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Texas Trial Lawyers

The facts about wrongful death lawsuits

On Behalf of | May 3, 2021 | Wrongful Death

Texas residents who have experienced the death of a loved one due to someone else’s recklessness, negligence or intentional behavior may be eligible for filing a wrongful death lawsuit. This lawsuit helps to seek out monetary damages as retribution for the death of a loved one. Before trying to file this type of lawsuit, it’s important to understand the basics about who’s allowed to file and how the process works.

Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit?

Wrongful death lawsuits are civil lawsuits that a person must have legal grounds for filing. The whole concept behind a wrongful death lawsuit is that the person filing it suffered a direct impact financially and emotionally due to the death of their lost family member. Therefore, surviving family members will need to prove that they suffered measurable damages due to the loss of their loved one. They’ll also need to prove that their loved one’s death was a direct result of another party’s negligence, intentional act or recklessness and not the fault of the deceased person.

In most states, spouses and children are named to have standing to file a wrongful death lawsuit against another party. Other states will also include extended family members like siblings and even grandparents. It’s important to check the laws in your state to determine whether you’re eligible for filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

What type of damages may be awarded?

A wrongful death lawsuit is strictly meant to seek out monetary damages. These monetary damages may be for a number of different things, such as medical bills, burial expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and punitive damages to punish the person who was at fault for the death.

Experiencing the untimely death of a loved one can be very painful. When another person is at fault, it’s common to want to seek out retribution in the form of monetary damages. As long as you have standing to do so, you may file a wrongful death suit against the negligent party.