Hartford Wrongful Death Attorneys
Successfully Resolving Personal Injury Cases in Connecticut for 15+ Years
If a loved one has passed due to someone else’s negligence,
CONTACT The Law Office of Michael L. Chambers, Jr. today for help.
Hartford, Connecticut Wrongful Death Lawyer
Are you in need of a Hartford wrongful death attorney for your legal claim? CONTACT the Law Office of Michael L. Chambers. Jr.
Wrongful death occurs everywhere from warehouses to shopping centers to our highways. Property owners, negligent drivers, dangerous workplaces, and defective products may all cause wrongful deaths. No matter how it happens, losing someone close to you is a traumatic experience, and you need to understand the parameters of wrongful death claims so you can assert your legal rights.
Wrongful death is a complex area of tort law that may seem confusing. Families often do not recognize their rights to compensation after losing a close family member, and deciphering the complicated legal jargon in wrongful death laws can be challenging.
The best thing you can do following a tragic loss is to reach out to a Hartford wrongful death attorney at the law firm of Michael L. Chambers Jr., Attorney at Law
The loss of a loved one, accidental or expected, can be traumatic and devastating. Medical expenses, funeral costs, and your pain and suffering can be stressful and exhausting. The team at the Law Office of Michael L. Chambers, Jr. will be there to help you through this process.
Our Hartford Wrongful Death Attorneys are available to assist you in any way we can, answer any questions you may have, and fight for the compensation we know will never replace the one in your life that was ripped away due to someone else’s careless and negligent behavior. We know that no amount of money can ever replace a life, but any compensation you are owed can help alleviate the stress of your loved one’s passing.
We can gather all the information and litigate your rights with whoever may be responsible. Whether it be a private party, judge and jury, or insurance providers, Our wrongful death lawyers will do all the hard debating for you so you can focus on healing.
What Is Wrongful Death?
Wrongful death claims permit surviving family members to file a claim to recover monetary compensation for the death of a close family member. A negligent party who caused the injury that resulted in the decedent’s death will be responsible for paying damages to the surviving family members bringing the wrongful death claim.
Family members may recover compensation for economic damages, as well as funeral and burial expenses. Wrongful death cases are not related to criminal law, as these are civil actions. These actions exist to permit the party bringing the claim to hold a negligent party civilly liable for a person’s death. Even if a person receives a conviction for manslaughter or murder following a death, families will still need to file a separate wrongful death claim in a different court.
Family members can bring a wrongful death claim while a criminal prosecution of the defendant is ongoing. You can assert wrongful death claims for both negligence and intentionally wrongful acts, such as violent assaults.
Wrongful Death Claims And Causes
Furthermore, the difference between murder and wrongful deaths is actually vast. Wrongful death can be defined as the death of a person from an injury caused by an accident or another’s negligent and reckless behavior leading to the victim’s life being cut short. Murder is one’s actions towards another with the intent to end their life. Wrongful death claims are a civil litigation matter where murder is a crime and incarceration is the likely outcome.
From cases like medical malpractice to a fatal car accident, wrongful death claims encompass it all. The law against negligence doesn’t discriminate. Whether it is a person, big business, or even a top dollar surgeon, they can and will be brought into the light and held responsible for their careless actions. A criminal investigation into an incident isn’t needed for a wrongful death claim, and vice versa. Wrongful death can be the source of many different types of accidents including:
Common Accidents Resulting In Wrongful Death Claims
Every accident is potentially fatal, but some accidents more commonly result in fatalities.
Some of the most common causes of wrongful deaths include:
- Trucking accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Products liability
- Car accidents
- Drowning accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Asbestos exposure
- Workplace accidents
- Premises liability accidents
- Criminal acts
- Poisoning accidents
- Nursing home neglect or abuse
Semi-Truck Accident
Due to many differences, semi accidents have a category all their own even though they are still classified as motor vehicle accidents. Because of their size, commercial trucks have a greater chance of causing fatalities in the accidents they’re involved in. Types of semi accidents are different as well. These can be anywhere from driver air to mechanical failure to inclement weather.
Defective Products
If a defective product is put through production and into consumers’ hands, a manufacturing company can be held accountable for any injuries that may occur. This could be a toy distributor, medical equipment supplier, even an automotive parts company.
Pedestrian Accident
Like with commercial truck accidents, automobile accidents against pedestrians can be fatal as passenger vehicles weigh more than any pedestrian does. The fact that a pedestrian has no safety mechanism around them to protect them from an automobile strike is what could potentially lead to a fatality.
