Garden City Wrongful Death Lawyers

When a deadly accident happens, it has a devastating effect on everyone around the victim, with the negative aftereffects lasting for years or even decades. The loved ones of the victim must deal with the heavy burdens of grief and loss. A deadly accident can also have lasting financial repercussions for surviving family members. Dealing with all of this is even more difficult when the victim is killed due to someone else’s negligence.

In Kansas, Garden City wrongful death lawyers fight to hold the responsible parties accountable for a deadly accident. A wrongful death lawsuit is filed to recover compensation from individuals or organizations who are responsible for someone losing their life. Compensation for damages and losses might include mental trauma, depression, anxiety, loss of the victim’s income, loss of emotional support, any pain and suffering the victim may have endured before their death, medical costs, and funeral expenses.

How Will an Attorney Help a Garden City Wrongful Death Case?

For many people coping with the loss of a loved one, the last thing they want to do is deal with legal matters. However, our Garden City wrongful death lawyers can help provide comfort and support during this difficult time.

Our attorneys have an understanding of what surviving loved ones are going through, having experience with all different sorts of tragedies. We can offer comfort and support, along with legal services. Through a wrongful death lawsuit, family members can start to overcome the material and emotional losses connected with a tragic accident.

It is understandable that some people might be hesitant to file a claim. The idea of a lawsuit might conjure up images of intense courtroom battles that stretch out over the course of years. However, many wrongful death lawsuits never make it to trial. Often, wrongful death claims are settled with an insurance company in a fairly straightforward manner. This helps to avoid additional anguish associated with drawn out legal battles.

Our wrongful death lawyers are well-equipped to fight for surviving family members. In addition to experience with these difficult matters, we also have a network of experts and investigators who work to support a claim and identify any liable parties. We will reconstruct an accident, accurately describe injuries and damages, calculate economic losses, and identify the cause of death. All of this work helps to get surviving loved ones the compensation they need to move forward with their lives.

There are several different types of legal actions that can be filed after someone has died due to someone else’s negligence:

• Wrongful death claim. Under Kansas law, a wrongful death claim can be filed by surviving family members to recover compensation for damages, such as mental anguish and loss of income.
• Survival action. When someone suffers serious injuries, continues to live for a period of time, and then ultimately passes away from those injuries, the person’s estate can file a survival action to compensate for the pain and suffering they endured before passing away.
• Wentling damages. Our Garden City wrongful death lawyers can file a claim for the loss of services, guidance, care, and protection that the deceased individual would have provided. In Kansas, these losses are commonly referred to as Wentling damages.

Common Causes of Wrongful Death Claims

Under Kansas law, a wrongful death claim can be filed when someone is killed by a negligent individual or organization. These claims can be brought for all different types of accidents.

Motor Vehicle Accidents

In 2021, more than 90,000 vehicles were involved in traffic accidents, and 424 people were killed in these accidents, according to the Kansas Department of Transportation. The agency also said that driver inattention was the No. 1 cause of motor vehicle accidents. If an inattentive driver caused a fatal crash, they could be held liable in a wrongful death lawsuit.

Semi-Truck Accidents

When a large semi-truck gets into an accident, the forces that are generated can cause serious injury and death. Many different parties can be responsible for these accidents, and our experienced attorneys understand how to investigate these accidents to hold the correct parties responsible.

Farming Accidents

Modern agriculture uses a lot of heavy machinery, and farming accidents can be particularly brutal on the victims. If an accident is caused by a defective or malfunctioning machine, the manufacturer can be held responsible.

Industrial and Construction Accidents

Employers are expected to follow OSHA and other safety standards in order to keep their employees safe. However, it is far too common for companies to take shortcuts when it comes to safety. If a deadly workplace accident is caused by a company not following safety standards, the company can be held responsible through a wrongful death lawsuit.

Motorcycle Accidents

Of all the people driving on the road, motorcyclists are the most vulnerable. A small mechanical malfunction or one wrong move by another motorist can lead to a deadly motorcycle accident.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Accidents

Motor vehicles must share the road with pedestrians and bicyclists. If a driver acts irresponsibly and hits a bicyclist or pedestrian, there is a greater chance that bicyclists or pedestrians will be killed because they lack the protection that the driver has in their car.

Nursing Home Neglect

When a senior citizen moves into an assisted living facility, their family members trust that the facility will be responsible for caring for their loved one. Sadly, nursing home neglect is all too common. It can also result in an untimely death. Our attorneys can enlist the help of medical experts to establish that neglect was responsible for the death of a nursing home resident.

