Cameron Parish Wrongful Death Lawyer

Cameron Parish Wrongful Death Attorney

Sometimes, people’s actions lead to the deaths of others. These deaths are often completely preventable events and lead to life-changing consequences for loved ones. Fortunately, there are options for these loved ones to receive compensation to help them adjust to life without the victim in the form of a wrongful death claim. A Cameron Parish wrongful death lawyer can help you figure out whether you are eligible to file a claim.

Discover a Strong Legal Team

If you are struggling with a wrongful death claim, you deserve to have someone help you. The Roach Law Firm has over 60 years of experience negotiating and going to trial for our clients. We have experience in personal injury and wrongful death claims and understand how Louisiana law makes each case unique. We can help you stand up to the ones who affected your life.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?

There are limits on who can file a wrongful death claim to protect the parties involved. The spouse and children have the first opportunity to file a claim due to their closeness with the victim. If the victim didn’t have a spouse or children, then parents and/or siblings could file.

The last people who can file are grandparents. In Cameron Parish, 20.3% of residents are 65 and older. In this case, grandparents might be interested in filing a wrongful death claim for a grandchild.

Typically, distant relatives like aunts, uncles, or cousins cannot file. The same goes for non-family members or close family friends, no matter how close they were to each other. Adopted children count as relatives in the context of a wrongful death claim. This means that they can file a wrongful death claim for a parent or sibling just as a biological child would be able to.

Damages in a Wrongful Death Case

One of the most important parts of a wrongful death case is retrieving funds for financial losses that are tied to the person’s death. This includes lots of different categories due to the sudden change the event brings to loved ones. In many cases, families were not prepared to pay for a funeral for the late individual and might have depended on their income for survival.

The goal is to help the family move forward after their loss, so the law also allows damages for intangible issues like emotional suffering and loss of companionship. These costs are considered non-economic damages.

Proving a Wrongful Death Claim

You have to prove several different legal points to win a wrongful death case, including:

• Duty of care. This can apply to many different types of accidents, including car accidents, medical malpractice, and workplace injuries. To prove a duty of care, the party that caused the damages has to have had a duty to act in a certain way. Drivers have a duty to drive safely and protect others on the road, while medical professionals have a duty to protect their patients.
• Breach of duty. The claim also has to prove that the duty that the person was responsible for was breached. For example, doing something else like texting or eating while driving would be a breach of a duty of care. For the 11.4% of Cameron Parish residents who live with a disability, their healthcare providers could breach their duty by making a medical error or misdiagnosing them.
• Causation. If the previous two elements are true, then a link between the action and the death has to be established. This can be done in several different ways. Things like medical records can show the types of injuries sustained and how they might relate to the actions of the negligent or reckless individual.
• Damages. Even if a link is proven, the family also has to prove that they have suffered from the loss in some way. In many cases, households lose a large amount of their income due to the individual’s lost wages. This can dramatically reduce a household’s income, which is $72,500 on average in Cameron Parish.

Even if the victim did not earn an income, tasks like housekeeping or child rearing can still be considered when calculating damages.

FAQs

Q: How Do You Win a Wrongful Death Claim?

A: To win a wrongful death claim, you need to prove that someone else’s actions or lack of actions led to the victim’s death. They have to show three things: that the person had a duty to protect the victim, that they did not protect the victim, and that these actions led to their death. A variety of evidence can be used to prove this, depending on how the victim died, including police reports, photos, and videos from the scene of the accident.

Q: Can Multiple Family Members File Separate Wrongful Death Claims?

A: Multiple family members cannot file separate wrongful death claims. In Louisiana, there can only be one case open for a wrongful death at a time. There is also a list of people who are able to file, organized by priority. Generally, a victim’s spouse or child has the first opportunity, followed by parents, siblings, and grandparents. If there are multiple eligible family members, their claim covers all of them, and compensation is divided between them.

Q: Who Pays in a Wrongful Death Claim?

A: Who pays in a wrongful death claim depends on who is considered to be at fault for the death. Most of the time, these parties get their insurance companies involved for them to cover the cost. If they don’t have insurance at the time of the accident or the damages cost more than the policy allows for, the responsible party might have to pay themselves. The exact amount paid depends on the details of the case and how strong the evidence is.

Q: How Long Do I Have to File a Wrongful Death Claim in Louisiana?

A: Most people have a one-year deadline to file a wrongful death claim in Louisiana. The clock starts on the date of the person’s death. If a claim is not filed by the deadline, the court will likely dismiss it. There are some exceptions involving fraud or death in mysterious circumstances, but these are rare. Additionally, evidence can disappear if it is not gathered quickly, so this fast turnaround time often benefits individuals’ wrongful death claims.

Challenge People’s Reckless Actions

The whole point of a wrongful death claim is to send a strong message to the individuals or entities at fault that their behavior has consequences. They can also help the families of the victims pay for necessary expenses to make up for the loss of income or services the late individuals provided. Schedule a consultation with The Roach Law Firm to understand your options for financial relief.