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Were you injured in Lawrenceville, GA or its surroundings? Our lawyers can help you recover from your losses. We have decades of combined experience handling local personal injury cases.
Having a local personal injury lawyer with experience with and knowledge of the actual value of your case is vital to ensuring you receive the most compensation possible for your injuries.
Our award-winning personal injury lawyers know the best way to go up against insurance companies because we used to work with them and use that experience to help you win.
Voted Among the Best Personal Injury Firms in Gwinnett County 6 Years in a Row by Gwinnett Magazine
At Spaulding Injury Law, we deeply understand the immense grief and complications that follow the unexpected loss of a cherished family member. The pain is magnified when the death arises from someone else’s negligent or reckless actions. In such heart-wrenching times, you and your family may want to bring the culprits to justice, and our Dacula legal team is ready to take on your case.
Led by Theodore Spaulding, a Georgia-based attorney with an impeccable 10/10 Avvo rating, our team provides reliable legal aid, letting you focus on personal healing and honoring your lost loved one. Our dedication to our clients, mirrored in our 5.0/5.0-star rating, positions us as one of Dacula’s premier legal teams.
What Is a Wrongful Death?
Wrongful deaths can result from incidents like vehicle collisions, slip-and-fall accidents, or medical errors. If such an accident led to your relative’s death, you have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Our wrongful death professionals in Dacula are ready to assess your case. Get your free case evaluation by reaching out to us or through our online contact form.
FAQ
Understanding Georgia’s wrongful death laws can be intricate, leading to inquiries. Below, we’ve prepared answers to your questions.
Who Can File A Wrongful Death Claim In The State Of Georgia?
Primarily, the deceased’s surviving spouse, representing any minor children, is entitled to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Georgia. Any compensation awarded is shared between the spouse and the children, with a minimum of 33% reserved for the spouse.
In the absence of a spouse, the children can initiate the lawsuit. If neither a spouse nor children are available, the deceased’s parents can step forward. If there are no immediate family members, the deceased’s estate can bring forth a wrongful death claim.
Survival Actions vs. Wrongful Death Claims – What’s the Difference?
These two remedies address separate aspects of a death, and understanding their distinctions is important in a Dacula wrongful death context.
A wrongful death lawsuit focuses on the survivors’ losses due to their loved one’s premature death. These losses might encompass potential income the deceased would have provided, companionship loss, emotional distress, and funeral expenses.
Potential Earnings the Departed Would’ve Contributed
To determine the potential earnings the deceased would’ve contributed, forensic economists or financial experts may be called upon. They analyze the deceased’s employment history, educational background, age, skill sets, and the income trajectory they were on at the time of death.
Predictive models, considering inflation and promotion prospects, might be utilized to project potential future earnings. Pay stubs, tax returns, and employment contracts can serve as tangible evidence to establish a baseline for these calculations.
Loss of Companionship
Demonstrating the loss of companionship is more intangible and can be one of the more challenging aspects to quantify. Typically, testimonies from family members, friends, and even professionals such as therapists or counselors are used. They might speak about the close relationship they had with the deceased, shared activities, and the emotional void their absence has created. Photographs, letters, and other personal artifacts can also be presented to showcase the depth and nature of the bond.
Emotional Strain
The emotional turmoil and grief following the wrongful death of a loved one can be profound. To prove this, the survivors might provide personal testimonies expressing their anguish, depression, insomnia, or other psychological effects stemming from the loss. Professional testimonies from psychologists, therapists, or counselors who’ve interacted with the survivors can corroborate the emotional impact. Medical records or prescriptions related to any mental health treatments or medications sought post-incident can also be used as evidence.
Burial Costs
Proving burial costs is a more straightforward process. Receipts and invoices from funeral homes, cemeteries, and other service providers associated with the funeral and burial process are collected. This can include costs related to the casket, burial plot, embalming, funeral service, transportation, and other related expenses. These tangible documents directly illustrate the financial burden the family had to bear as a direct result of their loved one’s untimely death.
Survival Action
In contrast, a survival action relates to damages the deceased could have pursued if they had survived, such as pre-death medical expenses or experienced conscious pain.
Who Bears the Wrongful Death Settlement Cost?
Usually, the insurance company of the at-fault party covers the wrongful death claims, whether it’s auto insurance in fatal car accidents or professional liability in fatal medical mistakes.
