A wrongful death court action claims that the recipient was killed by way of negligence (or different kind of unjust action) on the part of the individual or entity being sued, and that the victim’s survivors are entitled to financial damages because of the the improper conduct.
This type of claim takes a different approach from a normal negligence litigation, which is filed by the person injured for the resulting injuries. Initially under “common law” (the general legal principles passed from England to the us over 100's of years), a wrongful death claim didn't exist considering the reasoning that the claim died with the victim where there was clearly no way to pay them 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 supply pay out for persons who may have been damaged from the death of the victim in addition to an incentive to behave carefully and safely. At this time, all states have some sort of a wrongful death claim action in force.
While state “wrongful death statutes” were drafted independently of each other and are often different, they all go through 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) you will find there's surviving spouse, children, beneficiaries or dependents; and (4) monetary damages have resulted from the victim’s death.
