Wrongful death. It can be a tragedy, and unfortunately, unintentional deaths in the United States are common.
On average, there are over 200,000 wrongful deaths every year.
If you are related to a loved one that suffered a wrongful death, you may realize during the grieving process that the family of that loved one is entitled to some compensation. In this situation, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit.
What is wrongful death? How do you file a lawsuit?
This is your guide.
What Is Wrongful Death?
Before we can discuss filing a lawsuit for this, we must first understand what wrongful death is. Essentially, in the eyes of a courtroom, wrongful death is when another party is liable for the death of your loved one.
This can either be because of direct criminal action or because of sheer negligence. Either way, filing this lawsuit is challenging someone to take accountability for the death of your loved one.
Can You File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Next, you need to make sure that you can even file a lawsuit. Alabama does not just let anybody file a wrongful death lawsuit to represent the deceased.
In most cases, the only person that can file this lawsuit on behalf of the deceased is the person in charge of their estate. That means that the person that is responsible for arranging all of the other affairs for the person that passed away would also be responsible for getting compensation for their death.
There is one exception to this rule. That exception is if the deceased person is a minor. In that situation, parents would be able to file a lawsuit on their behalf.
From there, you need to make sure that you do it in a timely matter. The reason for that is that in Alabama, there is a statute of limitations as to which you can file a wrongful death lawsuit.
In this state, you have two years from the day that person died to file a wrongful death lawsuit on their behalf.
When it comes to parents of a minor, this deadline is even shorter. Here, it would only be six months. After that, if someone else represents their estate, they would get the remaining 18 months to file a lawsuit.
Hire a Wrongful Death Lawyer
Finally, once you determine that you are allowed to file a wrongful death lawsuit, you are going to need legal representation. This would be the time to hire a wrongful death lawyer.
Make sure you hire someone that has experience in this field, someone that has good communication with you, and someone that practices in your local area. If you do that and understand the questions above, you can go over just how strong your wrongful death case is.
Do you need legal representation? Schedule a consultation with us today to find out how to go forward with your case.