When a loved one dies because of another person’s negligence, you may have a wrongful death claim. It does not matter if the negligence was a car accident, medical malpractice, premises liability, or any other kind of personal injury – if negligence caused the death, you could be entitled to recover compensation.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?
There are several parties who are able to file wrongful death claims after the loss of a loved one. According to Georgia law, the surviving spouse of the deceased victim will typically pursue legal action. Additionally, the children and parents of the deceased victim may also have a legal right to pursue action against a responsible party. If there are no surviving family members, a personal representative may be appointed to file a claim on behalf of the victim’s estate.
Determining Negligence
The laws determining negligence are complicated. After an accident, you must be able to show someone was negligent in order to recover compensation for your injuries and other losses. Georgia requires you to meet four elements to prove negligence. They may sound easy enough, but they are not.
The elements of negligence in a car accident case are:
- The defendant has a standard duty of care to drive carefully and within the law. This one is easy – was the at-fault driver following the traffic laws and driving without aggression?
- The second element is a breach of the standard duty of care. Depending on the circumstances, this may not be as easy as it sounds. A driver speeding down the highway might cause an accident, but was the accident due to the driver’s speed, or was it because another driver pulled in front of him? In this case, there is the possibility that both could be responsible for causing the accident.
- The third element is causation. Was the accident the direct cause of your injuries? Where this element can become muddied is if you have pre-existing injuries that may or may not have been made worse because of the accident.
- The fourth and final element of negligence is that you have damages. If you did not suffer financial losses, for example, medical expenses because of accident injuries, lost wages, or other losses, you may not have a negligence claim for your wrongful death claim.
Why Use an Attorney When I Can Settle Myself?
You will be dealing with insurance companies to recover compensation for wrongful death. Insurance companies are not easy to deal with under the best of circumstances. In many cases, they will do everything possible to prevent you from recovering a fair amount of compensation. They may try to shift the blame for the incident onto your loved one to prevent you from getting the amount of money you need to cover the resulting damages. An attorney will be able to help prove your case so that you can maximize your recovery and hold the negligent party accountable.
While no amount of money will bring your loved one back, you should not have to live a stressful life worrying about money because another person’s negligence took your loved one too soon.
Where to Find a Wrongful Death Attorney in Atlanta, GA
Attorney Laurie Robbins at Robbins Law in Atlanta, GA, has extensive experience helping bereaved families get justice after losing loved ones in accidents due to the careless actions of others. To see how a wrongful death claim can help your family, schedule a consultation with our firm today by calling 404-252-8117 or toll-free at 800-772-5555.
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