Wrongful Death Attorney Serving Tampa Bay
Lancaster Law Firm understands how critical it is to get the financial assistance you deserve after a wrongful death has occurred in your family. You and your loved ones require compensation for medical bills, property damages, funeral expenses, and insurance claims. Chris Lancaster will fight for you as you work through your grievances.
Lancaster Law Firm is Here for Your Wrongful Death Case
If your loved one has been the victim of wrongful death, your personal injury attorney Chris Lancaster is to help you and your family through the grieving process. Chris is experienced in handling wrongful death cases in Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Bradenton, and Sarasota. He will work tirelessly to bring anyone responsible for the death to justice.
The Most Common Types of Wrongful Death Cases
The Most Common Types of Wrongful Death Cases
Car accidents or any motor vehicle accident (truck or tractor-trailer) is a frequent cause of wrongful death claims in Florida. All drivers have the responsibility to obey traffic laws, traffic signals, and to pay attention to weather conditions and lawful traffic or pedestrians.
Wrongful death claims resulting from a motor vehicle accident can be brought against the following persons:
- The driver of the vehicle
- The owner of the vehicle, which could include businesses or corporations
- The owner or driver of the vehicle in which the deceased was a passenger
- Pedestrians and bicyclists who are killed by motor vehicles on the roadway may also make a wrongful death claim
All wrongful deaths are devastating, but those involving a child or children are many times the saddest. Because children are so young and do not have the foresight to see danger as well as adults, they are at the highest risk for death due to another person’s negligence.
In Florida, the number one cause of death for children ages five and under is drowning. A small child drowning is often the result of the negligence of a property owner, a caretaker, a lifeguard, or the manufacturer of a pool safety device intended to protect children from drowning.
Children are also at higher risk of dying in a car accident. Some cases are due to the faulty design of a child’s car seat. Another risk factor for children is accidentally choking on and suffocating from small toys.
Unfortunately, children sometimes desire the very things that can cause wrongful death. Overall, children are the most vulnerable of wrongful death due to the:
- Improper use or toys
- Faulty design or manufacture of a toy
- Failure to abide by safety precautions
- Failure of a caretaker to be in attendance
When an individual is lawfully upon a property, they are legally entitled to the expectation that they are safe and that they will not fall or get injured. Property owners must ensure that they maintain the property in a safe and hazard-free condition so that those lawfully on the property will not be hurt, harmed, or killed.
Some property owners fail to obey the laws to maintain a safe and hazard-free property. If someone who is legally on the property dies as a result of a fall caused by the property owner’s negligence, the decedent’s survivors may file a death claim.
Chris Lancaster has experience handling Florida wrongful death cases to help you bring a case within the statute of limitations. It is critical that you contact him immediately to make sure you file a timely claim.
To succeed in a wrongful death claim, you will have to prove three things:
- The other side acted in a negligent, reckless, or intentional manner.
- The other party caused the death
- The amount of damage caused by the defendant
In a wrongful death lawsuit, damages for each qualified survivor (such as parents, spouse, and children) may include:
- Loss of future estate
- Loss of support
- Medical and funeral expenses
- Mental pain and suffering
If the company or person causing the death acted intentionally or recklessly, punitive damages also might be recoverable.
The deceased person’s estate may recover certain types of fiduciary damages, including:
- Lost wages, benefits, and other earnings, including the value of lost profits and revenues that the deceased person could reasonably make if he or she had lived
- Lost “prospective net accumulations” of the estate, or the value of earnings the estate could honestly collect if the deceased person were still alive
- Medical and funeral expenses paid by the estate directly
Hiring a professional attorney like Chris Lancaster will help you and your loved ones heal from the financial burdens that a wrongful death can cause.
What is a Wrongful Death Claim?
A wrongful death claim is a legal action filed against a defendant by the survivors of an individual killed as a result of a negligent, reckless, or intentional conduct of another person, company, or entity.
Damages that surviving family members may receive in wrongful death cases include:
- The value of support and services the deceased person had provided to the surviving family member
- Loss of companionship, guidance, and protection provided by the deceased person
- Mental and emotional pain due to the loss of a child
- Medical or funeral expenses any surviving family member has paid for the deceased person
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?
Wrongful death claims allow the estate or those close to a deceased person to file a lawsuit against the party who is legally liable for the death. Personal representative claims on behalf of individual survivors can include the spouse, children, parents, or estate depending upon the particular circumstances of each situation.
It is crucial to hire a lawyer as soon as possible because the Florida wrongful death statute of limitations limits the time in which you can file a lawsuit. Because of the complexities of a death case, these cases should be handled by an experienced Florida wrongful death attorney who is familiar with the Florida Wrongful Death Statute.
