What makes a deadly accident a wrongful death and when can a family sue? When someone is killed because of another’s negligence, the decedent’s surviving family can sue the at-fault party by filing a wrongful death claim, which is a civil lawsuit.
When a wrongful death lawsuit is filed, the bereaved family can seek financial compensation for their losses, such as medical bills, pain and suffering on behalf of the deceased, loss of companionship, the decedent’s lost income, funeral expenses, etc.
Sometimes, a fatal accident will not incur criminal charges and this can be heartbreaking for the decedent’s family. In these cases, a wrongful death suit may be the sole recourse the family has and their only way to seek justice for their loved one.
Some Families Don’t Know Their Legal Options
All too often, someone will die in an auto accident, at an amusement park, in a hotel swimming pool, or even in a freak accident like the one in Florida where a child was killed by an alligator while on Disney property, and the family won’t file a lawsuit because they don’t know their legal rights. They don’t know that they can file a wrongful death lawsuit and the family suffers emotionally and financially as a result of the untimely loss.
The truth is that when someone is killed as a result of someone else’s negligence, in many cases the surviving family can file a lawsuit under South Carolina law. Here are common causes of wrongful death actions in the United States:
- Car and truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Drunk driving accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Drowning accidents
- Construction accidents
- Dangerous drugs (prescriptions)
- Dangerous and defective products
- Defective medical devices
- Accidents on other people’s property (premises liability)
Each state has enacted a statute of limitations or a “deadline” to file a wrongful death claim. In South Carolina, people have three (3) years to file a wrongful death claim under Section 15-3-530 of the South Carolina Code of Laws Unannotated. If your loved one was killed in an accident, we urge you to contact our firm right away to discuss filing a wrongful death lawsuit before the window closes. Otherwise, you lose your right to compensation permanently.