What You Need to Know About Wrongful Death Cases in Indiana
Losing a spouse, child, or other loved one is a difficult experience and comes with many burdens that can be mental, physical, emotional, and financial.
If you've lost a loved one due to an accident from someone else's negligence, you may be able to file a wrongful death claim and receive monetary damages from the responsible party.
What Can Cause a Wrongful Death?
To win a wrongful death lawsuit, you'll need to prove that your loved one was killed due to an accident or intentional act that another party is legally liable for. Nearly any accident or act that could lead to a personal injury lawsuit can be listed as the cause of a wrongful death if the victim died as a result of the incident or injuries or illness from the incident.
Motor vehicle accidents are a common cause of wrongful death. Bicycle and pedestrian accidents are other common causes, as are medical malpractice and premise liability accidents.
Determining whether you can adequately prove a death was from another party's negligence can be difficult. Hire an experienced attorney for help going over your case and the evidence. Your attorney can also help you navigate court proceedings and filing deadlines.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Indiana's wrongful death laws allow the personal representative of the deceased person to file a claim for a wrongful death within two yearsof the date of the death. The personal representative is the person who is responsible for administering the deceased person's estates.
When the deceased person in a wrongful death case is a child, one or both of the child's parents or legal guardians must file the lawsuit. If the parents are divorced, the parent with legal custody of the child at the time of the child's death must file a wrongful death claim.
Other relatives or dependents can receive damages, even when they do not file the lawsuit themselves. When damages are awarded to more than one person in a wrongful death case, the court will decide how the damages should be allocated.
What Damages Can You Collect if You Win a Wrongful Death Case?
A wrongful death lawsuit is a civil case, which means that plaintiffs in these cases receive money damages when they win their cases instead of the defendant facing criminal penalties.
Some wrongful death cases involve a criminal case as well, such as fatal drunk driving accidents, but wrongful death cases from a deceased person's representative are only concerned with monetary compensation to the victim's loved ones.
If you prove that the other party is liable for your loved one's death, the court may award you damages to cover many different types of expenses. Common damages cover medical expenses incurred by the deceased, funeral and burial costs, lost wages that the deceased would have earned, and costs associated with filing the wrongful death lawsuit.
Indiana doesn't generally allow damages to cover the grief of surviving loved ones, but in a wrongful death case where a child has died, the parents may seek damages to cover the loss of the child's love, companionship, and services under the Indiana Child Wrongful Death Act.
Damages must be reasonable but aren't capped in most Indiana wrongful death cases. If the deceased person did not have a spouse, children, or other dependents, damages are capped.
The overall amount awarded in wrongful death cases can vary greatly, so retain the services of an experienced attorney who can help you make sure you get the compensation you're entitled to.
The experienced legal team at Wegner & Associates represents personal injury and wrongful death clients in the Indianapolis, Indiana, area. If you have lost a loved one and think you have a wrongful death case, contact us today to schedule an appointment to talk over your case and the compensation you may be entitled to.