Hutchinson Wrongful Death Lawyers
Losing a loved one unexpectedly is one of the worst situations one can be asked to endure, and the situation can be even worse if a loved one lost their life due to someone else’s negligence or wrongdoing.
If you recently lost a loved one, you have our deepest condolences. This is a difficult and confusing time for anyone. It is hard to be certain if your loved one lost their life due to negligence or wrongdoing. If careless or negligent actions led to the fatal incident, this situation may qualify for a wrongful death claim.
Under Kansas law, the wrongful death claim can be brought if the decedent would have survived if it weren’t for the actions or inactions of a certain party. In Hutchinson, a wrongful death lawyer can help you work through a potential claim and find out if you can recover compensation on behalf of your departed loved one.
Common Causes of Wrongful Death Claims
Sadly, wrongful death claims are all too common, and they often derive from similar situations. Causes of wrongful death lawsuits vary from auto accidents to premises liability.
Auto Accidents
If you regularly drive a car, the odds are against you when it comes to being involved in an accident. According to one news report, the average driver gets in an accident once every 18 years. Unfortunately, these accidents can result in a fatality.
Many fatal accidents are the result of unfortunate random events. However, some fatal accidents are the result of reckless or negligent behavior behind the wheel. If a driver doesn’t obey the laws and their actions cause a fatal accident, that driver could be subject to a wrongful death lawsuit.
Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycles are thrilling to ride, but they don’t provide the same level of protection as passenger vehicles. As a result, motorcycle accidents tend to be more serious, especially for riders. If a driver suddenly pulls out in front of a motorcycle, causing a fatal crash, that driver could be found liable in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Semi-Truck Accidents
The massive forces involved in a semi-truck accident can easily cause fatal injuries. These accidents can lead to wrongful death lawsuits when they were caused by negligent behavior, such as a trucking company failing to regularly inspect their vehicles as mandated by law. The trucking industry is highly regulated, and thorough documentation is mandatory.
Plaintiffs in a wrongful death lawsuit should review documentation to see if all regulations were followed. Wrongful death attorneys can also check a semi-truck’s data recorder to reveal the actions a driver took just before an accident occurred.
Workplace Accidents
From restaurant kitchens to construction sites, workplaces can be dangerous and employers are responsible for ensuring that their workers face as little risk of injury as possible. Unfortunately, some employers cut corners when it comes to safety training and safety measures. For their part, workers are under pressure to be productive and not rock the boat. The result can be a workplace that is more dangerous than it should be and an increased risk of deadly workplace accidents.
Fatal workplace accidents are more common in some industries compared to others. For example, the construction industry tends to have a higher rate of fatal accidents due to dangerous working conditions, power tools, and heavy machinery.
Product Liability
When you pay good money for a product, you expect a certain level of quality. Needless to say, you also expect that product to be safe. Unfortunately, far too many products are defective to the point they cause injuries. In some situations, these injuries can lead to death, especially when the products in question are medications or medical devices.
Bad products can cause injury due to poor design, manufacturing flaws, damage from shipping, or improper warnings. If a product has one of these types of defects and the defect causes fatal injuries, the company or companies behind the fatal defect could be held liable in a wrongful death lawsuit. For example, a medication could cause an unexpected, fatal allergic reaction, and the company behind the medication could be held responsible.
For a company to be held liable, it is important that the product was used as intended or used in a way that might be expected from any reasonable person. For example, if a product marketed as a vegetable steamer was used to steam fish or dumplings and that steamer leaked toxic chemicals into the food, the company that made the steamer could potentially be held liable.
Premises Liability
Property owners are responsible for ensuring that their premises are properly maintained and free of injury risk. If you own a plot of land, and someone is killed by walking through that plot, you could be held liable. Common examples of liability issues include icy walkways, structural issues in old buildings, missing guardrails, and unstable flooring.
The issue of premises liability can also come up when someone drowns in a swimming pool. People who own pools are responsible for ensuring that they are used safely. Swimming pools are also known as an “attractive nuisance,” which is a feature on a property that can attract small children who don’t understand the risks it poses.
Under the attractive nuisance doctrine, people who own a pool could be held liable for a child drowning even if that child was trespassing at the time. Therefore, pool owners must put up fences and other barriers to keep out uninvited guests of any age.
