What Damages Can You Seek for Wrongful Death?

If someone you love has been killed in a fatal accident that is the fault of another person or entity, it can be a devastating time. Not only were they taken from you suddenly, but you likely don’t want to think of the financial vacuum that their loss has created in your life. However, if someone you loved was the victim of wrongful death, you can seek damages against them.

The damages available for wrongful death vary from state to state, but in California, the available recourse is quite liberal. When filing for wrongful death, you can seek monetary compensation to cover:

• Funeral expenses
• Medical bill coverage for the final injury
• Lost income including lost potential income

One major factor that is missing is the ability to seek damages for grief and emotional distress. In wrongful death cases, typically this is not something you can go after.

Who Can Seek Wrongful Death Damages?

While the damages you can seek are a little more negotiable, there is a wide array of different family members that can file wrongful death lawsuits. However, while surviving spouses, child, parents, stepchildren, and putative spouses can bring about a wrongful death claim, they must first have had some monetary dependency on the deceased if they want to get full damages aside from the coverage of medical bills and funeral expenses.

If, for example, a parent sought wrongful death damages and did not have any financial help from the deceased, they would not be able to pursue loss of potential income. However, if they needed support from the deceased, like if they paid for a nursing home, then that would open up the path for loss of income damages.

Unfortunately, wrongful death cases are often long and stressful. If you are in the Los Angeles area and need representation,contact us today so that the Law Office of Freeman and Freeman can help take some of that stress away.