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Wrongful Death Compensation & Settlements

Financial Recoveries to Help Victims Heal, Find Closure, and Seek Justice

Compensation from wrongful death cases is meant to repay families for the harm, losses, pain, and suffering they’ve endured after losing a loved one to negligence. This wrongful death compensation available can vary from case to case.

Still, certain types of damages are typically included in these settlements and awards, and surviving loved ones (the plaintiffs) generally have to go through a complex process to seek and secure wrongful death compensation.

Sharing more about these awards and settlements, the following elaborates on what’s covered in wrongful death compensation, what it takes to win these recoveries, and how a wrongful death attorney can help.  

Whenever you’re ready for confidential, claim-specific answers, simply reach out to a wrongful death lawyer.

What Damages Are Included in Wrongful Death Compensation?

Wrongful death compensation can consist of damages for several types of losses, including (but not limited to):

  • Medical bills
  • Funeral and burial expenses
  • Property damages
  • Loss of household income
  • Lost earning capacity
  • Loss of consortium
  • Loss of inheritance
  • Pain, anguish, and suffering

With compensation for wrongful death lawsuits, it’s also crucial to understand that:

  • You will need to prove each form of loss in order to obtain damages for it: That can mean presenting evidence like medical bills, earnings statements, funeral bills, and more.
  • Damages may be reduced if the decedent was partially at fault: As long as the decedent was not primarily at fault for causing the fatal accident, there can still be an opportunity under Texas law to recover wrongful death compensation.
  • You don’t have unlimited time to seek wrongful death compensation: Texas law only gives you two years to file a wrongful death case, and that’s two years from the date of death (or the date on which the fatal accident occurred).
  • Wrongful death compensation can be secured out of court or via jury trial: While settlements are secured outside of court, cases that go to trial could end up with a court award in favor of the plaintiff.

What Does It Take to Recover in a Wrongful Death Settlement?

In most cases, several factors need to come together — in the right ways and at the right time — for plaintiffs to secure wrongful death settlements. Those may include (and are not limited to):

  • Prompt case filings to avoid running out the statute of limitations
  • Swift, thorough investigations to obtain as much evidence as possible
  • Sufficient, convincing evidence of liability, causation, and damages
  • Qualified expert witnesses to recover, explain, and/or interpret more complex, high-tech, or obtuse evidence
  • Compelling, persuasive arguments, in and/or outside of court, to assert the plaintiff’s case and establish why they are entitled to a wrongful death settlement

An experienced wrongful death lawyer can skillfully take the lead with all of these (and other) dynamic elements, efficiently coordinating them while working to position cases for successful resolutions and the full, fair recoveries families deserve.

What Challenges Do Victims Face Seeking Wrongful Death Compensation?

Different claims can come with their own unique challenges, depending on how the death occurred and who’s at fault for it. Setting that aside for a moment, though, there are a few factors that can present challenges for any wrongful death claim in Texas. Those can include (and are not limited to):

  • Time: As more time passes after a wrongful death, there tends to be an increasing likelihood that key evidence will get lost, erased, or destroyed. If plaintiffs wait too long to move forward with a wrongful death case, they could have a much more difficult time obtaining the compensation they may deserve.
  • Insurance companies: Insurers are skilled at defending against wrongful death cases, and they have a lot of strategies and tricks up their sleeves to try to avoid paying wrongful death compensation. For plaintiffs who are approaching these cases for the first time, that can create an unfair playing field, putting them at a distinct disadvantage, especially as they’re coping with profound grief and loss.
  • A complex, possibly contentious recovery process: It can be a fight to win wrongful death compensation, especially when millions are on the line. That can mean it takes several heated discussions to assert and protect plaintiffs’ rights and to get the at-fault parties and their insurance companies to pay.

An experienced wrongful death attorney can help you anticipate, avoid, and mitigate these (and other) challenges in a case. That can be pivotal to achieving efficient and favorable resolutions.

Do I Need a Lawyer to Secure Wrongful Death Compensation?

You could only have one opportunity to seek wrongful death compensation. And you could be going up against parties who are experienced at fighting these claims and who are 100% intent on winning them. To make sure you’re bringing the strongest possible case — and to give yourself optimal chances of winning — you’re better off retaining a seasoned wrongful death lawyer, instead of pursuing your claim alone.

That’s because an experienced wrongful death attorney will typically understand how to investigate, build, and present these cases. That can level the playing field when you’re dealing with insurance companies who fight wrongful death claims every day. It can also give you the space to grieve while giving you peace of mind that your case is in experienced hands.