Wrongful Death Overview - Helpful information about Wrongful Death Claims

There are four primary elements of wrongful death that must be present if a lawsuit is valid. These elements include caused by the defendant, negligence, surviving immediate family members, and monetary damages as a direct result.

Wrongful death law says that if a person dies at the direct result of another person then it could be valid. This person would be the defendant in court. This person must be the reason for the death. A person who could be responsible for a death could be a doctor, surgeon, drunk driver, etc.

When wrongful death law becomes tricky is when negligence comes into play. You cannot sue someone for wrongful death unless there is evidence and proof of negligence of the person who is accused of causing the death. The person must have been negligent in some way with their actions which resulted in the death of a person.

Wrongful death also requires there to be surviving family members. The survivors should be a spouse or children. The beneficiaries should be children or dependents also. A friend cannot file a claim of wrongful death if there are no family members or children. However, if a person has a beneficiary, that person may file a claim even if they are not family.

The final factor of the wrongful death law is that there must be monetary damages as a direct result of the death. The monetary damages usually include high dollar hospital bills, a family that relied on the deceased support to make it through life, and more. If a stay at home mother with four children lose their father from a mistake a doctor made this would be wrongful death. The doctor is the person and the mistake is the negligence. The mother and children are the survivors and the financial damage is the inability to survive in the future.

There are many factors to wrongful death law that should be considered if you think you have a case. The important thing is that a lawsuit must have all of the factors and not meet just a few. Someone must be at fault of the death due to negligence, leaving surviving family members with monetary damages.


Workers comp attorneys, construction accident attorneys, and wrongful death attorneys are familiar with the ins and outs of workplace injury and disability law. If you are interested in pursuing legal action against your employer, speak with a lawyer to find out if you have a case.