However, insurance has its limits. If a settlement surpasses these, the responsible person might have to pay the difference.
What Role Do Wrongful Death Lawyers Perform?
Given wrongful death cases’ complex nature, having legal counsel is crucial. Our Dacula wrongful death team possesses the experience and wisdom to win these cases.
From constructing a compelling case highlighting the defendant’s guilt to collaborating with experts, gathering key pieces of evidence, and managing paperwork, our lawyers provide comprehensive support. If your case goes to court, trust Spaulding Injury Law to uphold your interests, ensuring your side of the story echoes.
Starting a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Dacula
To start a wrongful death lawsuit in Dacula, you must first prove that another’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional act caused your loved one’s death. Collecting evidence to substantiate this claim requires resources like police reports, medical records, witness statements, and expert evaluations.
Once this foundation is set, you can file a lawsuit in a Dacula court. This involves drafting and submitting a claim, identifying the responsible party, detailing the case, and specifying the desired compensation.
The defendant then has a chance to dispute your claims. If they oppose, the lawsuit may progress to the discovery phase, where both parties gather more evidence, interview witnesses, and hone their arguments. If a settlement isn’t reached, the case proceeds to trial, and a Dacula judge or jury delivers the verdict.
Potential Compensation in a Dacula Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Compensation in a Dacula wrongful death lawsuit can be categorized into economic and non-economic damages.
Economic Damages
Termed “special damages,” they cover quantifiable fiscal losses tied to the death.
- Medical bills: This encapsulates medical expenses linked to the event resulting in death, ranging from immediate emergency care to surgeries, treatments, or drugs before the person’s demise.
- Funeral and interment expenses: The costs tied to funeral rites, burial, or cremation can be sizable and are recoverable in a wrongful death claim in Sugar Hill.
- Lost potential earnings: This concerns the income the departed might have yielded had they lived their full life expectancy. Assessing this involves considering age, health, anticipated lifespan, occupation, abilities, and earning capacity at death.
- Loss of benefits: If the departed offered benefits like health coverage or retirement perks, these lost benefits might be claimable.
Non-Economic Damages
Labeled “general damages,” these cater to intangible losses.
- Emotional trauma: This encompasses the psychological torment and grief suffered by survivors due to the passing. It could span sorrow, stress, depression, insomnia, and other mental and emotional afflictions.
- Loss of company or consortium: This compensates for the loss of affection, care, and intimacy that the departed provided. For spouses, it can pertain to lost affection and intimacy. For parents, it represents the loss of guidance and nurturing they’d have given their children.
- Reduced quality of life: This captures the detrimental impacts on survivors’ life enjoyment, including their capacity to partake in activities or relish pleasures they enjoyed before the death.
- Deceased’s pain before death: If the departed didn’t pass away instantly and suffered pain before their death, compensation can be sought for this suffering.
Due to the intricacies of determining these compensatory values in a Dacula wrongful death case, consulting an experienced local attorney is necessary. Spaulding Injury Law can direct you in ensuring you claim all rightful compensation.
Time is of the Essence for Your Lawsuit
Swift action is necessary when filing a wrongful death lawsuit in Dacula. Georgia’s statute of limitations typically allows two years from the death date to begin a wrongful death case.
Procrastinating might forfeit your legal claim to compensation.
Exceptions do exist, so consulting a Dacula lawyer as soon as possible is recommended. A timely response can be the key to protecting your rights following a tragedy.
Hire a Dacula Wrongful Death Attorney
Hiring a Dacula wrongful death lawyer from Spaulding Injury Law is cost-free. We operate on a contingency basis, meaning our fees come from your settlement or verdict. If no compensation is won, you owe no attorney fees. This means there is no upfront cost to you. You have nothing to lose by reaching out to Spaulding Injury Law for a free case consultation and representation for your Dacula wrongful death claim.
If you or a relative have been impacted by a wrongful death incident in Dacula, we urge you to contact our wrongful death team. Rely on Spaulding Injury Law to fight for your case, equipping it with insight, dedication, and experienced legal tactics.
Complete our online form for a complimentary case review. Allow Spaulding Injury Law to be your guiding light during these challenging times, delivering you and your loved ones the empathy you deserve.
Visit Our Car Accident Office in Dacula County, GA
We help victims inside the Gwinnett County Area and our firm is conveniently located near Dacula County. We have an office in Lawrenceville at 223 Scenic Hwy S #202 Lawrenceville, GA