Bakersfield Wrongful Death Lawyer

Losing a loved one is always difficult. Losing them because of someone else’s negligence only makes it more challenging. You not only have to deal with the regular feelings of loss but also the anger of knowing that they were taken too soon. When someone’s life is interrupted early, your family may be unprepared. In addition to loss, you may struggle financially and emotionally. It is only fitting that the person who caused the loss compensates the survivors for that loss.

Family or loved ones can bring a wrongful death suit. While civil suits cannot put a wrongdoer in jail, they can give you the satisfaction of a finding that the wrongdoer was to blame. They can also help your family deal with the financial fallout from an early death. Our Bakersfield wrongful death lawyer can help you explore potential remedies. Our personal injury attorneys are here to support you during this time.

Understanding Survival Actions

There are two potential types of lawsuits after the death of a loved one—wrongful death lawsuits and survival actions. Each of these suits gives survivors the opportunity to recover damages, but they are not the same thing. A survival action is for damages to the deceased. A wrongful death action seeks damages for the survivors.

It can help to think of a survival action as the lawsuit the deceased would have brought if they had survived. It does not consider the survivors’ pain and suffering. Instead, it seeks compensation for the damages the deceased suffered as a result of the accident. Either the estate or the survivors can bring this claim. The proceeds of the claim go to the estate and are distributed as estate property according to the will or intestacy statutes. Our attorneys in Bakersfield could help you understand the difference between wrongful death suits and survival actions.

What is a Wrongful Death Action?

Typically, a victim’s spouse or children can file a wrongful death claim. Not everyone leaves a surviving spouse or kids—in that case, the parents and then the siblings can bring a claim. California has an expansive view of family, allowing unadopted stepchildren and foster children to file these claims, as well. In fact, California does something most states do not do—it allows non-family members to bring wrongful death claims if they can demonstrate that they were financially dependent on the deceased.

Establishing a wrongful death claim requires proving the four components of negligence. The first element is the duty of care. The wrongdoer must have owed a duty to the victim. A duty of care can be specific, like the duty a healthcare worker has to a patient. It can also be a general duty, like the duty that drivers owe to all other drivers.

After establishing the existence of a duty, the survivors must prove the wrongdoer breached that duty. A breach means the wrongdoer failed to meet the standard of care, either through an act or an omission. Proving a breach is not enough—the breach has to be the cause of the deceased’s death. It does not, however, have to be the sole cause. Preexisting conditions or the victim’s own negligence can contribute to the accident, as well, and not prevent the survivors from recovering since California is a contributory negligence state.

The final step is proving damages. What losses have the survivors experienced, and what is the combined monetary value of those damages? This can be tricky since many of the damages, such as loss of consortium, are intangible—they do not have a direct monetary value. Some examples of damages available in wrongful death suits include lost wages, funeral expenses, mental anguish, and medical bills. Our Bakersfield lawyers could calculate the monetary value of losses after a wrongful death.

Consult With a Bakersfield Wrongful Death Attorney

Losing someone because of someone else’s negligence is not just heartbreaking—it leaves the survivors longing for justice. A wrongful death lawsuit can provide you with more than financial compensation for your loss—it can also provide you with a feeling that justice has been done.

To learn more about the process of bringing a lawsuit, schedule a consultation with our Bakersfield wrongful death lawyer.

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