When you lose a loved one in a severe accident caused by another party’s negligence, it can permanently change you and your family’s life. In addition to the many challenges that accompany losing a loved one, you may file a wrongful death claim to provide some financial compensation to your family for that loss.
If you have lost a loved one due to the negligence of another party, Our Peoria personal injury lawyer can help. Contact us to learn more about the compensation you may deserve.
Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help the Families of Peoria Wrongful Death Victims Recover Compensation
Losing a loved one due to the negligent actions of another party can prove incredibly distressing. You face many challenges, from managing immediate funeral and burial needs to rebuilding your family’s life after your loss. At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we help make filing a wrongful death claim less overwhelming while relentlessly pursuing the justice your family deserves for your unimaginable loss.
We help investigate all the conditions that led to your loved one’s death.
At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we aim to get a complete picture of what caused your loved one’s death, including all contributing factors. In many cases, including auto accidents, construction accidents, or medical malpractice, multiple entities may share liability for your loved one’s death, which means your family could have the right to sue each one for compensation. Even if only a single entity contributed to your loved one’s death, you need evidence to establish their liability for the accident. That evidence can prove essential to your injury claim. We will look into all the available information related to your loved one’s accident, including pursuing evidence that you might not have access to on your own.
We make sure the families of Peoria wrongful death victims understand the compensation they deserve.
Dealing with the loss of a loved one can be extremely traumatic. Getting a settlement offer from the insurance company that covers the liable party may not even enter your mind, especially immediately after your loss. However, those initial settlement offers often fail to provide the compensation your family may deserve. The insurance company may even try to take advantage of your grief and lack of knowledge to pressure you to take a settlement offer that fails to meet your needs. At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we help ensure that our clients know the compensation they deserve and how to handle lowball offers from the insurance company, including the steps to protect their right to compensation.
We help our clients with the negotiation process.
Reaching a settlement agreement may involve a considerable amount of negotiating. You may have to go back and forth with the insurance company multiple times before reaching an agreement that works for your family and adheres to the insurance company’s demands. At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we negotiate on your behalf, allowing you to focus on the other critical elements of rebuilding your home and family after the loss of a loved one.
Who Bears Liability for Wrongful Death in Peoria?
Determining the liable party in your loved one’s death is essential to recovering compensation because you need to know against whom to file a claim. If your lawyer can identify multiple parties that may share liability for your loved one’s death, you can file a wrongful death claim against all parties. However, determining the liable party can prove tricky. A variety of scenarios can cause wrongful death, including:
- Auto accidents
- Truck accidents
- Construction accidents
- Premises liability incidents
- Medical malpractice
- Nursing Home Malpractice
- Product liability incidents
- Animal attacks
- Workplace accidents
However, in most cases, you will find yourself dealing with an insurance company that covers the liable party. For example, if your loved one died in an auto accident, you may find yourself dealing with the responsible driver’s car insurance company. There are several key questions a lawyer and the insurance company that covers the liable party will ask when determining liability.
Did the party that caused the accident owe your loved one a duty of care at the time of the incident?
A duty of care can vary, depending on the circumstances. For example, when drivers decide to use the road, they owe a duty of care to all others who share the road, including pedestrians and cyclists. Property owners bear a duty of care to visitors to their property: they must ensure that the property remains in good repair and not expose visitors to danger.
What act of negligence caused your loved one’s accident?
Negligence can take many forms. Sometimes, negligence is a knowingly dangerous act: texting and driving, for example, or deliberately ignoring the road rules. In other cases, negligence may arise from laziness or inattention: failure to clean up a spill or take care of repairs to a property that ultimately results in an accident or failure to control a dangerous animal.
How did that negligence contribute to your loved one’s death?
To file a wrongful death claim, you will need to show that your loved one died due to the liable party’s negligent actions. It can be difficult to establish that the act of negligence caused your loved one’s death, especially if you do not have clear evidence of what caused your loved one’s death. The insurance company may even argue that your loved one caused their death through negligent actions, like entering an area they did not have the right to enter or choosing not to take safety precautions on the road, job site, or property. Having a lawyer on your side can prove critical as you file a wrongful death claim and work to establish whose negligence caused your loved one’s death. A lawyer can help collect vital evidence to create a compelling claim that shows the liable party’s negligent actions that resulted in your loved one’s death.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Peoria?
To have the right to file a wrongful death claim in Peoria, you will need to establish that either: a) you have a close familial relationship with the deceased, or b) you have the legal right to file the claim as a representative of the deceased’s estate. Close family members will usually have the authority to file a wrongful death claim. If the deceased had a spouse at the time of death, they have the right to file a wrongful death claim. With no spouse, the deceased’s children will have the right to file a claim. If the deceased has neither spouse nor children, their parents may file a claim. If no close family member exists, the deceased’s estate may file a claim to recover the funds to handle final expenses.
Recovering Compensation in Peoria Wrongful Death Claims: What To Expect
The loss of a loved one can turn your world upside down. However, the emotional impact may serve as just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to losing your loved one in your life, you lose the income they brought in and the services they performed for the family. Those financial elements of your loss may have substantial, long-term repercussions. At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we work with our clients to understand their financial losses following the wrongful death of a loved one. We use that information to create a comprehensive claim that displays the total compensation you deserve following your loved one’s loss.
Your Loved One’s Income
Many families today rely on two incomes to make ends meet. Parents provide for their children, and adult children may help provide for their aging parents. The loss of an income can pose a substantial difficulty making ends meet or paying your bills. When you lose the primary wage-earner in your household, it complicates an already trying time. As part of your wrongful death claim, you can include lost wages your loved one would have reasonably brought to your family.
The Services Your Loved One Performed
People perform a variety of services for their families regularly. They care for children or aging loved ones, keep up with cleaning, maintenance, and cooking. With that person no longer available, you may have to pay for someone else to perform those services. When filing a claim, we will consider the cost of the services your loved one performed for the family and what it will cost to hire someone else to perform those services.
Your Loved One’s Final Expenses
Funeral and burial expenses can be more expensive than people expect. If your loved one does not have an insurance policy to help with those final costs, your family may end up struggling to cover funeral and burial expenses. You can include those costs as part of your wrongful death claim in Peoria. In some cases, you may also have the right to include your loved one’s final medical expenses as part of your wrongful death claim. However, the health insurance company may have the right to put a lien on those funds, and it could decrease the compensation you recover through your wrongful death claim. A lawyer can help you understand whether you should include those costs as part of your claim.
Loss of Presence/Support/Consortium
The loss of your loved one’s presence can leave a hole in your life. Children rely on their parents to provide them with support, advice, and guidance as they grow. Losing a parent too early can leave the child feeling vulnerable and adrift. Losing a spouse and everything they represent can make the surviving spouse feel alone. Losing a child can mean losing the future and expectations of that child. You cannot fill that gap in your life with funds from a wrongful death claim. However, you can include compensation for the suffering your family has faced as part of that claim. The funds recovered can help you rebuild your life and make adjustments for your loss.
Do You Need a Peoria Wrongful Death Lawyer?
If you lost a loved one due to the negligence of another party, a lawyer can help determine the compensation you deserve and fight for your family. Contact Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys today at (309) 518-1413 for your free consultation.