How Hard Is It to Prove Wrongful Death?

When you lose a loved one to an unnecessary, untimely death, loss piles upon loss. You are left without your loved one, without justice, and without the financial and emotional support your loved one supplied to you and your household. Filing a wrongful death claim is one way to recoup some of your losses.

When you partner with a Los Angeles wrongful death lawyer from Venerable Law, you can count on receiving compassionate support and fierce legal advocacy. As you seek justice and compensation for the damage caused by your loved one’s death, your attorney will manage all legalities so you can put your energy into healing.

Wrongful Death Claims Explained

If a person is injured because of someone else’s negligent or intentional act, California gives the victim the right to seek compensation from the offending party through a personal injury claim. When a victim dies because of the offender’s act, surviving family members may have grounds to pursue justice for the victim and secure compensation for the losses following their loved one’s death through a wrongful death claim. California Law §377.60 codifies this right. 

Compensation families may receive from a successful wrongful death claim include:

• End-of-life expenses for the victim, such as funeral and burial costs
• The amount of their loved one’s future earnings and other job benefits
• Financial acknowledgment of their loved one’s pain and suffering
• Financial acknowledgment of the surviving families’ loss of companionship and support from their loved one

Often, “survival action” claims are brought along with wrongful death claims. Survival actions apply when victims are injured by the initial accident, but death is not immediate. Successful survival action claims can recover the victims’ related medical expenses, lost wages, and property damage under California Law §377.30.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?

Not just anyone can file a wrongful death claim after a victim’s death. Parties eligible to file under California’s wrongful death law include the victims:

• Surviving spouse
• Domestic partner
• Children
• Grandchildren if the victim’s children are deceased
• Other minor children who depended on the victim for at least 50% of their financial support, such as step-children
• Others with entitlement to the victim’s property under California’s intestate succession laws 

Requirements for Proving a Wrongful Death Claim

For a wrongful death claim to be successful, the claimant must prove the at-fault party’s negligence was truly the cause of the victim’s death. Finding and presenting evidence to prove this claim is challenging. For the best outcome to your case, partner with a California wrongful death attorney from Venerable Law. 

Understanding Elements of Negligence

Claimants in wrongful death cases face the same requirements for proving negligence as those filing personal injury claims. There are four elements of negligence to prove. These elements are:

• Duty of Care: The at-fault party must have owed the victim a legal duty of care to preserve the victim’s safety. For example, anyone operating a motor vehicle owes all others on the road a duty of care to follow the rules of the road and avoid dangerous driving behaviors
• Breach of Duty: The at-fault party failed to uphold their duty of care, perhaps by driving while impaired
• Causation: The at-fault party’s breach of duty caused the accident or event that injured or killed the victim
• Damages: The death of the victim led to quantifiable damages

Gathering Evidence to Prove Negligence

Knowing what evidence to look for, where to find it, and how to present it are not skills those without a legal background typically have. And when those needing that evidence are grief-stricken and frantically trying to adjust to life without their loved one, simply getting through each hour of the day is a challenging enough task. The team of wrongful death attorneys at Venerable Law knows what to do and will handle evidence-gathering for you.

Your attorneys will pursue evidence from every possible avenue, including:

• Eyewitness accounts
• Security or traffic-camera footage
• Physical evidence from the accident scene
• Photos of the accident scene
• Input from accident reconstructionists and other experts
• Input from your loved one’s medical team or other medical experts
• Testimonies from family members affected by the victim’s death

Level of Difficulty for Proving Wrongful Death

Those pursuing wrongful death claims often want to know how difficult it will be to prove the claim. Each wrongful death case is different. The level of difficulty in proving your case depends on the circumstances of the event leading to the victim’s death and your lawyer’s skill.

Case Circumstances

Some wrongful death cases come with obvious evidence of the at-fault party’s negligence and an abundance of evidence to prove it. For example, the victim may have been shot by a fleeing robber, with the event captured on security cameras. Or, the victim may have been hit by a drunk driver while crossing the street at a crosswalk in the presence of multiple witnesses.  

Other cases require more digging to produce evidence or may leave more room for the at-fault party to offer defenses. Perhaps the victim suffered a deadly brain injury after slipping on the wet floor of a shopping mall. If the victim was talking on the phone or otherwise distracted at the time of the fall, the property owner may claim the victim contributed to their own unfortunate death by not watching where they were going.

Lawyer Ability

Identifying the at-fault party in a wrongful death claim and then proving that the party’s negligence takes knowledge, experience, and the ability to implement innovative legal strategy. The team at Venerable Law has these requirements covered. We have comprehensive knowledge of California’s wrongful death laws, experience negotiating settlements and, when needed, litigating wrongful death claims, and develop creative, specific strategies for each individual case.

You Can Trust Us to Work and Fight Hard for You

Losing a loved one is always tragic. Losing a loved one to a preventable, wrongful death only intensifies the tragedy. Surviving family members are left in emotional chaos as they grieve their loved one and the injustice of the death. Venerable Law is here to help families heal–as much as possible–by fighting for justice for their loved ones and fighting to restore the financial stability of those left behind. A Los Angeles wrongful death lawyer from our team is ready to get to work. Please contact us today.