Wrongful Death Lawyer

You may be able to file a wrongful death claim if a spouse or family member died due to another party’s negligence. Most often, immediate family members can seek compensation for wrongful death. The wrongful death claim provides for emotional and financial damages caused by the accident and death of the victim. If you consider a claim, you have to prove that your loved one died because of someone else’s negligence. Here are the four elements that you need to prove for a wrongful death claim.

Proving Negligence

To prove negligence, you may need a variety of types of evidence, as a wrongful death lawyer like one from Ward & Ward Law Firm can tell you. For example, you may need police reports from the accident scene or witness testimony. To prove negligence, you have to show that the plaintiff acted negligently to cause an accident.

Proving Breach of Duty

When proving wrongful death, you have to show that the defendant breached his or her duty to you. In the example of a car accident, this means that you can show that the defendant did not abide by safety rules and negligently caused the death. The defendant has to have a duty that he or she breaches.

Proving Causation

To prove causation, you need to show how the defendant’s negligence caused your loved one’s death. For example, if you had a spouse in perfect health who was killed in a car accident, it may be easy to show how the accident led to the death. Not all cases are as cut and dry, however. For instance, with a medical malpractice case, you may need to prove that under a different standard of care, your loved one would have lived. To prove causation, you need evidence that links the cause to death.

Proving Damages

When your loved one dies, he or she may leave behind many quantifiable damages. For example,  you may have to pay medical expenses, funeral costs or lose the income your loved one would have generated. Keep a list of all of the different expenses you have and make sure that you have evidence, such as medical bills and other invoices, to prove damages.

Before filing your claim, discuss your options with a wrongful death lawyer. He or she will advise you on your next steps and help you collect all necessary evidence to prove that another party caused the death and subsequent damages. To find out more, set up a consultation with a wrongful death lawyer as soon as possible.