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Wrongful death lawsuits allow grieving family members to seek justice and monetary compensation following the passing of their loved ones. However, not everyone can file these lawsuits. Understanding who may pursue these claims is critical to protecting your rights.
Having experienced and compassionate legal counsel in your corner brings a measure of confidence that you deserve after losing someone to negligence. Find out why families in Macon and Warner Robins, GA trust Joshua E. Palmer LLC.
A Hierarchy of Claimants
Georgia law provides for a specific hierarchy of wrongful death claimants, depending on the immediate family members the decedent had at the time of their passing. Here’s how it works and who can file a lawsuit:
- If the decedent was married: The spouse can bring a lawsuit if the deceased victim was married at the time of their death.
- Not married, but had children: If the victim had no spouse, then any surviving children can file the lawsuit. Children can also file if the victim was married but the spouse caused the wrongful death or is unable or unwilling to bring a claim.
- Unmarried and no children: This scenario is next in the hierarchy, and it allows the decedent’s surviving parents to file the lawsuit. The parents can file jointly if married, or either can file if the parents are separated or not married. Both parents usually share equally in any recovery.
- Unmarried, no children, and no surviving parents: Finally, if no immediate family exists, the victim’s estate can bring the claim. More specifically, a court in Macon or Warner Robins, GA will appoint an estate administrator to file the wrongful death action.
Importantly, the administrator can only bring the claim if the last scenario above applies. But this is where another important distinction arises.
Estate Claim Versus Wrongful Death Claim
Besides the wrongful death action, there is a separate and independent legal action known in Georgia as an estate claim. The main difference between the two concerns the nature of the available legal damages.
Wrongful death damages
Wrongful death lawsuits allow families in Macon and Warner Robins, GA to seek the full value of the life of the deceased victim. This usually includes two broad categories of losses that survivors endure:
- Tangible: Damages may include money the decedent would have earned as well as the value of their contributions to the family and the household.
- Intangible: Measuring the intangible value of the victim’s life includes consideration of the companionship, parenting, experience of important milestones, and other things of intangible value that were lost.
Estate claim damages
The decedent’s estate can file this claim to recoup:
- Financial losses associated with the victim’s death: These usually include the victim’s medical bills, funeral, and burial expenses.
- The victim’s pain and suffering: If the victim experienced terror, fright, pain, suffering, and the like prior to death, even for a few seconds, compensation may be available.
- Punitive damages: In rare cases involving extreme negligence, these are allowed to punish the at-fault party and deter future instances of such behavior.
Described another way, wrongful death seeks compensation for the victim’s life while an estate claim seeks compensation for the financial losses stemming from the victim’s death. Due to their similarity, the claims are often filed together.
The Value of Seasoned Legal Counsel
No family should lose their loved one due to someone’s negligence. But when this happens, our firm steps up and fights for justice. If you are in Macon or Warner Robins and wish to learn more about wrongful death and estate claims, connect today with Joshua E. Palmer LLC.
