When a loved one dies too soon, it can leave you reeling, especially if someone’s negligence, carelessness, or intentional acts were to blame. Along with your grief and anger, you might wonder how you’ll manage without your loved one’s emotional and financial support.
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At Crosley Law, we know you deserve answers, closure, and fair compensation for your losses. Our San Antonio wrongful death lawyers fight for surviving family members and their deceased loved ones.
To schedule your free consultation with one of our wrongful death attorneys, please call us at 210-LAW-3000 | 210-529-3000 or use the contact form on this page. We’ll listen to your story, explain your legal options, and suggest ways you can move forward. If we can take on your case, we have a no-fee policy, so you don’t pay us a cent unless we get you a settlement or win your case in court.
To learn more about Texas’ wrongful death laws, keep reading.
What Is a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
When a person dies because of another person’s intentional or careless behavior, the victim’s family may have a wrongful death claim. These legal claims demand compensation for the victim’s lost income, companionship, funeral expenses, and your pain and suffering.
Most wrongful death lawyers also include “survival claims” in these lawsuits. Survival claims focus on the time between the crash or incident and your family member’s passing, when the victim needed medical treatment, felt pain and fear, and could not work.
Common Causes of Wrongful Death Lawsuits
A wrongful death can occur anytime someone acts recklessly. While fatal accidents can occur at any time, our San Antonio wrongful death lawyers frequently handle wrongful death cases that involve:
Wrongful Death and Survival Claims: What’s the Difference?
Read More- Car crashes
- Truck wrecks
- Bicycle and pedestrian collisions
- Motorcycle wrecks
- Traumatic brain injury cases
- Aviation accidents
- Dangerous and defective products
- Criminal conduct
- Workplace accidents
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas?
Under the Texas wrongful death statute, a deceased person’s surviving spouse, parents, or children can file a wrongful death suit. Siblings, long-time unmarried partners, and other loved ones cannot file a claim.
If you have the right to file a wrongful death claim, you need to act quickly. In Texas, there is a two-year filing deadline, called a statute of limitations. If you don’t file your lawsuit within two years of your loved one’s death, you may lose your right to compensation. Our attorneys usually do a lengthy investigation before filing a lawsuit, so the sooner you contact us and get started, the better.
How Much Can I Ask for in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Depending on the circumstances surrounding the incident, an attorney can help you seek the following types of wrongful death damages:
Economic damages:
This includes your loved one’s lost earnings, lost financial support, and funeral and burial costs
Non-economic damages:
Compensation for your pain and suffering as well as your loss of companionship are classified as non-economic damages.
It’s impossible to assign a value to human life. But during a wrongful death claim, the insurance company will probably want to negotiate a settlement, and you and your lawyer will need to decide what a fair settlement value looks like. At Crosley Law, we take a sophisticated and detailed approach to calculating wrongful death settlements.
Generally, there are four types of damages in a Texas wrongful death claim:
- Economic damages: These damages provide compensation for your financial losses, like your loved one’s lost wages and financial support, grief counseling, services that help replace your loved one’s help around the house, and funeral and burial costs.
- Non-economic damages: You can get compensation for “softer” damages like pain and suffering, loss of companionship, and emotional distress.
- Survival damages: Survival damages include the costs of your loved one’s medical bills as well as other losses that they suffered after their injury and before their passing.
- Punitive damages: These damages punish the person who caused the death in order to discourage others from similar behavior. Judges and juries award punitive damages when the negligent party’s actions were intentional or incredibly shocking. For example, punitive damages are often considered in drunk driving cases.
Calculating damages in a wrongful death claim is a complex process that involves carefully evaluating your situation, the financial costs associated with the incident, and the emotional impact of the death. When you work with a wrongful death lawyer at Crosley Law, we’ll help you understand the value of your claims and stand up for your rights. We also make sure you have emotional support and room to grieve.
RELATED VIDEO: Family Receives Maximum Settlement in Wrongful Death Case
How Do I File a Wrongful Death Claim?
Before you start negotiating with an insurance company, it’s in your best interest to hire an experienced personal injury law firm to represent you and your loved one. Insurance adjusters sometimes try to take advantage of vulnerable family members after an unexpected death. A San Antonio wrongful death lawyer can help you understand your claim’s settlement value and negotiate a fair deal. Our attorneys at Crosley Law have a long and successful history of handling wrongful death lawsuits.
Compared to other injury claims, wrongful death cases also involve additional steps. You may need to open an estate for your loved one, which will require filing paperwork with the Probate Court. Our lawyers can help you navigate this process and connect you with the right probate lawyers if needed.
Our team will also investigate your loved one’s death and identify the individuals who are legally responsible. We use cutting-edge technology, experience, and expert witnesses to develop our clients’ complex wrongful death lawsuits.
If we cannot negotiate a fair settlement for you and your loved ones, we’ll file a wrongful death lawsuit and prepare your case for trial. At every stage of your claim, our lawyers will educate you about the process and your legal options.
Our Clients Are More Than a Number or a Statistic
Crosley Law Partners with Loss of Life Advocates
Read MoreLosing a loved one because of another person’s negligent behavior may be one of the most difficult things a person can go through. Most people are not prepared for a sudden, unexpected death, either emotionally or practically. But you don’t have to struggle through this process alone.
At Crosley Law, we provide more than legal services to grieving families. We also offer compassionate support that can give you the tools and space you need to grieve and heal. We take care of the details of your legal claims and provide regular updates, but we also respect your family’s unique needs and your grieving process.
Additionally, we can connect you with a respected San Antonio grief counselor. Crosley Law offers clients with wrongful death claims two free hours of counseling with Loss of Life Associates (LOLA).
Crosley Law: Guiding Texas Families Through Complex Wrongful Death Claims
At Crosley Law, our attorneys have helped families in San Antonio and throughout Texas after a tragedy. We know that you need a wrongful death lawyer who will aggressively fight for you and your loved ones, reduce the stress of your legal claims, and support you at every step of your journey.
We offer free consultations and a no-fee policy. To get your free case evaluation from an experienced wrongful death attorney, call us at 210-LAW-3000 | 210-529-3000 or use our online contact form.
The content provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject.
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