Yes, you can file a claim against someone who was killed in the same accident that took your loved one. You and your family would file a claim against the at-fault person’s estate to seek help with paying funeral costs and leftover medical bills, and replacing the victim’s income that had supported family members.
To find out who is eligible to file and who should receive support, take advantage of a free case consultation with a Bakersfield wrongful death lawyer. We want to sit down with families to make sure they understand their rights and the best options for earning justice and complete support.
When You Should Have a Lawyer for Your Wrongful Death Case
Wrongful death cases generally involve a lot of money and become complex quickly. They grow in complexity when the at-fault party has also passed away. With these high stakes, insurers fight even harder to avoid accepting liability, and may even try to blame an innocent victim for what happened.
It’s also perhaps the most difficult time in your life and your family’s life. You may be vulnerable and distraught, and, understandably, have trouble making clear decisions. It can be a bad time to face off against insurers who will be working against your family and trying to limit the support you all receive.
A lawyer is a safeguard for families facing off against these types of challenges in the middle of an already challenging time. A skilled lawyer would fully investigate a deadly accident and make sure the evidence couldn’t be ignored or used as an excuse to reject a claim.
Generally, families will earn more support with the help of a lawyer in most wrongful death cases.
These are a few of the situations where a lawyer can help your family earn more:
- When an insurance company for the at-fault person doesn’t offer you enough to cover the family’s damages
- When the at-fault person’s estate hires their own lawyers
- What an at-fault estate denies blame
- When an insurer refuses to provide support for the emotional trauma your family has been through
- When estate management for the person at fault complicates a wrongful death claim
Families Can Learn More in a Free, No Obligation Wrongful Death Case Consultation
Grieving family members may still wonder if they have a case or not and what a wrongful death claim may be worth. They may wonder if they can hold someone who was killed in an accident liable for the consequences.
To get answers, families can set up a free, no-obligation wrongful death case consultation. This case review with Maison Law Accident & Injury Attorneys of Bakersfield is always confidential, and it’s available to all family members after a Kern County accident. We can help family members seek assistance even if they live in another area of California or in another state.
Filing a Claim if Your Loved One Is Killed in an Accident that Also Kills the Person At Fault
A frightening accident can often threaten the lives of several people at once. In some cases, the person who’s negligence or recklessness caused a mishap can also lose their lives. This unique situation can confuse families about how to seek support after losing a loved one in that same accident.
Often, these circumstances will play out in a traffic accident on busy roads like Highway 99 or Brundage Lane. A head-on collision or a rear-end impact can put the occupants of two vehicles (or more) suddenly at risk.
The evidence may point to one driver’s mistake, perhaps becoming distracted and veering across a yellow line. That driver can be held accountable.
- Filing a claim with the at-fault party’s insurer: If the deceased at-fault party had insurance, families would usually file a claim with the insurer. If this is the case, the insurer would usually be able to settle the case separately, and families wouldn’t have to wait for estate settlement to earn support.
- Filing a claim with the estate: Families may have to file a claim against the at-fault person’s estate, especially if they had no insurance coverage. Support would probably be held up until the estate could be settled.
Families may feel conflicted about filing a claim against someone who is deceased, but that’s not the way to think about it. A wrongful death claim would still usually be handled by the at-fault person’s insurance provider. It’s why people pay insurance premiums…to help victims (or their family members) recover.
The Support Families Should Expect in a Wrongful Death Claim Settlement
Families must seek help with the immediate financial damages they’ll face. They must also focus on securing as much support for the future as possible. Those handling a wrongful death claim must ensure family members always have a place to live and never have to worry about how they’ll pay normal monthly expenses.
Of course, families trusting their cases to an experienced lawyer don’t have to waste time worrying about these factors.
A skilled attorney works to secure these benefits and more for family members:
Economic Damages:
- The full cost of a funeral service, a casket and burial.
- Support for the loss of the victim’s paychecks that may have been used to support a spouse, children, and others each month.
- Support to pay hospital bills and emergency response fees left behind by a victim.
Non-Economic Damages:
- Support to help families cope with the emotional loss they’ll experience at important life events such as weddings and holiday gatherings.
- Support for the sense of love, guidance, and protection that family members will no longer be able to count on.
- Support for household duties and child care assistance that is no longer possible.
- Support for a loss of intimacy between spouses or domestic partners.
- Support for the special moments in life that must now occur without a precious loved one, such as graduations, holidays, and the birth of children.
We have more information posted on who can file a wrongful death claim in California.
Contact a Wrongful Death Lawyer in Bakersfield
If you have lost a family member and someone’s carelessness was to blame, contact us to schedule a free consultation. It’s a confidential, no-obligation review of your case with a real, local attorney.
We never want to see Bakersfield families left to struggle with financial issues when they should be allowed to grieve their loss in peace. Let us make sure you receive everything needed for your family to rebuild their lives.
Families in mourning don’t need to worry about how they’ll pay a lawyer. Maison Law Accident & Injury Lawyers of Bakersfield only gets paid if we win the case for your family. Your family isn’t charged if the case fails. After a successful case, our attorney’s fee comes out of the settlement check that an insurer must write for your family.