The sudden death of a family member can leave your family in shock. Often, a family experiences financial hardships because of the tragic loss of a spouse, partner, or other provider.
The California wrongful death laws cannot bring back your loved one, but they can help you hold the party responsible for their death liable for damages.
Our award-winning Hollywood wrongful death lawyers at M&Y Personal Injury Lawyers will help you seek justice for your family. We have worked with families and injured parties in Hollywood since 2013. Since then, we have recovered over $400 million in damages for our clients.
The top-rated personal injury lawyers at M&Y Personal Injury Lawyers have more than 100 years of combined legal experience. We’ll use our considerable resources and expertise to get maximum compensation for your injuries.
Call our law firm at (877) 300-4535 to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced wrongful death lawyers in Hollywood, California.
How Our Hollywood Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help You With a Wrongful Death Claim
Parties who cause wrongful deaths and their insurance companies will not admit fault. Instead, they’ll likely fight to keep you from receiving fair compensation for the damages your family sustained after the loss of a loved one.
Unfortunately, your family member is not here to hold them responsible for their actions, but we can help you do that through a wrongful death action.
Our California personal injury lawyers are dedicated advocates for injured individuals. We take on the largest insurance companies and fierce defense law firms to protect the rights of personal injury and wrongful death victims. Our legal team will diligently pursue every party who contributed to the cause of your loved one’s death.
When you hire our top-rated personal injury attorneys in Hollywood, CA, you can expect us to handle all aspects of your case, including:
- Monitoring any criminal cases related to your family member’s death
- Coordinating an independent investigation into the details of the accident or act that caused your loved one’s death
- Identifying all parties who could be responsible for damages
- Gathering evidence and analyzing all data to build a case against the at-fault parties
- Hiring expert witnesses to assist with the case, if needed
- Documenting damages to calculate how much your wrongful death claim is worth
- Negotiating for the maximum value of your claim
- Filing a wrongful death lawsuit and taking your case before a jury when necessary
Losing a loved one is a challenging and traumatic event for your family. However, you are not alone. Our Hollywood wrongful death attorneys at M&Y Personal Injury Lawyers will handle the legal claim so you can focus on your family.
Contact us today to schedule a free case evaluation with a Hollywood personal injury lawyer.
What Is Considered a Wrongful Death Under California Law?
A wrongful death action is a civil action seeking damages for the death of a family member. California Code of Civil Procedure §377.60 defines wrongful death as the death of someone caused by the negligence or wrongful act of another party. Wrongful acts can include intentional torts and criminal offenses.
Examples of personal injury cases that could give rise to a wrongful death lawsuit include, but are not limited to:
- Premises liability claims, including slip and fall accidents
- Motor vehicle accidents, including crashes involving cars, trucks, motorcycles, pedestrians, e-scooters, and bicyclists
- Dog bites and animal attacks
- Workplace accidents
- Medical malpractice
- Product liability claims
- Construction accidents
- Uber & Lyft accidents
- Assaults and gunshots
- Nursing home abuse and neglect
- Train and bus accidents
- Maritime and boating accidents
Our Hollywood wrongful death lawyers at M&Y Personal Injury Lawyers have extensive experience handling all types of wrongful death claims. Someone is available 24/7 to answer questions and schedule a free consultation with an attorney.
What Is the Deadline to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Hollywood, CA?
Typically, the statute of limitations for wrongful death actions is two years from the date of death. If you miss the deadline, the court may dismiss your wrongful death lawsuit.
However, circumstances in your case could pause (toll) the statute of limitations or shorten the time to file a claim. Therefore, the best way to avoid missing a deadline and losing your right to file a claim is to call our office today for your free consultation with a Hollywood wrongful death attorney.
Who Is Eligible to File a Hollywood Wrongful Death Claim?
Only specific family members have the right to file a wrongful death action in California. Typically, the surviving spouse or domestic partner, children, and parents can file a wrongful death claim.
However, other family members could be eligible to file a wrongful death claim in some situations. Additionally, the personal representative of the victim’s estate might have the right to file a legal claim.
What Damages Can I Receive in a Hollywood Wrongful Death Case?
Family members could receive compensation for economic and non-economic damages by filing a wrongful death lawsuit. However, wrongful death damages are not as expansive as the damages in a personal injury case. Likewise, the damages family members receive depend on the facts of the case.
California wrongful death statutes allow family members to claim damages that include:
- Reasonable expenses for cremation, funeral, and burial
- The cost of medical care for the deceased between the date of injury and the date of death
- The loss of financial support the deceased would have contributed to the family had they survived
- A child’s loss of parental guidance and training
- The gifts and benefits that family members would have received had the deceased lived
- Damages for loss of love, care, companionship, moral support, comfort, and protection
- The value of household services the deceased would have contributed to the family
- Loss of consortium for a spouse or domestic partner
Unfortunately, wrongful death damages do not include compensation for the pain, suffering, and mental anguish the family experienced because of the loss of their loved one.
However, if the deceased lived for some time after the injury, a jury could award pain and suffering damages for the deceased. The amount of damages would depend on the facts of the case, such as the injuries your loved one sustained, how long they lived after the accident, and their degree of consciousness during that time.
Estimating the loss of income and support can be challenging. Our legal team can work with financial professionals and other experts to determine a value for these damages. They consider factors such as your loved one’s education, skills, age, anticipated retirement age, experience, and career.
Additionally, some wrongful death actions could result in punitive damages. These damages do not compensate the family for losses. Instead, punitive damages are awarded to punish a defendant for fraud, malice, or oppression.
Our Hollywood personal injury lawyers will carefully analyze all damages your family could receive in a wrongful death action. We’ll work to maximize the amount you receive for a settlement or a jury award.
Can a Family Receive Damages for Wrongful Death If the Deceased Contributed to the Cause of Their Death?
Some states prevent or bar families from receiving compensation for wrongful death damages if their loved one was partially to blame for causing their death. However, California is not one of those states.
Instead, California adopted a pure comparative fault standard. If your loved one contributed to the cause of their death, the compensation you receive in a wrongful death claim could be reduced in proportion to your family member’s level of fault.
For example, suppose a jury awarded your family $750,000 for a wrongful death claim. However, the jury determined your family member contributed to the car crash that resulted in their death by 20 percent.
In that case, you would receive $600,000 of the total jury award. The award would be reduced by 20% for your loved one’s liability for causing the accident.
It is crucial to fight allegations of contributory fault. Insurance companies and defense firms use contributory fault as a defense in many cases. Your loved one is not here to defend themselves against these allegations, so we do that for them.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Hollywood Wrongful Death Lawyer?
We understand you might be concerned about the cost of hiring a California wrongful death attorney. Therefore, we assure you that you can afford to hire our Hollywood personal injury law firm to handle your case.
At M&Y Personal Injury Lawyers, we take cases on a contingency fee basis. Therefore, you pay nothing for legal fees until we recover money for your case. As a result, you can have an experienced personal injury attorney handle your case without worrying about paying a large retainer fee to hire the law firm.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Hollywood Wrongful Death Lawyers
Don’t let an insurance company or at-fault party pressure you to accept a settlement without legal advice. Instead, call us today for a free case review with one of our Hollywood wrongful death attorneys. We are here to protect your best interests as you continue to move forward after the tragic death of a family member.
