Wrongful Death

Wrongful Death FAQs

When an individual dies as the result of an accident, defective product, medical malpractice, or a negligent act, certain survivors may file a wrongful death claim against the responsible party. The objective of a wrongful death claim is to recover compensation for the deceased's medical bills, funeral and burial expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering and loss of their companionship. Brett & Coats, PLLC has been helping Washington State and Canadian families win substantial settlements and awards for more than 33 years.

1. How do I successfully pursue a Wrongful Death claim?
2. Who can file a wrongful death suit?
3. What types of money damages can I recover?
4. How much is my wrongful death claim worth?
5. What should I do immediately to help preserve my claim?
6. How should I select a lawyer to represent me?
7. How much will it cost to hire a lawyer?
8. How does the insurance claim process work?
9. What can I do if the person who caused the injury is uninsured?
10. How can I deal with the immediate bills?
11. How long do I have to file a claim?
12. What types of money damages are allowed for wrongful death?

1. How do I successfully pursue a Wrongful Death claim?

Wrongful death refers to a fatality that occurs because of the negligence or misdeed of another person. Wrongful death is part of the "personal injury" tort family. Personal injury torts hold a person or entity accountable for causing damages to another person. If your loved one died because of another's fault, you must prove prove that the four critical components of negligence exist in your claim:

• the defendant had a duty to the deceased,
• the defendant failed in that duty (breach of duty),
• that the fatality was caused by the defendant's breach of duty, and
• that the survivors are entitled to damages as a result of the loss of their loved one.

A qualified lawyer will immediately obtain all records, witness statements and associated evidence to support your wrongful death claim. In more complicated cases, your attorney may hire licensed engineers to reconstruct the collision, or civil engineers to evaluate the effect of the highway design, or mechanical engineers to evaluate any equipment malfunction. Brett & Coats, PLLC has the resources, experience and understanding to effectively represent you in your wrongful death claim.

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2. Who can file a wrongful death suit?

A wrongful death claim against the negligent party is generally initiated by or on behalf of the spouse, children or family of the decedent; however in some unique situations, someone other than the deceased's immediate family may be entitled to recover damages if they relied upon the deceased for support.

3. What types of money damages can I recover?

• Medical Expenses - All costs incurred for health care should be repaid to you including ambulance bills, hospital bills and charges for surgical, medical or rehabilitation care. Depending upon the type of insurance coverage you or the other party purchased, you may be entitled to payment of these bills regardless of who caused the accident. For more information on Medical Expenses to date click here.

• Funeral Expenses - You are entitled to a sum of money that will enable you to pay for your loved one's internment.

• Lost Future Earning Capacity - The deceased person's estate is entitled to a sum of money to compensate for the lost capacity to earn income in the future. For more information on Lost Future Earning Capacity click here.

• General Damages for Pain and Suffering - The claimant may be entitled to be compensated in dollars for the pain that the deceased person suffered. An experienced attorney can help to assess the dollar amount of the loss based on experience in other similar wrongful death cases as well as their understanding of the local justice system. Your Brett & Coats, PLLC attorney will be invaluable in working with the insurance company and substantiating your claim. For more information on General Damages for Pain and Suffering click here.

Additional Information on Medical Expenses

A personal injury victim is entitled to repayment for any medical expenses incurred. These expenses will be paid by the insurance company of the party at fault. To acquire these sums, your attorney will collect all of the deceased's medical records from health care providers including bills. This documentation is then provided to the insurance company to prove that the expense was incurred and that the treatment was required because of the accident. Brett & Coats, PLLC attorneys and paralegals are trained to handle the paper process in a timely, proactive manner.

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Additional Information on Lost Income

The estate of the deceased is entitled to recover all the lost income caused by the death. Your lawyer will obtain the deceased's complete written medical records from all health care providers to confirm the doctor's opinion regarding their medical situation. Your attorney will also meet regularly with doctors to review the records and help them to address the specific requirements imposed by the insurance companies.

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Additional Information on Future Lost Income

The decedent's estate may be entitled to compensation for the loss of future income or future loss of earning capacity. Projecting the amount of future income lost can be a simple or complicated process depending on the deceased's type of employment. While this is difficult, the Brett & Coats, PLLC team is experienced in economic reconstruction and projection.

The loss of future income can have a significant impact on the decedent's family. Talk with an experienced legal professional at Brett & Coats, PLLC before you attempt to negotiate a settlement with an insurance adjuster whose goal is to minimize the insurance company's payout.

