Understanding a Wrongful Death Case

I’m Ed Smith, a Fairfield wrongful death lawyer. When a member of your family or somebody that you depend on loses their life, it can be hard to think about much other than their absence. The sudden loss of a trusted father, mother, spouse, child, or other loved one is often emotionally devastating, and grieving can take up a lot of time. However, grief isn’t the only thing that those who have lost a loved one need to worry about. In many cases, losing someone you care about also comes with a significant financial burden. Due to factors like medical bills, loss of an income earner in the family, and today’s high costs for funeral and burial ceremonies, financial stress can make the grieving process even more difficult. However, if the death was caused by a negligent party, families, and dependents can be compensated for these losses. These are referred to as “wrongful death” cases.

What is Wrongful Death?

Firstly, let’s define what wrongful death is. Mostly, wrongful death is when someone loses their life because of another party’s negligence or unlawful actions. Unlawful actions include things like murder, manslaughter, and other violent acts. In these cases, the at-fault party acts intentionally. It is crucial to keep in mind that insurance companies do not pay money for intentional acts that result in death or harm. Whether or not a wrongful death case lawsuit can be filed depends on the particular circumstances of each case.

Types of Negligence

There are various types of negligent actions. Common negligent actions include:

Substance exposure – Sometimes, toxic substances can cause preventable deaths. When landlords, product manufacturers, or other relevant parties fail to warn people of toxic substances, it can be considered a negligent action in a wrongful death case.
Negligent driving – Negligent driving takes many different forms including driving while distracted by a phone, violating traffic laws, and operating a vehicle while under the influence. When negligent drivers cause fatal accidents, the family members of the decedent usually have a viable wrongful death claim.
Work-related deaths – Worker deaths in the state of California are typically covered by worker’s compensation benefits for fatal injuries. However, in some cases that involve third parties apart from the worker’s employer, a wrongful death case can be filed. These cases can be filed against companies if gross negligence was involved.
Product defects – when a product, such as a malfunctioning brake system or ladder, causes someone to lose their life, those responsible for manufacturing, selling, and distributing the product can often be considered negligent.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Suit?

Under California law, only particular individuals are eligible to file a wrongful death lawsuit. These parties include:

Spouses or putative spouses of decedents
Children of the decedent
Grandchildren of the decedent if the grandchild’s parents are not alive
Stepchildren who relied on the decedent for at least half of their financial support
Parents who relied on the decedent for at least half of their financial support
Minors who both lived with the decedent and relied on them for support

Learning More

If you would like to learn more about wrongful death cases, you can watch this helpful video.

More by Ed Smith, Fairfield Wrongful Death Lawyer

Fairfield Wrongful Death Lawyer

I’m Ed Smith, a Fairfield wrongful death lawyer. The loss of a person you care about can come with extreme difficulties. If you have suffered the death of a friend or family member due to an accident, reach out to me to get free, friendly legal advice. I’m available to call at (707) 564-1900 and (800) 404-5400. You can reach me online through AutoAccident.com.

I’ve helped Fairfield residents to recover financially after cases of personal injury and wrongful death for over 36 years.

See my Verdicts and Settlements.

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I’m a proud Million Dollar Advocates Forum trial attorney. Forum members have either settled or won a client case that was worth over one million dollars.

The leading local website for auto accident and personal injury news in Northern CA is AutoAccident.com.

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Understanding a Wrongful Death Case