Have you lost a family member or a loved one due to the negligence or misconduct of another party? Contact the Huntsville wrongful death attorneys at Mama Justice to learn more about earning justice and receiving compensation.
When a tragic death occurs due to someone else’s negligence, surviving family members are left with grief and serious economic damages.
While monetary compensation can’t return a lost loved one, adequate compensation can allow a surviving spouse or loved one to be taken care of during their time of grief.
An experienced wrongful death attorney can file a wrongful death lawsuit that results in a fair settlement that brings justice to the surviving family members. If you believe your loved one’s death was due to a wrongful act, contact the Huntsville wrongful death attorneys at Mama Justice to learn about your right to compensation.
What Is Wrongful Death?
Wrongful death is when a death occurs due to negligence, wantonness, recklessness, failure to act, or willful misconduct of another person.
A wrongful death claim can be brought against someone even if they have not been tried in criminal court. Criminal charges and the civil court have different requirements for a successful case. A personal injury claim and wrongful death claim do not require a jury verdict.
The Huntsville wrongful death lawyers at Mama Justice can bring a wrongful death claim against any person or business who engaged negligently, carelessly, or recklessly and caused the death of another person. A wrongful death attorney can also bring a wrongful death claim against any person or business whose failure to act caused the death of another person. Wrongful death actions can be either active or passive.
Wrongful death is essentially when a person dies due to the action or inaction of another person or entity. Legal services can bring economic justice against the responsible party and hold that party accountable.
Wrongful Death Statistics
Grief can cause feelings of isolation, but it’s important to know you are not alone. Thousands of loved ones are lost every year due to negligence. In the United States, when someone dies under 35, the most common cause is an automobile accident.
Alabama ranks as the state with the third-highest automobile fatality rate.
Individuals in Alabama die every day due to the careless, negligent, and reckless actions of others. Some important statistics to know:
- There are 1,014 fatalities a year due to automobile accidents.
- An average Alabama driver has a one in three chance of getting into a car crash in their lifetime that results in personal injury or death.
- Every year, over 90,000 deaths occur due to medical malpractice.
- In 2006, over 5,000 deaths occurred in the workplace. These wrongful deaths were caused by traffic accidents, assault, equipment failures, falls, and exposure to harmful substances.
If you have lost a loved one, you are not alone. Many have brought forward a wrongful death case to seek compensation. Contact the Huntsville wrongful death attorneys at Mama Justice to learn more about your ability to receive justice and get compensation.
Has Your Loved One Been Killed due to Wrongful Conduct?
If your loved one died due to someone else’s negligence, you might be able to bring forward a wrongful death claim. Wrongful death lawsuits allow a deceased person’s estate to seek financial compensation for expenses like medical bills, funeral expenses, and emotional distress.
According to Alabama law, a wrongful death claim serves to grant damages for a death caused by a wrongful act, omission, or negligence from any person or corporation.
An experienced attorney can file a wrongful death claim and bring the negligent party to justice.
By contacting the Huntsville wrongful death attorneys at Mama Justice, you can learn about your legal options that can help you find peace and restitution.
What Constitutes a Wrongful Death Claim in the State of Alabama?
In Alabama, wrongful death is defined as a death that’s caused by a “wrongful act, omission, or negligence” of another party. Wrongful death lawyers approach a wrongful death lawsuit similar to personal injury lawsuits. The main difference between what legally constitutes either case is the severity of the result.
Alabama Statute of Limitations
According to Alabama law, a wrongful death claim can be brought only within two years of the victim’s death. If a wrongful death claim is not brought forward within this time, you may lose your ability to take civil action and receive financial compensation.
Because of this, you must bring forward a wrongful death claim in Alabama within two years of a loved one’s passing. If you’re unsure of whether your case has passed the statute of limitations as laid out by the state of Alabama, contact the Huntsville wrongful death attorneys at Mama Justice for a free consultation. We can help you understand if you have a case or not.
Proving a Wrongful Death Claim in Alabama
When another party’s careless, reckless, or negligent actions cause the death of another, a wrongful death lawsuit can be brought against the at-fault party.
In general, there are three areas of proof necessary to win a wrongful death lawsuit in Alabama:
- Evidence of duty of care.
- Breach of duty of care.
- A causal link between the breach of duty of care and the victim’s death.
Duty of care refers to the responsibility of one person to another. In different situations with different people, there are various duties of care.
For example, the duty of care between two people on the road is different from a doctor and a patient. If someone were to collapse on the side of the road and a driver on the road didn’t immediately stop and medically intervene, instead only calling 911, that would not be a breach of duty of care. However, if a doctor saw a patient convulsing at a hospital and did not do anything to help, there was a breach of duty of care.
Compensatory vs. Punitive Damages for Wrongful Death Claims in Alabama
Bringing forward a wrongful death claim through a Huntsville wrongful death attorney can provide a deceased victim’s family financial restitution. Wrongful death lawsuits allow bereaved families to be taken care of in the absence of their loved ones.
A wrongful death lawsuit in Alabama relies primarily on proof of negligence. This is because Alabama law only affords punitive damages instead of compensatory. Understanding how this law works is important to know what you can expect from a case. Alabama has stringent laws when it comes to compensation that requires expert attorneys to help you get the financial aid you need.
Compensatory Damages
Compensatory damages are intended to take care of the deceased victim’s beneficiaries. Compensation is intended to replace the financial support the deceased provided for their family. This kind of compensation is calculated based on age and income or sometimes the potential income of the deceased. For example, the death of a family’s primary income producer would bring larger compensation than someone who does not provide financially for the family.
In Alabama, compensatory damages are not afforded. This means that the degree to which death may financially impact a family has no bearing on the amount of compensation given. Instead, damages are designed around being punitive to the wrongdoer.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are calculated based upon the amount of negligence the responsible party acted with instead of the total financial damage caused. Alabama law intends to use compensation in a wrongful death case as a deterrent. Legal services performed with this in mind would focus on the negligence of the responsible party, which will increase the amount of total compensation.
When dealing with a wrongful death claim, a wrongful death attorney will be able to seek the best possible financial compensation for you.
Who Can Bring Forward a Wrongful Death Claim in Alabama?
While in many states, any family member can bring forward a case. However, in Alabama, only the head of the deceased person’s estate may do so. The administrator of the estate is referred to as the personal representative.
The personal representative may file a wrongful death on behalf of the rest of the family members or estate. Frequently, the deceased will have named their personal representative in their will.
Once a lawyer wins compensation for the loved one’s estate through a successful lawsuit, the personal representative holds onto the settlement to distribute to the heirs.
In Alabama, the compensation from a wrongful death case is distributed to the decedent’s estate. Usually, this compensation is given to the deceased’s surviving family members, particularly their spouse or children.
Let Our Huntsville Wrongful Death Attorney Fight for You
If a loved one’s death was due to someone else’s negligence, leaving you with medical bills, funeral expenses, and the emotional distress of feeling like there’s nowhere to turn, contact the Huntsville wrongful death attorneys at Mama Justice today.
Our attorneys will fight for the compensation you deserve and hold the other party responsible.
Call us today for a free case evaluation. With a free case evaluation, we will be able to help you figure out if you wish to file a wrongful death lawsuit and give you the needed support during this challenging time. Call Mama Justice today at (844) 239-3403.