Wrongful Death Attorneys WV
Death is never an easy subject to come to terms with, especially when it involves those close to you. However, wrongful deaths can be especially difficult, given their nature. Unfortunately, you have no time to waste if you wish to file a lawsuit in response to this tragedy. This is why your first step should be contacting a wrongful death attorney in West Virginia for help.
What Is a Wrongful Death?
A wrongful death refers to any situation where someone dies because of another’s actions or inactions. Wrongful death lawsuits can cover all kinds of accidents including:
- Automobile
- Bus
- Boating
- Airline
- Drowning
It can also be in response to medical malpractice, poisoning, and toxic exposure. This is just the tip of the iceberg though. Faulty products sometimes cost people their lives. Defective medicine can too. Unfortunately, there’s a long list of examples.
Statute of Limitations
Currently the statute of limitations for bringing forth a claim regarding a wrongful death is two years in West Virginia. While that may seem like a lot of time, there may be a number of factors you need to consider before you file suit. For one thing, rushing the lawsuit may mean it gets rejected by a judge before it ever has a chance.
Potential Compensation
If the court rules in your favor, a wrongful death suit can bring about a number of different types of compensation. Although it can be hard to think of money at a time like this, it’s important you recognize that you may need it now more than ever, especially if you were relying on the paycheck brought in by a spouse.
Loss of Future Earnings
That’s one element wrongful death damages can cover. The court will recognize that, had the victim not died, they would have probably drawn a paycheck for years to come. On top of that, if you needed to take time off to help your spouse, and lost money because of it, you may be compensated for those losses.
Medical and Funeral Expenses
Even if you weren’t depending on your spouse for money, wrongful death damages can be important for covering certain expenses that were a result of the accident. Like we just touched on, your spouse may have needed a lot of care before they passed away. Medical bills are never affordable.
Funerals are also pretty expensive. If your spouse didn’t yet have life insurance, this bill can be especially brutal if you don’t have any help with it.
Loss of Benefits
Along with their earning potential, medical insurance and other benefits are also no longer part of the picture when someone passes away. This is another matter the courts will consider. Benefits make up a big part of someone’s compensation, so it will be looked on much like their lost earning potential.
Pain and Suffering
Of course, not all compensation comes with dollar signs. This is why a family’s pain and suffering is also something that the courts will cover. While no amount of money can take away the pain of losing someone you love, the law makes it clear that the system will at least try to easy that suffering with damages.
Emotional and Mental Distress
It’s not rare for the loss of someone to cause such a severe pain that the person needs counseling afterward or some other form of medical intervention. This, too, may be a reason the victim’s family is given damages in a wrongful death case.
Without an experienced wrongful death lawyer in West Virginia, you may win your wrongful death case, but not end up with what is rightfully yours. While you may always hurt from losing someone special, that’s no reason to not seek all the damages you deserve.
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