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Additional Information on General Damages for Pain and Suffering

The law is clear regarding a survivor's right to recover money damages for pain, suffering, disability and disfigurement. However, it is more difficult to estimate the amount of money required to compensate a victim for their loss. This difficulty is compounded by the need to prove the calculation to an insurance company or a court. While medical expenses or lost wages can be substantiated through bills or pay stubs, how is a value assigned to pain? How do we measure what grief and loss is worth? To address this sensitive and controversial issue, your attorney will estimate the money value in a pain and suffering claim by analyzing damage awards made in similar cases. At Brett & Coats, PLLC, we have access to state, regional and national publications, as well as computerized data banks to identify similar cases and project a solid estimate of the range of awards made for similar losses. These comparisons help us to secure the most fair settlement amount with the insurance company. In situations where the insurance company refuses to pay a fair settlement, our attorneys have the skill to present real human losses to a jury in a compelling way. Because our experienced personal injury attorneys are always prepared to take a claim to trial (and the insurance companies know it), we can usually obtain a favorable settlement that includes an appropriate amount for general damages in an out of court settlement.

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4. How much is my wrongful death claim worth?

There are two ways to estimate the monetary settlement value of a claim, and our attorneys recommend that both be used to achieve success in a wrongful death claim.

To find a total claim value, add up the amounts you are entitled to for property damage, medical expenses to date, lost earnings to date, future lost earnings, and general damages for pain and suffering. Since damages such as general damages for pain and suffering are difficult to evaluate, the second method of assigning a monetary settlement value is used. Your attorney will review state, regional and national publications and computerized databases to find similar claims in similar situations and similar liability patterns to develop a statistical analysis of your claim's value.

If your loved one has died because of someone else's reckless or negligent behavior, you should not attempt to estimate the value of your claim without professional assistance. At Brett & Coats, PLLC, we offer a free case evaluation to determine the likelihood of a recovery and the likely range of any recovery. Contact us for your free case evaluation.

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5. What should I do immediately to help preserve my claim?

To support your claim before you meet with an attorney, it is important to preserve evidence and protect your negotiating position. By documenting the circumstances and injuries, you are substantiating your claim and providing your chosen attorney with a head start on your legal strategy.

The first step in preserving evidence is to obtain the name, address, phone number and insurance information from the party that caused the accident. Do not attempt to interview witnesses to the accident. Instead, record their names, addresses and phone numbers so that if there is a later dispute you will have objective bystanders to support your version of events. Bring all of this to your lawyer once you have selected one.

Next, preserve your negotiating position. Do not sign anything presented by the insurance adjuster. Do not give a written or oral statement to an insurance adjuster. Do not attempt to negotiate a settlement with an insurance adjuster who works to minimize payouts. As you are in the process of preserving evidence and protecting your negotiating position, you can also invest the time to find an excellent personal injury lawyer.

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6. How should I select a lawyer to represent me?

When you select a lawyer to represent you in a wrongful death claim, consider three factors:

Does this lawyer have a reputation for excellent legal ability and high ethical standards? The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory is a twenty-four volume set listing almost all of the lawyers in the United States and rating their legal ability as A (very high to preeminent), B (high to very high), C (fair to high) or no rating. A rating of V is given for high-ethical standards. At Brett & Coats, PLLC, we are proud of our Martindale Hubbell AV rating, the highest available. The Martindale-Hubbell directory is also available online at www.martindale.com. But you don't have to rely solely on a publication. You can ask people in our community who have experienced the legal system, talk with someone who works in the courthouse, or discuss your situation with someone experienced in personal injury accident claims. Ask a number of people to see if any particular name keeps coming up. Also, look at the Brett & Coats, PLLC attorney profiles to see that our firm's attorneys are well qualified to handle your claim. For example, Dean Brett has repeatedly been selected as a "Superlawyer" by Washington Law & Politics Magazine, and has been selected as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Both Dean Brett and have served on the Board of Governors of the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, the state-wide group dedicated to fighting for victims of negligence.

Does this lawyer have experience handling my particular type of personal injury case? If you have lost a loved one because of another party's negligence, a divorce attorney or a lawyer who works in estate planning cannot provide the best representation. You need to hire an experienced personal injury lawyer with the credentials to effectively represent your interests. Relatively few lawyers devote most of their practice to representing individuals with claims for personal injury or wrongful death. Before you hire a lawyer, you should know how many times the attorney has actually gone to court on a personal injury claim. You should also know whether that attorney has ever obtained a verdict or settlement in a personal injury case of over a million dollars, or over $100,000, or even over $50,000. Don't allow the lawyer to answer your questions with generalizations. Ask for specific cases with specific results. Remember, when you talk to a lawyer you are interviewing him or her for a job working for you. Look at their resume. You may also be interested in looking at our results case results.

