If you recently lost a family member through someone else’s negligent or intentional act, you know that money can’t possibly make up for the value of a life cut unfairly short. You also may understandably be angry at the person who caused your loved one’s death, and you may want to take your civil claim all the way to court as a result of the feelings you have toward them.
In practice, though, most wrongful death claims end with private out-of-court settlements—and most of the time, settling a case like this will get you just as much financial restitution as a court verdict would, and sometimes even more. A skilled wrongful death lawyer can provide an overview of what you should know about Norristown wrongful death settlements.
Factors That Can Affect Wrongful Death Settlement Value
Pursuing a wrongful death settlement in Norristown doesn’t work differently from filing a wrongful passing lawsuit. When you try to hold someone legally liable for causing a wrongful death, you’ll almost always start with settlement negotiations and only proceed with a court case if those negotiations don’t go well. Even after going to court, you can settle and end the case privately at any point prior to a civil judge issuing a final verdict on your case.
Negotiating for a wrongful death settlement can be complicated in ways that a court case may not be. For example, you won’t have a judge to enforce Pennsylvania law and act as a neutral third party. The way the negotiations proceed may depend on how cooperative the people you’re negotiating with are and how capably you can fight to protect your own rights and best interests. This is just one reason why it’s vital to get help from seasoned legal counsel as early as possible in the settlement process.
Who Can Get Paid Through a Wrongful Death Settlement?
Under Pennsylvania law, the only people who can receive money through a Norristown wrongful passing settlement agreement are the deceased person’s spouse, children, or parents. Additionally, specific rules are in place for how settlement funds are supposed to be divided between these family members.
For example, a surviving spouse always gets the first $30,000 of the settlement amount. After that, anything that’s left gets split evenly between the spouse and the children, or if the deceased didn’t have any children, between the spouse and the parents. If there’s no surviving spouse, settlement proceeds are split evenly between any surviving children and any surviving parents. Finally, if there are no surviving family members in any of these categories, the deceased person’s estate representative can recover for certain losses suffered by the estate—for instance, medical bills the deceased person paid for the care they received between their accident and their eventual death from that accident.
A Norristown Attorney Can Help Get You a Fair Wrongful Death Settlement
No one should ever have to experience the pain of losing a family member because another person acted in an irresponsible or illegal way. If your family is dealing with this kind of situation, you have help available from winning legal professionals to get the compensation you deserve for every form of harm the loss of your loved one will cause you.
Norristown wrongful death settlements are not something you have to or should try to pursue alone. Call Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers today to learn how an experienced lawyer can assist you. You won’t owe us anything until we win the compensation you deserve.
