Accidents that result in death are devastating for the person’s family and loved ones. When it occurs because of someone’s negligence, wrongful death claims can be filed against that person, persons, or company. The claim is brought as a civil action, usually by close relatives or will executors. Survivors are compensated for financial and emotional harm, losses, and suffering they’ve endured because of the death.
What You Can Sue for in Rhode Island
- Burial and funeral costs
- Hospital and medical expenses incurred before the death
- Lost wages and loss of earning capacity from the date of the accident until the time of death
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of consortium
- Loss of society and companionship
- Prospective future income and earnings over the deceased’s life expectancy
Main Causes of Wrongful Death
There are several causes of wrongful death, including:
- Auto accidents/Truck accidents/Motorcycle accidents. When a driver doesn’t obey the law and causes an accident that results in someone’s death, the negligent driver is held legally responsible. Wrongful death suits recoup a financial settlement to pay for the economic and noneconomic damages sought by a surviving party or parties.
- Aviation accidents. Thousands of planes in the air each day provide many opportunities for accidents. Commercial flights late to their next stop may skip inspections; pilots may be ill-trained. Failure to adhere to FAA guidelines or knowingly hiring incompetent pilots are subject to the wrongful death of suits if accidents occur. Families of those killed have received settlements in the millions. The basis for suits lies in the airlines, as a negligent party, failure to follow FAA and other guidelines.
- Medical malpractice. One of the most difficult suits to win is against doctors or medical facilities for malpractice that results in death. Those won normally involve conduct that is found to be blatantly medically unacceptable and provable. The proof relies on expert medical testimony and behavior outside of the medically approved norm. Suits are a tricky business and require an attorney or attorneys well-versed in malpractice courtroom tactics.
- Defective products. Defective products are everywhere these days. They could be defective from improper manufacturing, poor design, defects from transportation, or malfunctioning safety features. Legally, the manufacturer must keep their products safe from malfunctions that can cause injury or death.
- Criminal acts. Anger can get the best of anyone. Wrongful death can occur when it goes too far, and someone dies because of a fight or attack.
Accidental deaths can occur anywhere and, in any situation, from accidental poisoning to fatal falls on someone’s property to workplace accidents.
The Calvino Law Associates Promise
Wrongful death suits are legally complex and require the services of an experienced attorney. The legal team at Calvino Law Associates has successfully litigated wrongful death lawsuits and secured thousands of dollars in settlements. If you live in Rhode Island or Southern Massachusetts and have lost a loved one to negligence, we are here to help you recover the compensation you deserve. Call us at (401) 205-3733 or use our online contact form.
Calvino Law Associates
373 Elmwood Ave.
Providence, RI 02907
(401) 205-3733
Losing a loved one unexpectedly is one of the most traumatic events that a person can experience in their lifetime. It’s difficult to take care of yourself with both the emotional weight and the lifestyle adjustment. If your loved one’s death was caused by another’s willful act or negligence, you might be able to charge the perpetrator for wrongful death. Depending on the circumstances, whether the individual is convicted of the crime or not, you still can successfully win a wrongful death suit.
Whether court appointed or not, only an executor or administrator may take a wrongful death suit to court. If, after six months, there is no executor or administrator to represent you and your family, all of the potential beneficiaries can unite and file a wrongful death lawsuit. In North Kingstown, the list of possible beneficiaries is immediate and distant family, life partners, financial dependents, putative spouses, or anyone else who was affected financially by the death. With a North Kingstown attorney experienced in wrongful death cases, even minors can file and receive compensation from a wrongful death lawsuit.
There is a time limit within which you can file a wrongful death claim. You have three years to file. However, this does not necessarily mean three years after the date of death. If the cause indicating wrongful death is discovered at a later date, then the statute of limitations starts from that date.
Another aspect to consider when filing a wrongful death claim is that there is a distinction between suing for compensation for your loss and suing to punish the individual or entity that caused the death. In other words, there is a difference between compensatory and putative reasons for filing. You will find more success in filing for compensation because not every case will allow suing for putative reasons.
The process of overcoming the death of a loved one takes time. In order to relieve some of the pressure of such a loss, and attain justice for your loved one, taking the rights steps in filing a wrongful death suit might be exactly what your family needs.
Statutes of limitations are set by each state and determine how long after the incident a person can pursue the matter in court. Most statutes of limitations are very clear cut and well defined. However, there are others that have a little more flexibility.
A wrongful death is caused by someone else’s negligence. In the state of Rhode Island, residents have up to three years to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Those three years are meant to span from the time of one’s death or from the time when the body is discovered.
There is yet another circumstance that contributes to this statute. There is a three-year window from the time the death was actually determined to be a wrongful one. Therefore, the starting point of the statute of limitations has a much broader definition.
For exmple, a death could be ruled a murder many years after the death occurred. This would be due to new evidence coming to light, something that is not completely out of the ordinary. This kind of circumstance is commonly referred to as the ‘discovery rule.’ From the time new evidence was discovered, the clock then begins ticking on a fresh three years.
In these cases, the cause of the death can include murder to some faulty equipment that was recently discovered. The bottom line is that is not just a three-year window from the time of death as there can be extenuating circumstances.
When it comes to paying out a wrongful death lawsuit, Rhode Island also has its way of arriving at that sum. The court calculates the loss of future and current earnings of the deceased on its way to arriving at a figure. The court will take into consideration funeral costs, inheritance and loss of insurance and social security.
Losses do not stop there as the loss of companionship and care is also considered along with the pain and suffering of the deceased’s surviving descendants. Punitive damages can also be awarded as a further means of punishment to the person responsible for the wrongful death.
If someone you love has fallen victim to a wrongful death, the legal team at Calvino Law Associates can be of assistance. A wrongful death Providence attorney can guide you through what can be a very trying process and help you to find some peace of mind in the wake of tragedy.
