When a loved one dies due to someone else’s negligence, it’s time to consider whether you have a wrongful death case. Although it’s difficult to contemplate taking legal action during a period of mourning, this is exactly why you need a wrongful death attorney.
Here’s a closer look at the role a wrongful death attorney plays and why you might need their help as soon as possible.
Your Wrongful Death Attorney Lifts Part of the Burden
A wrongful death attorney serves as an expert and advocate for you and your family. They help you handle all of the paperwork and legal details that would otherwise overwhelm you during a challenging time in your life.
They also serve as a buffer between your family and the other side, which is a huge stress reliever. This is especially important in emotionally-loaded cases where the other person was driving drunk, road racing, fled the scene, or did something else that adds to the heartbreaking loss. Instead of dealing directly with them, you can turn it over to your attorney.
All along the way, your attorney is looking out for your rights and helping you avoid mistakes that could prevent you from receiving the compensation you deserve. This is an extremely valuable advantage that could increase the value of your wrongful death case by tens of thousands of dollars.
Without an Attorney, the Other Side May Try to Take Advantage of You
It’s sad to say, but insurance companies often try to wriggle out of paying wrongful death claims or even cast doubt on the circumstances of the death. They may try to drag your loved one’s name through the mud and imply you or they did something wrong.
An experienced wrongful death attorney will anticipate the games they’ll try to play and take assertive steps to beat them at their own game. They’ll shield you from this unpleasant process and work diligently to prevent the other side from belittling your damages.
What Losses Could a Wrongful Death Attorney Help Me Claim?
In California, certain types of losses are compensable. Generally speaking, you can claim losses of:
- Financial support
- Emotional support
- Companionship
- Gifts that the decedent would give you regularly
- Consortium, or spousal intimacy
- Additional damages may be recovered in a California survival action, but having an experienced wrongful death lawyer help determine whether bringing a survival action makes sense in your situation is crucial.
But it’s important to keep in mind that an attorney can only help you make a claim for these types of damages if the death falls within California’s statute of limitations on wrongful death cases. The timeframe is two years from the date of your loved one’s death.
The key to making a wrongful death claim quickly and successfully is to gather persuasive documentation and present it to the other side, leaving little room for doubt or argument. Your wrongful death lawyer can handle this process professionally and help ease your worries.
We Handle Your Accident Claim So You Can Focus on Your Life
After a wrongful death, contact the attorneys at Sally Morin Personal Injury Lawyers. We handle many types of personal injury claims, including wrongful deaths. We believe you should be able to focus on coping with this challenging situation while we handle the legal details.
We truly care about the people of California. Contact us today for a free online case evaluation.
Video Transcript
What role does a wrongful death attorney play in a wrongful death case? Well, they serve as an expert and an advocate for you and your family. I mean, a wrongful death case is a very emotional type of case. It’s very taxing on the family, and it’s very important to have that attorney that serves as a buffer between you and the other side because the other side can try and make claims that perhaps your relationship with the decedent wasn’t that great. They can try and belittle your damages. They’ll do terrible things to try and pay you as little as possible. It’s like you’re already in a vulnerable emotional state, you’re grieving, so having the wrongful death attorney is a really important thing in this type of cases because it helps to shield you from the process, but also allow you to participate in the process such that you can get compensated for the death of your loved one.
