New York wrongful death claim are analogous to those that an injured party might make in a personal injury lawsuit:
- The party who caused the accident that led to a wrongful death acted negligently or intentionally, for example, by operating a vehicle carelessly, failing to correct slip-and-fall hazards on a property, or providing improper or negligent medical care.
- As a result, the victim suffered fatal injuries.
- The negligent or intentional conduct of the person who precipitated the accident was the direct and proximate cause of the victim’s injuries and death.
- The victim’s surviving family members suffered financial losses due to their loved one’s death.
What Damages Can a Family Recover with a Wrongful Death Claim?
Surviving family members can recover compensation for the accident victim’s end-of-life medical costs, funeral and burial expenses, as well as for the value of the loss of the victim’s companionship, parental services, and other contributions to the daily effort required to manage and sustain a family. The expertise and ability of a New York wrongful death attorney in describing and explaining those losses is a critical component in the family’s ability to recover the optimum damages award from the negligent party and their insurance carrier.
How is a New York Wrongful Death Claim Different from a Survivorship Action?
If the accident was not immediately fatal, but the victim perished later as a result of injuries sustained in the accident, the estate representative can file a survivorship action to recover damages for costs and expenses incurred by the victim before their death. Those survivorship damages will be paid into the victim’s estate and distributed to heirs according to the victim’s will and estate plan.
When Should I File a New York Wrongful Death Claim?
Generally, the New York State wrongful death statute of limitations requires wrongful death lawsuits to be filed within two years after the accident victim passes away. That deadline will be different if the only beneficiary of the lawsuit is under 18, New York State has filed a criminal case against the party whose conduct caused the wrongful death, or a government entity will be the defendant in the wrongful death lawsuit.
Failure to file a wrongful death lawsuit before the statute of limitation expires could result in the dismissal of the lawsuit, which may eliminate the possibility of recovering compensation. To prevent that from happening, an accident victim’s family should contact an NYC wrongful death lawyer as soon as possible after the victim has sustained fatal injuries.
Can Families File a Wrongful Death Claim for On-the-job Fatalities?
An accident victim’s family can often recover compensation for a job-related fatality with a workers’ compensation claim. Wrongful death damages might still be recoverable through a lawsuit against third parties other than the victim’s employer, whose negligent conduct contributed to the accident that caused the fatality. An experienced lawyer will analyze the facts of every accidental death to determine which parties may be liable for damages that are owed to the victim’s family.
Call Douglas & London for a Free Consultation
In our more than 20 years of practice, the New York wrongful death attorneys at Douglas & London have recovered over $18 billion for injured accident victims and their families. Among our many successes, we have won multi-million dollar settlements and awards for wrongful deaths in medical malpractice and other negligence-based cases. Please call our New York offices for a free, no-obligation consultation regarding your potential wrongful death case. Since we work on a contingency fee basis, you will not pay attorney’s fees unless we win compensation for your losses.
