Los Angeles Attorney Assisting Families of Victims

Wrongful Death Claims Based on Fatal Car Accidents

In California, you may have the right to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against someone who is responsible for your loved one’s death. A wrongful death claim is appropriate when someone dies because of another person or entity’s negligence or wrongful act. Unlike a criminal case brought against a driver who kills another person with their car, a wrongful death lawsuit is brought to court by the decedent’s survivors in order to pursue monetary damages.

The burden of proof is lower with regard to a civil claim based on negligence than a criminal case. While a prosecutor must prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, a very high standard of proof, a plaintiff in a wrongful death lawsuit must prove negligence by a preponderance of the evidence.

To show negligence, a fatal car accident attorney in Los Angeles will need to prove that the defendant owed a duty of reasonable care, breached that duty, and caused the victim’s death. For example, if a driver was speeding and ran a red light, T-boning your husband’s car when your husband had the right of way, you may bring a wrongful death lawsuit. It is likely that you would be able to show that the driver’s speeding and failure to obey a traffic signal was the cause of your husband’s death.

You may bring a wrongful death claim even if a criminal case is also moving forward, but only some people are entitled to file a wrongful death lawsuit in California. The decedent’s surviving spouse is first in line to sue for a fatal car accident. A domestic partner may also sue for wrongful death. The decedent’s surviving children would be next in line, and if there are no children, the lawsuit may be brought by anyone who is entitled to inherit through intestate succession. This often includes, for example, the decedent’s parents, brothers, or sisters. There are certain family members who may be able to bring the lawsuit because they were financially dependent on the decedent, such as a putative spouse, children of a putative spouse, or stepchildren.

Damages depend on the relationships between family members and the decedent. Generally, the estate may recover damages for funeral and burial expenses, medical bills, lost wages, and lost income that would have been earned in the future had the decedent lived. Other damages that family members might receive include loss of love and community, loss of financial support, loss of guidance, and household services. These damages may vary dramatically depending on the nature of your relationship to the victim. For example, someone who spoke to her mother regularly and got advice on daily matters would likely be seen as having lost a relationship of significance if her mother died in a fatal car crash, and the damages might be substantial.

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