Assault
Anger and violence are part of being human, but we are expected to keep these parts of our humanity in check. When anger and violence lead to a deadly assault, the person behind the assault could be found liable in a wrongful death lawsuit.
A wrongful death lawsuit can be filed alongside criminal charges, and this often happens in situations involving homicide. Unlike being found guilty in a criminal case, a defendant does not need to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to be found liable in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Kansas?
Wrongful death claims are typically brought by surviving close family members, with the surviving spouse or children being the most common. That being said, a wrongful death claim can be filed in Kansas by anyone who is eligible to inherit property from the decedent. These “heirs-at-law” are eligible to receive compensation from any settlement or court award, regardless of whether they joined in the lawsuit.
Every wrongful death case is different, and sometimes the plaintiff isn’t a traditional one. In some situations, it may be more suitable for a grandparent, aunt, or sibling to act as the plaintiff in a wrongful death lawsuit. If the decedent had a will, then the court might have designated the executor of the will as the plaintiff. Other heirs-at-law can join a wrongful death lawsuit after it has been filed, and any compensation recovered would still be distributed among all of the heirs-at-law.
In some situations, the defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit is also deceased. This situation is most likely to occur during car accidents in which the driver who caused the accident also passed away. When this occurs, accident victims can bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the estate of the party said to be responsible.
How Will an Attorney Help a Hutchinson Wrongful Death Case?
Given all the complexities that can be associated with a wrongful death case, it is a good idea to enlist the services of a wrongful death attorney.
An experienced attorney can help with two important parts of a wrongful death claim. First, they can help to identify the person, company, or other party that was directly connected to the wrongful death of an individual. Second, an attorney can help prove the actions or inaction of the identified party directly led to the victim losing their life. An attorney can show that the victim would have otherwise lived a healthy life if the party in question had acted differently.
As previously stated, an attorney does not need to prove that an identified party was guilty of wrongdoing beyond a reasonable doubt. A wrongful death lawyer only needs to show that a defendant is liable for a wrongful death “by a preponderance of the evidence,” which is a much lower bar than finding someone guilty in a criminal trial. In some situations, a person or company that seemingly caused the death of someone may find themselves in both a criminal and civil trial for their actions.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for Filing a Hutchinson Wrongful Death Case?
Statute of limitations is the legal term for the deadline by which legal action must be taken after an event takes place. In criminal law, statute of limitations applies to the length of time that law enforcement has to press charges after a crime was allegedly committed. In civil law, statute of limitations refers to the length of time that a party has to take legal action after suffering damages or injuries.
The statute of limitations for filing a wrongful death claim varies from state to state. In Kansas, it is usually two years from the date of a victim’s death. After two years, heirs-at-law forfeit the right to take legal action against a person or company they feel is responsible for the death of their loved one. In some situations, however, courts have granted an extension on this statute of limitations. For example, courts have extended the statute for situations involving minor children who wish to take legal action once they become adults.
A Hutchinson wrongful death lawyer will likely advise heirs-at-law to take action as quickly as possible after the death of a loved one. Over time, evidence of negligence can be lost, and witness memories can fade. Therefore, it is usually best to file a wrongful death lawsuit at the earliest possible time.
Compensation You Can Recover in a Wrongful Death Claim
The compensation recovered in a wrongful death lawsuit typically comes from the defendant’s insurance provider. This is especially true when the defendant is a company, organization, government authority or agency.
Compensation is primarily designed to cover two different types of damages related to a wrongful death: economic and non-economic. Economic damages are direct financial losses, such as medical bills, lost wages, and funeral expenses.
Non-economic damages are less tangible but not less important to the victims. This latter type of damage includes things like the loss of companionship or guidance that the deceased would have provided to a spouse or children.
The amount of compensation available can vary significantly from case to case. Attorneys with experience in these matters can provide guidance on how much your claim is worth based on who your loved one was and the circumstances surrounding their death.
Let Our Team of Hutchinson Wrongful Death Lawyers Fight for You
At Bretz Injury Law, we understand that the sudden death of a loved one can be deeply traumatic, and we always extend our deepest condolences to family members.
Our team of Hutchinson lawyers has extensive experience with wrongful death claims. We not only provide expert legal services with a sympathetic ear and guidance on how to move forward, but also have a proven track record of success.
At Bretz Injury Law, you’re not just a number on a case file. We keep our firm intentionally small to give more personalized service during difficult times. Contact us today to find out how our legal experts can support you in your time of need.
