Reasons for a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Sacramento
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento wrongful death lawyer. Losing a loved one can be a difficult period for family members. It can be much worse when that loved one was lost needlessly because of the negligent actions of another. It is possible to recover funeral and burial costs and other expenses as well as the income a person contributed to the household. Let’s look at the reasons a wrongful death occurs and the types of compensation a family can obtain. While this will not bring your loved one back, it may ease the financial burden their death caused.
Circumstances Under Which a Wrongful Death Can Occur
An accidental fatality isn’t always a wrongful death under the law. To have the basis for a wrongful death claim, it must be proven that negligence was the reason for a person’s death. In other words, it must be shown that if the responsible individual or entity had acted in the way a prudent, law-abiding person would have, the fatality would not have occurred. Following are some of the types of wrongful death accidents:
- Motor vehicle accidents: Common causes of wrongful death in a motor vehicle accident include speeding, running a red light or stop sign, distracted driving, drunk or drugged driving and others.
- Medical malpractice: This area can include physicians, hospitals, pharmacists, nurses or any other individual in the medical profession. Making an error during surgery, misdiagnosis, giving the wrong medication or dosage and other circumstances may give rise to medical malpractice.
- Medical devices: Poor design, manufacturing and defective components or materials used can lead to a wrongful death. This can include pacemakers, transvaginal mesh, hip replacements and many other products.
- Food products: Serving or selling contaminated, spoiled or mislabeled food can cause a wrongful death. In these cases, the culprit may be a food manufacturer, it may be sold at a local event or a product may not contain appropriate warnings for allergies.
- Nursing homes: Nursing home neglect or abuse can lead to a wrongful death. A patient who is not adequately monitored, who dies after leaving a nursing home facility because of inadequate monitoring or who is abused may suffer a wrongful death.
- Defective products: Badly manufactured or designed products cause many wrongful deaths each year. Automobile products, household goods and other items that are dangerous and result in a fatality can cause a wrongful death.
- Homicide: If a loved one was murdered, the surviving family members may file a wrongful death lawsuit. Punitive damages may be allowed in these cases.
- Premises liability: Unsafe premises, whether private or public, can result in a wrongful death. Dangerous stairs, poorly maintained floors and other reasons can cause a fatality.
Watch YouTube Video – What is a Wrongful Death Claim
Wrongful Death Compensation
Compensation awarded family members in a wrongful death claim depends upon the loved one’s age, job, education and other factors. However, the expenses that can be included are:
- Income that was lost, including wages, bonuses, pension and health insurance
- Cost of the funeral and burial
- Future earnings a decedent would have earned had he or she lived until retirement age
- Loss of consortium that is awarded to a surviving spouse or partner
- Loss of household contributions such as a bill and tax return paying, yard work, auto care and cooking
- Loss of companionship, guidance, and support
- Loss of inheritance
Sacramento Wrongful Death Attorneys
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento wrongful death lawyer. Losing your loved one is a tragic and confusing time for the whole family. If you lost a family member due to negligence, I can offer you free and friendly legal advice about recovering fair compensation for that loss. Although nothing can replace your loved one, financial compensation can at least remove some of the worries about the future. Please call me at (916) 921-6400 in Sacramento or at (800) 404-5400 if you are calling from outside the area code. Or connect with me at AutoAccident.com.
For more than 36 years, I have represented injured residents of Sacramento and other parts of Northern California with their personal injuries, obtaining fair compensation for them in all types of car accidents and severe injuries such as brain injuries.
As a Million Dollar Advocates member in the State of California, I join other trial lawyers who have won in excess of $1 million for a previous client.
You can discover what some of my prior clients have said about my legal practice and find out about earlier cases and their results at:
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