Dog Bites
Dogs can be huge and fluffy and some of our greatest protectors, but some can be mean. A dog bite can come out of nowhere and cause devastating injuries, even fatalities. It is the dog owner who is responsible for controlling the dog, no matter if it’s out on a leash or keeping it in an enclosed area on their property where the dog cannot hurt people outside. Every 40 seconds in the United States, there is a dog bite victim seeking medical attention.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
- It takes a few seconds for a motor vehicle accident to drastically change someone’s life. Injuries from automobile accidents can be catastrophic and take years to fully heal from if they don’t end in fatalities. The injuries sustained in the accident sometimes can have complications resulting in the death of a loved one. Also, not every injury is apparent during the first chaotic few moments of an emergency room arrival. Some examples of how an automobile accident can occur are impaired driving, distracted driving, reckless behavior, or aggressive driving. All are different, but all can end in the death of someone else if the driver is not being as safe as possible.
Medicine Malpractice
- Doctors or nurses who failed to perform their sworn duty to give patients the highest regard of care fall into a medical malpractice claim. Medical malpractice is intentional harm, or accidental misdiagnosis, medicinal error, or surgical mishaps due to negligence or carelessness.
Workplace Accidents
Construction site owners or anyone not employed by the construction company can be claimed as the responsible party and a workplace accident claim. For this, surviving family members may be able to claim higher financial compensation than the normal employer’s benefits allow.
Who May File a Wrongful Death Claim?
Specific statutes in each state determine who may bring a wrongful death claim against a defendant, and the law may forbid some parties from filing a wrongful death claim. In some states, only particular relatives of the decedent may file wrongful death claims.
Some of the most common parties who may bring wrongful death claims include:
- A surviving spouse or domestic partner
- The decedent’s parents
- Children of a putative spouse
- Minor children or stepchildren
- Surviving children
- A party entitled to property through the laws of intestacy
In some jurisdictions, putative spouses may only bring a wrongful death action if they can demonstrate they depended on the decedent financially.
While not every instance in these examples can be claimed as wrongful death, you will still need an experienced wrongful death attorney to investigate the situation. Each case is different, each situation diverse, and every person is unique. While your family is struggling to come to terms with life after a loved one has been taken too soon, allow the team at The Law Office of Michael L. Chambers, Jr. to carry the burden of legal litigation and gathering information to prove a wrongful death claim. If your loved one was taken too soon by the negligent or reckless actions of another, call us today for a confidential no-obligation consultation.
Injuries that can lead to a wrongful death
One of the most common reasons for wrongful death are car accidents. However, this is not always the case. Often, victims don’t die on impact. Negligent, reckless, or careless behavior from another can cause an injury that later takes a person’s life instead of immediately. Medical professionals may even miss some crucial injuries that later result in fatalities. Injuries can include:
Broken Bones
If the bone isn’t completely gathered, small pieces can travel through the system and pierce vital organs. The heart, lungs, and intestines are subject to damage due to broken ribs. Some punctures can be hard to predict and the patient may not know until it’s too late.
Internal Injuries
Injuries on the inside of the body can be dangerous as well as devastating. They can go undetected for long periods of time, making proper diagnosis difficult. Unfortunately, if they go undetected for too long they can cars coma seizures internal bleeding, and death.
Traumatic Brain Injury
bumps, blows, or jolts to the head can cause a disruption in the brain’s normal functioning. Any blow to the head depending on where it happens on the brain can cause immediate death. Traumatic brain injury survivors don’t live a normal long life.
Who Can Bring A Wrongful Death Claim, And What Is Allowed To Be Claimed?
In the state of Connecticut, surviving family members are not allowed to file a wrongful death claim. Only a legal representative or executive of the decedent’s estate can bring a wrongful death claim to an attorney. The lawsuits that an estate representative files are on the behalf of what the law considers the “real parties of interest”. Such parties of interest can include:
- Immediate Family Members – Spouses, children, and adopted children of the deceased may ask the estate representative to file a lawsuit on their behalf.
- Life Partners or Financial Dependents – After immediate family, the decedent’s life partner or financial dependents may also file for compensation.
- Distant Family Members – These include the decedent’s children or grandparents. While this may not apply to all wrongful death claims, these distant family members must be financially dependent on the decedent in order to be able to file for any compensation.
No amount of money can fill the void a loved one leaves in your heart and in your home. However, compensation may help the transition into life now. Surviving members of the victim’s family can file for compensation under a different suit than the wrongful death, but the representative of the estate can claim compensation for reasons that can include:
Medical Expenses
Any expenses incurred by the deceased directly related to the injury that later resulted in their passing.
