The Cost of Fatal Accidents

When a fatal accident happens, families and dependents of the decedent are frequently overwhelmed. The emotional impact of suddenly losing a loved one can be severe and learning how to cope with these emotions can take years. However, many families are also left with serious financial issues after their loved one passes away. These issues often need to be taken care of right away so that families and dependents can continue living their lives. The costs associated with fatal accidents are various, and many are unexpected. The following blog contains information about how losing a loved one can financially affect families and what can be done to recover for these losses.

Economic Costs

A few of the most common financial losses related to fatal accidents include:

Loss of Income: If the person who died in the accident was an income earner in the household, it can be a major burden. If the decedent was the primary household income earner, families can be left unsure of how they will be able to pay for necessary bills and expenses.
Medical Bills: Often, a person who is fatally injured during an accident receives medical care before they pass away. This can include ambulance rides, hospital stays, surgeries, and other procedures. In many cases, the costs of the procedures are very steep. To make matters worse, insurance companies may not offer to cover these expenses.
Household Services: One of the most important aspects of being a family is helping each other with basic chores. Our loved ones help us live our lives by cleaning, doing home maintenance, cooking, and other important tasks. For families with one or more small children, it is often difficult to find another adult to provide child care after a fatal accident.
End-of-Life Expenses: These include funeral and burial costs which are often much higher than families expect them to be.
Inheritance: Often, gifts that would have been given to family members after a person’s death are not included in a will prior to a sudden accident.

Non-Economic Costs

Losing a loved one comes with concrete financial losses such as the ones described above. However, the death of a person you care about can also come with damages that are hard to define monetarily but are still very important. These losses include loss of parental guidance, loss of companionship from a spouse or partner, psychological or emotional trauma, and more. These damages often affect people’s lives in a major way and shouldn’t be ignored in a wrongful death case.

Recovering Damages

Fatal accidents are often caused by negligent parties. Whether or not this party is a hospital that made a serious error, a driver under the influence of alcohol, an employer who failed to meet safety standards, the maker of a dangerous product, or some other negligent entity, they should be held accountable for the harm their carelessness has caused. Families and dependents who’ve lost a loved one in a preventable accident can often claim payments from these negligent parties for the above losses so that they can move forward with their lives without having to worry about a financial burden.

It’s important to realize, however, that wrongful death cases can differ widely depending on specific details. Many people aren’t aware of what they may be able to recover or even that they have a case at all. The best thing to do is to speak with a local Auburn wrongful death lawyer. The majority of lawyers will offer a free consultation by phone where you can have all your questions answered.

More by Ed Smith, Auburn Wrongful Death Lawyer

Auburn Wrongful Death Attorney

I’m Ed Smith, an Auburn wrongful death lawyer. Nobody should have to deal with a fatal accident on their own. If you’ve suffered the death of a loved one in a preventable accident, contact me to get free, friendly advice. My local number is (530) 392-9400. I’m also, available at (800) 404-5400 and online as well.

Auburn families have trusted my legal help with their wrongful death and personal injury cases for 36 years. See what I’ve helped my clients claim at this page and read what they’ve written about my work on these popular rating websites:

I’m a part of a US forum for attorneys that have successfully settled or won a trial verdict for a million or multi-million dollar case, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

The Cost of Fatal Accidents: Ed Smith

Photo: “legal work” by helloquence under ccounsplash /The Cost of Fatal Accidents

:ms llo [cs 765] cv

The Cost of Fatal Accidents