Does this attorney inspire trust and confidence? You should hire a lawyer in whom you feel comfortable placing your trust and confidence. Remember, the lawyer is going to be employed by you, to represent you and your deceased loved one. You need someone easy to talk to, someone who will explain and advise you on your situation. The best way to determine your comfort level is to personally meet the lawyer. If you want to take things a step at a time, talk to the lawyer on the phone and test your comfort level prior to scheduling an appointment. At Brett & Coats, PLLC, we offer a free case evaluation to help determine the likelihood of a successful claim and the likely range of any financial recovery. This is an excellent opportunity to decide if you are comfortable placing your trust and confidence in a personal injury lawyer at Brett & Coats, PLLC. Contact us for your free case evaluation.

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7. How much will it cost to hire a lawyer?

At Brett & Coats, PLLC, our clients have a choice in how they pay for legal services. We can charge on an hourly basis or on a contingency fee.

If you choose to hire us on an hourly basis, we will track the time our lawyers and paralegals spend on your case and bill you monthly. Our hourly rates range from $225 for lead trial attorneys to $185 for associate trial lawyers and $80 for paralegals. On hourly billings, there are two basic rules: all fees and costs must be paid monthly and our firm is paid regardless of whether your claim is won or lost.

With a contingency fee arrangement, we are paid one-third of any recovery by settlement or judgment. If there is no recovery, you owe us nothing for our legal services. In either case you are responsible for the costs such as the charges such as the charges doctors make for providing records and reports. These amounts are generally paid out of the money you receive when the case is settled.

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8. How does the insurance claim process work?

Insurance companies are in business to make a profit. Generally, the insurance company's profit is the difference between what it collects in premiums and what it pays out in claims. Therefore, the insurance adjuster's job is to settle your claim for as little as possible to maximize the company's profit. Your lawyer's job is to settle your claim for its maximum value and we know how to work with insurance companies.

Insurance companies have developed a huge bureaucracy to scrutinize, criticize, evaluate and ultimately pay insurance claims. The insurance adjuster's job is to identify false or fraudulent claims and to refuse to pay undocumented claims. The insurance adjuster is trying to build a file, to critically evaluate your claim, and to pay as little as possible to settle your claim as soon as possible. Remember, the insurance adjuster reports to a supervisor. If the adjuster has a thin, small file on a claim that was settled for $100,000, the supervisor is likely to say "You paid too much. This file does not support a $100,000 payment." Conversely, if the adjuster settles a claim for $1,000,000 and gives the supervisor a thick and well-documented file that includes complete witness statements, complete medical opinion letters, and comprehensive records of all medical care, wage losses, and other expenses, the supervisor is more likely to say, "That's fine, the claim was worth $1,000,000". Your attorney's role is to help the insurance adjuster build a file that supports a full and fair claim settlement.

Your lawyer's goal should be to maximize your financial recovery from your loss. Your attorney should have a reputation for honest dealing; for a fair but firm settlement posture; for refusing to settle for a penny less than the claim is worth; and for being prepared to take each claim to trial to get a full and fair recovery, if necessary.

There are basically five steps the insurance adjuster must take in handling a personal injury claim:

1. Collecting Information
2. Setting Reserves
3. Evaluating Damages
4. Negotiating Settlement
5. Defending in Trial if Necessary

Collecting Information. Since the adjuster must collect information needed to understand your claim, your lawyer should provide all the required information to validate the claim to the adjuster and their company. Sometimes insurance adjusters are so busy looking for damaging information about you or your claim that they miss favorable information. Your attorney should collect and highlight that favorable information - witness statements, photographs of the accident and your injury, opinion letters from experts in medicine, and accident reconstruction or economic loss. When your attorney presents the claim to the adjuster, he is more likely to understand the significance of your claim.

Setting Reserves. When a claim comes in, the company must set reserves, an accounting entry, to assure government regulators that the company has adequate money to pay the claim. If initial reserves are set too low, when the time comes to settle the claim, the adjuster will sometimes be too limited in the amount of money he can offer in settlement. Your attorney must get the appropriate information to the adjuster as soon as possible to assist the company in setting high enough reserves that the ultimate settlement can be for the full claim value.

Evaluating Damages. Since the adjusters must evaluate the claim value, your attorney should provide them with all relevant information, including comparable cases from state, regional and national publications and computerized databases, and our own evaluation of the claim's value to assist the adjuster in coming to a full and fair evaluation.