Punitive Damages
These claims are meant to punish the at-fault party with the hope that it will make them stop and think before continuing their behavior.
Funeral Costs
Funerals are expensive. The cost of all the preparations, services, and casket can range from $7,000-$12,000.
Who Can Be Held Responsible For A Wrongful Death?
Anyone directly involved with the decedent’s death can be named in a wrongful death suit. For example, if an accident were to involve a commercial truck and a passenger car, there is a line of people who can be liable for the decedent’s death, depending on the cause of the accident. These causes could include driver error or impairment, a suddenly shifted trailer load, improper truck maintenance, or defective parts of either vehicle. Those who could be held responsible for wrongful death in this scenario could include:
- The operator of the truck
- The truck driver’s employer if the driver was not properly trained
- The truck’s owner if neither the driver’s employer or the driver own the vehicle
- The maintenance company responsible for the upkeep on the truck
- The manufacturer of the truck itself and truck parts
- The company responsible for loading and securing the load in the truck’s trailer
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What Is The Statute Of Limitations In Connecticut?
Different statutes of limitations apply to specific actions. In most jurisdictions, including Connecticut, a party will have two years from the date of the decedent’s death to file a wrongful death claim. The discovery rule may toll the deadline until two years from the date that survivors discovered or should have discovered the cause of the decedent’s death.
If a party does not file a wrongful death action within the statute of limitations period, the law may prevent them from receiving any financial compensation for the decedent’s death. The defendant can request that the court dismiss a claim outside of the statute of limitations, and the court is likely to do so.
The estate’s representative has two years from the time of the decedent’s death to file a wrongful death claim. While two years can feel like a long time, it is in the estate’s best interest to get a Hartford wrongful death attorney involved as soon as possible. A wrongful death lawyer can conduct an individual investigation and gather the necessary evidence needed to prove a strong wrongful death case against those who are responsible for the sudden loss of your loved one.
Why Should I Hire a Wrongful Death Attorney?
A family likely does not know how to deal with the technical aspects of a wrongful death case, especially while grieving the loss of a family member. A wrongful death attorney can file a legal claim on your behalf, subpoena important records, and depose parties.
Skilled wrongful death attorneys can perform the following tasks and more:
- Going to trial if it becomes necessary
- Demanding financial compensation from insurance companies
- Investigating the incident
- Collecting and organizing proof of a party’s negligent acts
- Determining which parties may be liable for the wrongful death
- Analyzing and interpreting complicated claim documents
- Proving general damages and special damages
A skilled wrongful death attorney can use expert witnesses to demonstrate that the responsible party was negligent. Attorneys can hire consultants to collect evidence and conduct independent investigations of the accident. An attorney will scrutinize the evidence presented by opposing counsel and stand up against powerful defendants.
A trained attorney can also demonstrate the value of a decedent’s life by presenting various forms of evidence to demonstrate how the death has affected surviving family members.
What Are The Elements of Wrongful Death?
To prove a wrongful death claim, a plaintiff must establish that:
- A human person died
- Another party’s negligent acts or intentional acts caused the person’s death
- The surviving family members suffered financial damages due to the person’s death
- Someone appointed a personal representative to administer the decedent’s estate
Contact a Hartford Wrongful Death Lawyer Today
It can be difficult for surviving family members to pursue a wrongful death claim while grieving the loss of a loved one. Every family deals with tragic loss in different ways. Hiring a skilled Hartford wrongful death attorney to handle every step of the process will take pressure off the family members.
Having an objective party representing you can make your participation in a wrongful death case less emotional and more easily manageable. An attorney can help you and your loved ones focus on the most important aspects of the case. Powerful defendants and insurance companies may try to play on your emotions and intentionally frustrate you, and the wrong response can potentially damage your case. A trained attorney can prevent you from succumbing to these tactics that insurance companies use.
Was a loved one taken too soon due to the negligent and reckless behavior of another? The Law Office of Michael L. Chambers, Jr. is here to help. We are always happy to answer any questions you may have about your situation and offer legal advice. With several years of combined experience, our Hartford personal injury lawyers stand by your side to fight for your rights and keep your best interest in mind. You can call us today at (860)-231-9535 for your free, confidential, and no-obligation consultation, during which we can discuss your case. If you hire an attorney, you will have more resources available to you. Reach out to Michael L. Chambers Jr., Attorney at Law, today.
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