As the term suggests, a “wrongful death” is one that’s caused by “wrongful” action, including:
- carelessness
- negligence
- intentional action, or
- criminal conduct.
The wrongful conduct may be by an individual (which occurs when one person attacks the other and results in the death of the latter) or an organization such as a business organization (which happens where a manufacturer produces a hazardous chemical which causes someone’s death). Turning to the world of law, “wrongful death” most often pertains to the right of a surviving family to file a wrongful death claim, and that leads us to our next question.
What Should I Know About a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
As defined above, wrongful death means that one person dies through the legal blame of another person and the latter’s heirs or the personal representative seeks a legal redress.
- when and in what forms these cases may be initiated, and
- how some legal disputes affect patient care
Wrongful death suit can stem from any type of fatal incidents, from ordinary traffic accidents to complex medical device or drug manufactures negligence lawsuits. However, a wrongful death lawsuit also applies where the act that caused the death was premeditated. Moreover, a wrongful death claim can also be based on a criminal act, even though these are strictly civil actions that are never part of a criminal trial.
Civil Claim vs Criminal Law
Actions In a wrongful death case—as in other types of personal injury lawsuits—the defendant is always exposed only in terms of monetary damages—that is, the amount of money the court will require the defendant to pay to the deceased person’s survivors or heirs.
This is one major difference between a wrongful death action and a criminal homicide case where one can get imprisonment, fines to the state, probation and some other punishments.
Another big difference between a criminal prosecution and a wrongful death civil lawsuit:
Criminal court requires the state or federal government as a party to prove that the person accused of a crime is guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.” In a civil action, a person can only prove that the defendant was negligent and caused the death in question beyond a reasonable doubt, which is much less than beyond a reasonable doubt, or beyond a fair doubt. It is possible, though, for one event to result in criminal charges and a wrongful death claim: A person may be taken through a civil trial and charged with manslaughter in criminal court for the same issue.
Be Careful with the Statute of Limitations for the Wrongful Death Lawsuit
As we have established usually wrongful death and other forms of negligence cases do not solely hinge on the issue of who can be sued and when. Statutes of limitations are laws at the state level that limit the amount of time that you have to bring a lawsuit. It is now clear that various types of cases have different timeframes. The time in which an individual filing a wrongful death lawsuit in most states is two or three years after the date of death but not all. More information about the statutes of wrongful death depends on your State.