Have you recently suffered the tragic death of a family member because of a fatal accident in Escondido, California? Contact Mission Personal Injury Lawyers. Our experienced and compassionate Escondido wrongful death lawyers can help you take action and demand monetary justice for your loss. Contact our law firm in Escondido, CA at (619) 777-5555 to schedule your free case evaluation.
Since 2010, families in Escondido and throughout Southern California have turned to Mission Personal Injury Lawyers for help during times of unimaginable pain and grief. We fight to make things right for the families we represent. Our results speak volumes, as we’ve forced insurance companies and negligent parties to pay our clients tens of millions in jury awards and private settlements.
Benefit from a team of respected attorneys with 43+ years of combined experience and a 99 percent record of success.
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How Mission Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help After a Fatal Accident in Escondido, CA
The insurance company might seem sympathetic to your loss. However, it will not have your best interests at heart. Adjusters will try to take advantage of you during this very emotionally difficult time in your life. They’ll do anything they can to deny your claim or twist your words and limit your financial payout.
Level the playing field and force fair negotiations by calling our Escondido personal injury lawyers for help.
Our law firm has been named Best of the Bar Law Firm by the San Diego Business Journal for a reason. We take on tough cases, stand up to powerful adversaries, and help our clients achieve life-changing monetary awards.
Now, during your time of grief, we’re here to fight for you, too.
Count on us to:
- Help you understand all of the legal options available to you at this time
- Coordinate a thorough investigation into your loved one’s fatal accident and resulting death
- Enlist the expertise of trusted professionals, including accident reconstructionists, forensic specialists, medical professionals, and financial experts
- Analyze the evidence that can help to establish liability and support a meaningful claim for damages
- Prepare to defend against allegations of your loved one’s contributory negligence
- Utilize smart negotiation tactics to get you a meaningful settlement during conversations with the insurance company and other parties
- Have a successful California trial attorney advocate for you at trial, if necessary
Take this time to grieve and figure out how to move forward with your life. Let our personal injury law firm in Escondido handle your fight for compensation. We work on contingency, so there’s no cost to you unless we win your case.
How Does California Define Wrongful Death?
Wrongful death is defined by the state of California in Section 377.60 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
The statute provides that a wrongful death is the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another.
When a wrongful death occurs, it shifts the right to take civil action for damages from the decedent (victim) to their surviving family member(s) and/or estate.
What Are the Leading Causes of Wrongful Death in Escondido?
Just about any traumatic incident has the potential to be deadly.
At Mission Personal Injury Lawyers, we represent families who have experienced the death of a family member as a result of:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bus accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Uber and Lyft accidents
- Train accidents
- Construction accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Swimming pool accidents
- Boating accidents
- Assault
- Negligent security
- Dog bites
- Medical malpractice
- Birth injury
- Nursing home abuse
- Catastrophic injury, including traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury
Whether your family member was killed in the commission of a crime or due to another person’s negligence, our wrongful death attorneys in Escondido can help you take action. Money might not bring them back, but it can certainly help to reduce financial stress and make life easier for years to come.
Who Has the Right to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in California?
The right to file a wrongful death lawsuit is limited to surviving family members and/or the personal representative of the victim’s estate.
Surviving family members who can initiate a wrongful death action include:
- Spouse
- Putative spouse
- Domestic partner
- Child
- Parent
If the victim has no close surviving family members, other individuals who would be entitled to property under California intestate law reserve the right to file a wrongful death claim. This might include stepchildren, legal guardians, or other family members.
What Types of Damages Are Available to Plaintiffs in a California Wrongful Death Claim?
Wrongful death lawsuits are different from other types of personal injury cases in a lot of different ways. Not only is the right to sue shifted from the victim to another party, but the types of damages that can be awarded are different, too.
That’s because the purpose of a wrongful death lawsuit is to compensate the victim’s family and/or estate, rather than to compensate the victim themself.
Unlike many states, California provides the opportunity for families to recover both economic damages and non-economic damages.
Economic damages can include money for:
- The financial support the victim would have provided over the course of their lifetime
- The value of gifts or benefits that the family would have received from the victim
- The value of household services that the victim would have provided
- Funeral and burial expenses
Even though these damages are for future losses, they’re calculated at the present cash value.
Economic damages make up for the financial burdens associated with a loved one’s death. On the other hand, non-economic damages compensate for the harder-to-value losses family members experience after an unexpected loss.
Non-economic awards can include money for:
- Loss of the victim’s comfort, companionship, love, care, protection, assistance, and moral support
- Loss of enjoyment of a spouse’s sexual relations
- Loss of the victim’s training and guidance
California does not award pain and suffering damages in wrongful death cases.
However, pain and suffering damages can be awarded in related survival actions. In a survival action, the victim’s estate brings a claim to recover compensation to which the victim is entitled because they survived their injuries for a period of time.
Through a survival action, the estate can get money for the victim’s pain and suffering, lost wages incurred before death, and medical expenses. Damages in a survival action are awarded to the estate and distributed pursuant to the victim’s Last Will and Testament or California law.
How Much Is My Escondido Wrongful Death Case Worth?
Every case is different. Many factors will be important when calculating how much money you might be able to recover through a wrongful death action.
- Did the victim survive their injuries before they passed away?
- How old was the victim?
- What was their projected life expectancy before they were killed?
- What was their earning capacity?
- Did they have opportunities for job growth and an increase in income?
- What contributions did the victim provide to the household?
- How close were the victim and the plaintiff?
- What kind of out-of-pocket costs has the family experienced in the wake of the tragedy?
Valuation will be hotly contested during the claims process. Our wrongful death attorneys in Escondido will work hard to make sure that you get every cent you deserve. Call our law office to set up a time to discuss the specific details of your wrongful death case today.
Can Shared Responsibility Impact a Wrongful Death Settlement in Escondido?
Yes. California’s pure comparative negligence statute applies to both personal injury and wrongful death cases. So, if the victim of a fatal accident is deemed negligent, it will affect their family’s ability to recover compensation through a wrongful death claim.
California reduces damages proportionately to fault. Let’s say your family member is killed in a fatal car accident in Escondido. They’re assigned 20 percent of the blame for the crash because they were speeding. As a result, the damages awarded in a related wrongful death claim will be reduced by 20 percent.
It might come as a surprise when the at-fault party or an insurance company tries to blame your loved one for their fatal accident. These are simply tactics designed to shift liability and limit financial payouts. Mission Personal Injury Lawyers will be there to defend your loved one’s reputation, tell their side of the story, and fight to protect your opportunity to recover much-needed compensation.
How Long Do I Have to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in California?
California has a two-year statute of limitations that applies to wrongful death lawsuits.
The clock starts to run on the date of the victim’s death. This could be later than the date of the fatal accident.
You will lose the opportunity to recover damages through a wrongful death claim if you let the statute of limitations expire.
Schedule a Free Consultation With an Experienced Escondido Wrongful Death Lawyer
Focus on moving forward. Focus on remembering the good times with your loved one. Let our Escondido wrongful death attorneys take on your fight for compensation.
When you choose Mission Personal Injury Lawyers, you put a team of award-winning California litigators in your corner. You send a clear message that you’re not backing down without a fight or walking away without the compensation you deserve.
Call our law office in Escondido, CA today to arrange a free, no-obligation consultation. We’re always here to help.
