A wrongful death case is applicable for a victim’s family who would have otherwise had a personal injury case, but is killed by either negligence or an intentional dangerous action on the part of a defendant. It may happen in various situations. For instance, Orenthal James “O. J.” Simpson was sued for wrongful death for murdering Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. The claim was based upon an intentional action.
Is a patient dies due to medical malpractice, a wrongful death case is warranted. If the physician did not diagnose a condition, or if a physician was careless in the degree of care offered and a death resulted, then a wrongful death act may be brought against a physician.
Auto accident deaths which involve negligence is another example of when a wrongful death suit may be applicable.
These include just some examples of personal injury claims which may turn into wrongful death cases. A wrongful death case may derive from nearly any type of personal injury circumstance, even though one notable exception will exist for work incidents resulting in death, which typically has to be exclusively handled through the worker’s compensation system.
What Has to Be Proven?
To hold a defendant liable within a wrongful death case, the plaintiffs within the claim (typically through the estate of a deceased victim) has to meet the same burden of proof the victim would have had to meet if the victim had lived. Therefore, utilizing negligence is one instance, this means showing the defendant owed a victim a duty of care, the defendant breached the duty, this breach of duty was a proximate and direct cause of the fatality, and the fatality caused the damages the plaintiff is attempting to recover.
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