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Wrongful Death
Charlotte, NC - Personal Injury Attorney
A wrongful death is a death resulting from the wrongful act or negligence of another.
The surviving family in a wrongful death has the legal right to file a personal injury claim to obtain compensation through a personal representative of the estate.
Filing a Wrongful Death Claim
Statute of Limitations
In North Carolina, the statute of limitations for filing a wrongful death claim is two years from the date of death. A statute of limitations is the time limit or deadline set for filing a claim.
Personal Representative
Under the North Carolina wrongful death statute, the legal representative of a decedent's estate may bring a lawsuit against anyone who was responsible for causing the decedent's death. This requires opening an estate and having the clerk formally appoint a personal representative. The surviving family, the spouse, children, parents or siblings may work with an attorney to decide on which family member would best serve as the legal representative in a wrongful death action.
While the legal action would be brought by the representative of the estate with counsel of his or her lawyer, the compensation from the wrongful death suit would not go to the estate, but would be distributed to the heirs of the estate as entitled by law.
Compensation/Recoverable Damages
Damages that may be recovered in a wrongful death claim include compensation for:
- Care, treatment and hospitalization expenses related to the injury resulting in death;
- Decedent's pain and suffering;
- Funeral expenses;
- Loss of the decedent's net income;
- Services, protection, care and assistance the decedent would have provided for the surviving family;
- Society, companionship, comfort, guidance, kindly offices and advice the decedent would have provided;
- Punitive damages, if the decedent's death was caused through malice or willful or wanton misconduct.
Wrongful death claims are often complex with many legal points that are difficult to understand. The Law Offices of Paul Whitfield & Associates will arrange a free consultation with a personal injury attorney to discuss your concerns and offer explanations to help you evaluate the potential of pursuing a wrongful death claim.
In North Carolina, there is a claim for “loss of consortium.” This term is derived from the word “consort.” Serious injuries often result in damage to the relationship you have with your consort (spouse). These can include anger, irritability, depression, sleeping in separate beds or bedrooms, physical disability, impotence, and a world of other factors that could cause damage to the marital relationship as a result of injuries. The law of North Carolina provides for the loss of society, affection, assistance, conjugal fellowship and loss or impairment of sexual relations that occur as a result of serious injuries. Insurance companies never will discuss this issue with you, but it is law, and you may be entitled to compensation for these losses.
Some people think that a wrongful action (a tort) entitles them to receive a large recovery. However, the tort must be coupled with actual provable loss (called "damages" in the law). A serious civil wrongdoing can result in little to no harm or damage, in which case there would be no "big bucks" as compensation.
