If The Person Injured Dies During The Personal Injury Lawsuit Due To Their Injuries Can A Wrongful Death Case Be Filed?
A wrongful death lawsuit is possible if before a personal injury lawsuit is brought to trial, the person injured from negligence dies from their injuries.
The person's surviving family may follow through with a personal injury attorney and may continue to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit to recover damages.
For example, in 2001, a construction worker was injured on the job due to negligence of his employer in Washington State. The man was in the hospital when he began his personal injury lawsuit . The man died two months after the accident from internal injuries before the lawsuit was brought to trial. His wife filed a wrongful death lawsuit and won $200,000 in lost wages and punitive damages.
The Basics of a Wrongful Death Lawsuit
When a family member dies because of the negligence of another party, the remaining family may hire an attorney to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Common personal injury lawsuits that can become wrongful death cases include:
- Car and other motor accidents (Commonly drunk drivers)
- Severe injury at work (Commonly construction work)
- Airplane accident (Usually private planes)
- Dog attacks (Dog not on a lease, that run free)
- Medical negligence resulting in malpractice (Kanye West’s mother for example)
The most common member of the family that will continue the personal injury case after the victim dies are surviving wives and husbands. The surviving spouses can use legal counsel to convert the lawsuit from personal injury to wrongful death.
Compensation Changes When Personal Injury Becomes Wrongful Death
A wrongful death lawsuit is filed for only one reason, which is to take care of the remaining family after someone dies from negligent injuries.
In most cases, a wrongful death lawsuit results in more compensation for the remaining family than a personal injury lawsuit.
For example, a Florida man, a single father, had filed a personal injury claim after a serious car accident. Months later, he died and the personal injury case became wrongful death. The
personal injury attorney was able to get his 18-year-old son $145,000 in compensation, when the man was only seeking $55,000 before his death.
The compensation that the family attempts to recover comes from the loss of:
- Income and salary the loved one would have provided without the negligent injuries
- Intangible items like love and intimate company that are now lost because someone else was negligent
Unemployment might be Overlooked in Wrongful Death
Even if the loved one that died was unemployed, the court and judge can take a look at any college degrees, master’s degrees, potential earnings, past salary and if other companies were looking to hire the person who died to award lost wages.
If a father was only unemployed for six months after working for tens years, especially in today’s economy, a
lawyer should still be able to recover lost wages for the family through a wrongful death lawsuit. So if he was making $60,000 a year, the personal injury attorney should be able to recover future earnings similar to what he was making when he was let go.
Once Wrongful Death Suit is Decided, Compensation is Divided
The jury or judge in the wrongful death lawsuit will make a decision if and how much compensation the family deserves then it will be split up and given to the surviving family.
Usually the family divides the compensation evenly among close family, except if there is a wife and kids. In this case, usually the wife gets the compensation to take care of the children.
In the end, if you have lost a loved one who was suing for personal injury, don’t be afraid to contact a
personal injury attorney to turn the case into a wrongful death lawsuit. If your loved one died from negligent injuries, you deserve compensation for their loss.