A wrongful death suit claims that the victim was killed as a consequence of negligence (or different kind of unjust actions) on the part of the person or entity being sued, knowning that the victim’s survivors have entitlement to financial damages because of the the improper conduct.
This particular claim is different from a normal negligence lawsuit, which happens to be filed by the person injured for the resulting damages. Traditionally under “common law” (the general legal principles passed from England to the United States over 100's of years), a wrongful death claim didn't exist based upon the reasoning that the claim died with the victim where there's no way to pay him for damages. The surviving family members then could not claim damages from the person who caused the victim's death. Throughout the years, states have passed wrongful death laws that supply compensation for persons who may have been damaged from the death of the victim as well as an incentive to act carefully and safely. These days, all states have some type of a wrongful death claim action in force.
While state “wrongful death statutes” were drafted independently of one another and are often different, each of them adhere to the same general principles. A wrongful death claim generally involves four elements: (1) the death was caused, in whole or part, by the conduct of the defendant; (2) the defendant was negligent or strictly liable for the victim’s death; (3) there's a surviving spouse, children, beneficiaries or dependents; and (4) monetary damages have resulted from the victim’s death.