Negotiating Settlement. There is an old saying, "A lawyer who represents himself, has a fool for a client." Likewise, a personal injury victim who attempts to negotiate a settlement with a professional insurance adjuster is likely to recover far less than the claim's true value. Do not attempt to negotiate a settlement of your personal injury claim without professional advice.

Defending in Trial if Necessary. If a settlement cannot be negotiated, the insurance company must defend its position in court. To improve your chances for compensation at trial, your attorney must have a quality reputation, proven credentials, a fair but firm settlement posture that refuses to settle for less than a full claim value, and the ability and resources to prepare for an aggressive litigation of your claim.

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9. What can I do if the person who caused the injury is uninsured?

If you are uncertain as to whether the party at fault for the accident has sufficient insurance, contact a lawyer immediately to help you gain this critical information.

Brett & Coats, PLLC attorneys have represented many individuals who have been injured or killed by an uninsured or underinsured party who cannot pay a full and fair claim. While these cases can be difficult, do not give-up until you investigate other potential sources of compensation for your injuries. Other possibilities include underinsured motorists coverage, the Crime Victim's Compensation Act, and "joint and several" liability of insured individuals whose negligence combined with that of the uninsured party to cause your injuries. Although a lawyer cannot guarantee that he or she can find coverage and obtain a recovery for you, an effective attorney is obliged to explore all of the alternatives and advise you of their availability in your situation.

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10. How can I deal with the immediate bills?

To ensure that you continue to receive the highest quality medical care and to protect your credit, it is important to immediately pay bills. As a part of our representation in your wrongful death claim, Brett & Coats, PLLC will manage payment of your loved one's medical bills and funeral arrangements. We will coordinate the paperwork to obtain payment of those medical bills through your own medical coverage; the insurance coverage of any parties involved in the accident; state and federal medical payment programs; or by arranging with your health care providers to hold collection until you receive your settlement.

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11. How long do I have to file a claim?

The statute of limitations requires that a claim be filed within a certain period of time after the accident or you will forever lose the right to do so. Depending on the circumstances, the statute of limitations could be three years, two years or less from the date of injury. Do not delay in contacting a Brett & Coats, PLLC attorney. We offer a free case evaluation to determine the likelihood of a recovery and the likely range of any recovery. Contact us today.

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12. What types of money damages are allowed for wrongful death?

Four interrelated statutes govern calculation of recoverable damages when a person dies as a result of someone's reckless or negligent actions. While none of the statutes can ever replace the husband or wife or child who was lost, a successful claim can help the survivors in many ways. Your attorney will coordinate the criminal prosecution of the party at fault and arrange for grief counseling. Of course, our most important form of support to grieving families is securing monetary compensation for their loss. Money cannot relieve the grief over the loss of a loved one, but it can help to relieve financial burdens.

If the person who died was a minor (under 18) or a child on whom one or both parents were dependent for support, or a viable fetus, damages are defined to include "loss of love and companionship of the child and for injury to or destruction of the parent-child relationship in such amount as, under all the circumstances of the case, may be just." This broad language has been interpreted to include parental grief, mental anguish and suffering. Significantly, computation of damages is not limited to the lost child's minority. In addition, medical, hospital, medication and related expenses and loss of services and support are recoverable.

A second statute also allows damages to be recovered on behalf of ..."The wife, husband, child or children" of the deceased. Adult decedents who are single and without children do not qualify here. But for decedents with a surviving spouse or child, "the jury may give such damages as, under all circumstances of the case, may to them be just." Whether an adult who dies has dependents dramatically affects verdicts and settlements in death claims.

A third statute allows recovery for decedents even if they were unmarried without dependents; the recovery is to their estate and includes the present value of their future net earnings had they lived a normal life expectancy. Usually proof of loss must be made through the calculations of an economist.

A fourth statute is useful to help survivors who may not qualify for help under other statutes. Care must be taken to avoid duplication of claims made under other statutes. The claim may be brought on behalf of the husband or wife, children, and under special circumstances, certain other family members.

Developing a successful legal strategy in a wrongful death claim is best left in the hands of an experienced attorney. At Brett & Coats, PLLC, we offer a free case evaluation to determine the likelihood of a recovery and the likely range of any recovery. Contact us for your free case evaluation.

The information contained on this Website is offered as a service to educate the public and encourage accident victims to seek legal advice. The following information is provided as a service to help injured parties and should not be considered as legal advice or applied to an individual legal situation. For expert counsel on your legal situation, consult with an experienced Brett & Coats, PLLC personal injury attorney.

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