Statute of Limitations for Filing a Garden City Wrongful Death Case

The statute of limitations for a wrongful death lawsuit is the length of time that a party has to file a lawsuit before the right to file is forfeited. In Kansas, surviving family members have two years from the date of death to file a lawsuit. That being said, it is usually best to file a wrongful death lawsuit as soon as possible. Over time, evidence can become destroyed or lost, and witnesses will be less able to recall the important details. Therefore, it’s a good idea for surviving family members in Kansas to consult with our Garden City wrongful death lawyers at their earliest convenience. Our legal team can act quickly to preserve any evidence and interview witnesses.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Kansas?

Generally speaking, surviving family members and the estate of the deceased have the legal right to file a wrongful death claim. In Kansas, you must be an heir-at-law to receive compensation for a wrongful death claim. This is a person who inherits or has a right of inheritance to the property of the deceased individual. These people can include:

• A surviving spouse
• Children
• Parents
• Grandparents
• Siblings

It’s not uncommon for multiple heirs-at-law to argue over entitlement to compensation from a wrongful death claim. Sometimes, different heirs will get separate legal representation to pursue their own individual claims. It is almost always best for all of the heirs-at-law to remain united under a single legal representation when bringing a wrongful death claim, one reason being because it cuts down on potential legal fees.

Compensation You Can Recover

The size of compensation recovered in a wrongful death lawsuit can range from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. This amount depends on many different factors, from the amount of insurance coverage a company has to the nature of the deadly accident. Kansas laws cap the size of compensation for a wrongful death lawsuit, but our experienced attorneys understand how to maximize a settlement or compensation awarded by a court.

In order to recover compensation, a plaintiff must establish the four legal elements for proving negligence.

Duty of Care

The first step towards proving negligence is establishing that the defendant had a legal duty to act or refrain from acting in a particular way. For example, the driver has to follow all laws and control their vehicle in a way that would be reasonably expected. If a driver saw children playing on a sidewalk, the driver would be expected to drive defensively in case one of the children suddenly ran into the road.

Breach of Duty

Once the duty of care has been established, the next step is proving that the defendant breached that duty by acting in a way that isn’t reasonably prudent. Essentially, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant acted in an unreasonably irresponsible manner. So, if a driver has a responsibility to watch out for pedestrians in a crosswalk and accelerates through the crosswalk while people are inside it, that could be considered a breach of duty of care.

Causation

The plaintiff bringing a wrongful death claim must next show that the defendant’s breach of duty directly led to injuries. If someone acted irresponsibly but didn’t cause any harm, then those actions don’t fit the legal definition of liability. Making a direct connection between actions and injuries is critical to establishing a legal claim.

A critical part of proving causation involves showing the defendant could have reasonably expected that their actions would cause an injury. If a defendant’s actions led to a series of random events that ultimately caused the injuries, then it would be difficult to prove that the defendant was acting in a way that was negligent.

Damages Were Suffered

If someone was killed in an accident, then establishing that injuries were suffered is pretty straightforward. It’s also easy to show financial damages such as medical bills, funeral costs, and lost income.

Proving damages is more difficult when those damages are somewhat abstract. For example, plaintiffs can recover much more compensation if they can prove the victim endured significant pain and suffering before they passed. This requires evaluating medical records and proving that the victim was consciously suffering pain. Our wrongful death attorneys often bring in experts to establish more abstract forms of damages and will refer to past cases to determine financial compensation.

While a plaintiff’s legal team will work to establish these four elements, the defendant’s legal team will work to disprove them. For example, a defendant’s team might bring in automobile experts to show that the car accident was caused by mechanical failure and not by the driver acting irresponsibly. Or, a defendant’s legal team might bring in medical experts to show that the victim did not have pain and suffering before they passed away.

Bretz Injury Law’s Garden City Wrongful Death Attorney Will Fight for Your Rights

If your family has recently suffered the loss of a loved one, please know that you have our deepest condolences. At Bretz Injury Law, we have far too much experience with tragedy, and we know this can be an incredibly difficult time for surviving loved ones.

We also know how difficult it can be to move forward after the sudden, unexpected death of someone. Because of this, we are dedicated to fighting hard when it comes to wrongful death claims in Kansas. Our team of Garden City wrongful death lawyers have the experience and network of experts to ensure that your wrongful death claim will be successful.

Unfortunately, insurance companies will fight your claim every step of the way, and they have significant resources to prevent you from recovering the compensation that you desperately need. These companies have strong legal teams that look out for the company, not accident victims. Because of this, you need strong representation from Bretz Injury Law. Contact us today to find out how our legal experts can offer a sympathetic ear, support in your time of need, and legal assistance.

Contact us today to schedule a free, confidential case evaluation, or simply call our law office at 620-RESULTS