Personal injury law includes a claim you may have for the loss of a family member who was killed in an accident or died from the negligence of someone else. This is known as a Wrongful Death Claim.   For example, a parent or sibling etc. of the victim may have standing to bring such a claim of wrongful death.

A wrongful death action is a statutory right to sue a person or business responsible for causing a death. A Wrongful Death claim may be brought in any case where the decedent could have brought a lawsuit for damages and injuries caused by the negligence of another person including medical malpractice and product liability cases.

When it comes to wrongful death cases in Santa Clarita, Los Angeles and California at large, damages may be awarded to those who are considered to be survivors of the victim. Survivors generally include the immediate family members of the victim. The wrongful death victim's heirs may be entitled to compensation in the form of money damages for their loss of possible support, loss of companionship, loss of society, grief or sorrow, loss of comfort, loss of consortium, and damages for pain, suffering or disfigurement of the decedent.  This is statury in nature but fairly flexible. 

Also, the damages which can be recovered by the personal representatives of a decedent's estate may include special damages, which were incurred or sustained before death, funeral expenses, and punitive damages, that the decedent would have recovered if he had lived, but do not include damages for pain, suffering or disfigurement of the decedent.  Proving such damages are often very difficult.  It is relatively obvious where a surviving spouse argues he/she lost the earnings capacity of their partner.  However, when it comes to parents and siblings, it is harder to prove the economic loss.  However, there are still the non-economic components of the claim that cannot be ignored.

As a general rule, the death must be caused in whole or in part by the conduct of a negligent defendant and there is a surviving spouse, children, beneficiaries or dependents and monetary damages have resulted from the victims’ death.

Robert Mansour is a Santa Clarita lawyer who can help you get compensated for your car accident or other injury case.  He serves the entire Santa Clarita Valley including Valencia, Canyon Country, Saugus, Newhall, Canyon Country, Castaic, Stevenson Ranch, and surrounding communities