If you’ve recently lost someone close to you through a preventable accident or criminal act, you know that a civil lawsuit is a poor substitute for a human being’s life being unfairly cut short. Getting paid fairly for the losses you’ve suffered and will suffer due to your loved one’s death can be vital to protecting your family’s best interests.
As important as filing a Lewisburg wrongful death action can be, it’s also often difficult to construct a strong claim while staying within the restrictions set by Pennsylvania law. A respected wrongful death lawyer can help you handle a claim as effectively and efficiently as possible.
Preparing for a Wrongful Death Claim
Much like with a standard personal injury claim filed after a non-fatal accident, achieving a favorable result while filing a wrongful death action in Lewisburg requires proving the person you’re suing is personally legally liable for causing the death. This means you need to show, through evidence, that the person you’re suing directly caused your loved one’s death through negligence and, more specifically, through a reckless or careless violation of a duty they had to act responsibly under certain circumstances.
Evidence can come from various sources, including but not limited to:
- Testimony from witnesses to the fatal accident
- Input from expert witnesses like medical professionals and accident reconstruction experts
- Photos and videos from the accident scene
- Comprehensive medical records detailing the specific cause of death
You also need to gather as much evidence as possible to establish the financial value of the losses you are seeking compensation for—for example, pay stubs to establish lost financial support the deceased person would’ve provided your family in the future.
Who Is Allowed to File a Wrongful Death Action?
Once you have the evidence you need to construct your claim, you need to make sure that evidence gets into the hands of the person designated in the deceased person’s will as their personal representative. Under Pennsylvania law, the only person who has the legal right to file a wrongful death action in Lewisburg is the person who holds this role.
If more than six months pass after a wrongful death without the personal representative starting a claim, any surviving family member who’d be able to recover compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit can file the claim on behalf of themselves and all other eligible family members. As your lawyer can explain in more detail, eligible family members in this context are typically limited to the deceased person’s surviving spouse, children, or parents.
A Lewisburg Attorney Can Help with Filing a Wrongful Death Action
There’s never a single easy route forward for surviving family members of someone who loses their life in a fatal accident. Even if you know you have the right to sue over your loved one’s death, the process of actually doing so can be confusing and time-consuming.
Fortunately, you have support available from skilled legal representatives who can make sure the process of filing a Lewisburg wrongful death action goes as smoothly as possible and guide you through every step of the legal process that follows that initial filing. Call today to learn what our attorneys can do for you.
