A lawyer can explain your legal options following your family member’s wrongful death. They can also help you pursue a fair amount of financial compensation within the statute of limitations.
Legal Guidance
The sudden loss of a loved one can be devastating and overwhelming. It can be difficult for relatives to look at matters calmly when they are consumed by emotion. A wrongful death lawyer can examine the case objectively, explain laws in California that may apply to your situation, and help you make decisions that are in your family’s best interest.
For example, a lawyer can tell you who has the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit. According to the California Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) §377.60, a personal representative of the deceased individual may file a lawsuit on behalf of eligible individuals. Under some circumstances, other people, such as the decedent’s parents, guardians, putative spouse, children of the putative spouse, and stepchildren, may have the right to sue for wrongful death.
Help Seeking Compensation
Family members who are grieving the unexpected death of a loved one often have no idea how far-reaching the effects of the loss will be. If you relied on your relative’s income to help you cover bills for essential living expenses, such as your mortgage and groceries, you may struggle to get by without those funds.
The loss of income may also make it difficult or impossible to finance your children’s college education or invest money for your own retirement the way you had planned to do.
You may be entitled to compensation for the loss of your relative’s future income. Factors such as your loved one’s earnings at the time of death and anticipated raises can affect the size of an award.
The length of time your relative likely would have lived if the wrongful death had not occurred can also influence the amount of compensation surviving relatives may receive. A wrongful death attorney can work with independent financial experts to calculate a reasonable financial award.
Your family may be facing a stack of expensive bills for medical care your loved one received prior to his or her death. On top of that, there are costs for the funeral and burial. A wrongful death lawyer can seek a financial award to compensate you for those expenses.
The emotional impact of your loved one’s death will be the most difficult factor to quantify. You may be unable to imagine all the ways that the death of a spouse can affect a surviving partner.
It may be difficult to fathom the depth of pain that the loss of a parent can cause for a child, particularly one who is too young to understand what has happened. A lawyer can pursue a financial award that can provide a fair amount of compensation for the long-term emotional consequences of your loss.
Assistance in Meeting the Statute of Limitations
Laws called statutes of limitations restrict the amount of time a plaintiff has to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Those time frames vary from state to state. In California, the statute of limitations to file a wrongful death lawsuit is two years, according to the CCP §335.1. If you do not meet the deadline, you may lose the ability to seek compensation.
Two years is not a lot of time, and it can be easy for the weeks and months to blur together if you are reeling from the tragic loss of a loved one. An attorney can gather evidence, build a case, and make sure that a lawsuit is filed by the deadline.
Consider a Los Angeles Wrongful Death Lawyer
If your relative perished because of another party’s negligence, a wrongful death attorney can explain your legal options, calculate a fair amount of compensation, and file a lawsuit within the statute of limitations.
We understand that a financial award would not bring back your relative or take away the emotional pain of your loved one’s death. Receiving compensation could, however, give you some peace of mind and help you adjust to your new normal and move forward.
If you are worried about legal fees, you should not be since Pintas & Mullins Law Firm operates on contingency. We do not charge clients who seek help with wrongful death cases any money up-front. Our firm only gets paid if we obtain a financial award on behalf of a client. Call our office today at (800) 223-5115 so we can begin working on your case as soon as possible.