Funeral Costs after Wrongful Death
Accidents can happen at any time. Although some accidents could result in injuries that are only mild to moderate, some accidents could lead to severe injuries that can be life-threatening. When an innocent person suddenly loses his or her life as a direct result of an accident, surviving family members are suddenly faced with the expenses associated with funeral and burial services.
Did a member of your family die in a personal injury incident? If so, you might be entitled to sue and recover compensation. You could be compensated for any out-of-pocket costs that you had to cover for funeral and burial costs. If you are interested in learning more about who pays for funerals after any sort of wrongful death associated with a personal injury accident, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance immediately.
What is Wrongful Death?
Wrongful death occurs when the negligent actions of a party or entity directly leads to the death of a person. Wrongful death can occur in any sort of incident, including auto accidents (such as drunk driver accidents), motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, slip and falls, trip and falls, etc. Was the death of the member of your family associated with the negligence of another party or entity?
To establish negligence in a wrongful death claim, the following must be true:
- A party or entity owed a duty of care
- A party or entity breached the duty of care owed
- The breach of duty resulted in an incident
- The incident resulted in the victim’s death
- If the elements listed above are present, then surviving family members could pursue wrongful death claims.
You Can Sue and Recover Compensation
Without a doubt, you could be eligible to file a wrongful death claim. You could sue for the wrongful death claim of a member of your family, given that the death was associated with the negligent actions of a party or entity. Based on the details surrounding your claim, you could be eligible to recover monetary compensation for some of the following:
- Medical expenses incurred before the victim’s death
- Loss of income or loss of financial support from the decedent
- Loss of consortium, or the lost ability to have a normal, family relationship with the decedent
- Funeral and burial costs associated with the death services
These are just some of the few categories of compensation that claimants could be eligible to recover if their wrongful death claims are successful. Some people might argue that the recovery of funeral and burial expenses is among the most important.
The truth of the matter is that funeral and burial costs can be extremely expensive. Depending on the choices made by the surviving family, the costs associated with funeral and burial services can vary significantly. In high profile funerals, or funerals when family makes high-end choices, funeral and burial costs can get close to the million-dollar mark. Of course, most funeral and burial expenses are much lower than that. In general, the average costs of funeral and burial costs range from $7,000 to $15,000, with the cost increasing as family make more expenses choices in casket, services, etc.
Most families are not prepared to handle funeral and burial expenses – even more so when there is a sudden death. This means that families often rack up debt trying to cover these expenses. However, upon reaching a successful claim outcome, insurance companies can pay these expenses completely.
If you are interested in learning more about your right to pursue a claim and recover compensation for funeral and burial costs for a drunk driver funeral or any other type of wrongful death funeral, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance.
File Your Claim Quickly
As mentioned above, you could be eligible to pursue a wrongful death claim and fight for compensation. However, you could lose your right to file a lawsuit if you do not take action within the appropriate timeframe. All claims are subject to a statute of limitations. In California, wrongful death claims are subject to a two-year deadline. Therefore, wrongful death claims must be filed within two years. To ensure that you have a thorough understanding of the time that you have to pursue your wrongful death claim, do not hestiate to seek legal assistance.