How a Wrongful Death Claim Works in California
After losing your loved one to someone else’s negligence, your family is entitled to financial compensation. First, you have to file a wrongful death claim. Here are some steps in the process.
After you hire a wrongful death attorney, you will need to figure out who files the lawsuit. California law gives the list of family members who can file a claim. You can only file one lawsuit, but all eligible family members can join the case. Then, you should consider whether the estate should file a survival action for what the deceased person went through before their death.
What Wrongful Death Damages Can Include
Before filing the wrongful death claim, you should properly value the possible damages in the case. Wrongful death damages could include:
- Loss of earnings that the deceased would have contributed to the household
- Loss of companionship
- Loss of household services
- Loss of moral support, training, and guidance
The survival action would cover the medical bills and your loved one’s pain and suffering before they died.
You could either file an insurance claim for wrongful death or go straight to filing a lawsuit. The insurance company may try to settle the case, and you would negotiate with them to reach an agreement. Hopefully, your family would decide how to divide the proceeds because there is no law to give an exact division of money.
If you cannot reach a settlement agreement with the defendant’s insurance company, you would file a lawsuit. Your case would go to a jury, and the jury would decide how much each family member receives in the case.
Beverly Hills Wrongful Death Attorneys Can Help
To begin the process of filing a wrongful death claim, contact the Beverly Hills wrongful death lawyers at Jalilvand Law online or call us at 310.478.5500 today. We are ready to help your family.
