A wrongful death suit claims that the victim was killed due to negligence (or different kind of unjust action) on the part of whomever or thing being sued, knowning that the victim’s survivors have entitlement to monetary damages as a result of the improper conduct.
This particular claim differs from a normal negligence litigation, which is filed by the person injured for the resulting damages. Initially under “common law” (the general legal principles passed from England to the us over centuries), a wrongful death claim didn't exist based on the reasoning that the claim died with the victim where there was no way to compensate him for damages. The surviving family members then could not claim damages from the person who caused the victim's death. Through the years, states have passed wrongful death laws that include compensation for persons who may have been damaged from the death of the victim along with an incentive to behave carefully and safely. Nowadays, all states have a version of a a wrongful death claim action in effect.
While state “wrongful death statutes” were drafted separately of one another and are often completely unique, each of them adhere to the same general principles. A wrongful death claim generally comprises 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.
