If you’ve recently lost a close family member to an unexpected accident, you know that no amount of money can completely make up for the harm you and your family have suffered. It can still be important to understand and take advantage of your right to civil recovery, especially if the loved one you lost supported your family.
If you want to take legal action against the person whose negligent or criminal act directly led to your family member passing away before, get help from a respected Eatontown wrongful death lawyer with a track record of winning cases like yours in the past. Even if you’re not sure whether a lawsuit is the right move for your family, a conversation with a skilled personal injury attorney from Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers can give you answers to pressing questions and confidence about what the best course of action is.
When Is It Possible to File a Wrongful Death Claim?
For the most part, wrongful death claims arise from the same kinds of situations that standard personal injury cases do. Instead of surviving their injuries and being able to sue on their own behalf, the injured person passed away due to their injuries and can’t take any kind of legal action. When this happens, that injured person’s right to sue survives their death and passes on to their family members, who can then seek compensation for losses they’ll suffer due to their loved one’s death.
Eligible family members can recover for both objective financial losses and subjective personal losses they’ll experience because of their loved one’s death, including things like:
- Costs of funeral and burial services
- Medical bills paid on the deceased person’s behalf
- Lost future financial support
- Lost help around the house, including with things like childcare
- Lost companionship, advice, and care
An Eatontown attorney can provide more specific guidance about which family members may be able to recover through a wrongful death lawsuit and what they can recover for in a particular situation.
Special Rules for Wrongful Death Lawsuits
Under New Jersey law, the only person who’s allowed to start a wrongful death lawsuit is the executor for the deceased person’s estate, which is generally someone nominated in the deceased person’s will to manage their affairs after their death. In addition, that executor typically has two years after the deceased person’s date of death to formally file suit, or else they’ll be time-barred from ever suing over that particular death.
Fortunately, you don’t have to wait until criminal charges related to a wrongful death resolve before filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Since criminal and civil trials have different standards of proof, it’s possible to hold someone civilly liable for a death even if they’re acquitted of criminal wrongdoing related to that death, as a wrongful death lawyer in Eatontown can further explain during a private initial meeting.
Get Help from an Eatontown Wrongful Death Attorney
There’s no one way to approach any kind of personal injury lawsuit, and that’s especially true for cases centered around wrongful deaths. No matter what led to your family member’s fatal injuries or what damages you need to seek payment for as a result, it is difficult to get the recovery you deserve if you try to file suit alone.
Representation from a seasoned Eatontown wrongful death lawyer can be essential to getting through this sort of claim efficiently and achieving the best possible result. Call today to discuss your legal options in a free, no-obligation consultation.
