Macon County Wrongful Death Lawyers

Losing a loved one in an accident is a tragic and terrible outcome for a family. You have counted on your deceased family member for many things, including financial and emotional support. When your family can prove that the death was, in fact, wrongful, you may be entitled to substantial financial compensation. However, going through the legal process may be the last thing your family has the bandwidth for during this difficult time. You can hire a wrongful death lawyer to represent you in the legal process, and they will work to obtain the highest possible compensation for you.

Common Accidents That Lead to Wrongful Death

Wrongful death describes any situation in which someone else’s wrongful actions caused the death of your loved one. Examples of incidents that could lead to a wrongful death lawsuit include:

• Car accidents
• Truck accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Bicycle accidents
• Physical attacks
• Fires
• Drowning
• Medical malpractice
• Uber and Lyft accidents

To receive compensation in your case, you need to prove that someone else’s wrongful actions were responsible for the death of your loved one. Most often, you would need to demonstrate that your loved one died due to someone else’s negligence. In a wrongful death case, negligence has the same exact meaning as it does in any other personal injury claim. You need to prove that someone acted unreasonably under the circumstances. For example, if your family member died in a head-on car accident, you would need to prove that the other driver did something wrong to cause the crash.

You must meet your burden of proof to show that the defendant was negligent. In a civil case, your burden of proof is that you show wrongful conduct by a preponderance of the evidence. In other words, you need to show that the facts that you allege are more likely than not to have happened.

Compensation for a Wrongful Death

Although it may seem cynical, a wrongful death case is a measurement of the monetary value that your deceased family member had to you. That person may have meant different things to different people in the family. They may have been a provider or source of support. No matter how the loved one’s presence helped the family, you are entitled to compensation for the loss.

Elements of wrongful death compensation may include:

• The lost wages that the deceased person would have earned to support the family over the rest of their working career.
• The loss of the guidance and support that you received from the deceased family member.
• The loss of the close, loving relationship that the deceased person had with individual family members.
• Grief and trauma that come from suddenly losing a loved one in a tragic manner.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Georgia?

Individual family members can file a wrongful death lawsuit, even though the proceeds would be divided among several of them in accordance with Georgia law. If the deceased person was married, the surviving spouse would be the one who was able to file the wrongful death lawsuit. Then, the children would have the ability to file the case, followed by the parents if there were no children or spouse. The personal representative of the deceased person could also file a wrongful death lawsuit, and the proceeds would be divided among the family members.

How Does a Survival Action Relate to a Wrongful Death Claim?

Just because your family member died does not mean that the responsible party will get away without paying the damages that they may have endured between the time of the accident and their death. In many cases, a family member does not die immediately during the accident. In that case, the estate holds the right to file a survival claim to recover any damages your loved one sustains after the accident. Survival action damages encompass things that are paid for in a usual personal injury lawsuit, including:

• Medical expenses
• Lost wages
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Embarrassment and humiliation

What Are the Challenges in a Wrongful Death Case?

Any type of personal injury case may be difficult. There could be additional challenges in a wrongful death claim that you would need to overcome to recover full compensation for what happened to your family member. Some hurdles in a wrongful death case include:

• Your loved one is no longer here to tell their story, and your family may not have their version of events to guide you in any accident investigation.
• Wrongful death compensation is subjective by nature, and the defendant and their insurance company may challenge what you are reporting as your damages.
• Since your case could be worth a considerable amount of money, the insurance company could make it more difficult for you to recover the full amount of damages.
• Because of the value of your case, you can expect the wrongful death legal process to take a longer amount of time.
• Since multiple family members may receive compensation in a wrongful death case, your family may have difficulty agreeing on the proper course of action and when to settle a case.

How Long Does My Family Have to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Georgia has a statute of limitations that governs how long your family has to file a wrongful death lawsuit. The typical law in Georgia is that you have two years from the date of death or when you know that the death was wrongful to file a lawsuit. Some exceptions could allow you a longer time, although you do not necessarily want to be in a position of having to rely on them. For example, if the deceased person did not have a will and the court needs to name a personal representative to file the lawsuit, there may be an extension of the statute of limitations.

There are dire consequences for missing the statute of limitations. If you are even one day late, your family will lose the right to file a lawsuit.

Contact the Macon County Wrongful Death Lawyers at Childers & McCain, LLC Today

To learn more about how you can recover financially for the death of a loved one, reach out to the Macon County wrongful death lawyers at Childers & McCain, LLC. Call 478-254-2007 or contact us online for a free consultation. Our office is in Macon, Georgia, and we serve clients in Savannah, Albany, Atlanta, Bibb County, Chatham County, Columbus, Crawford County, Oglethorpe, and Peach County.