Qualified Parties for a Wrongful Death Claim

 Due to the rising number of fatal accidents in California, several wrongful death lawsuits are filed. Heightened road activity in the place has led to the deaths of local resident or a tourist.

This type of personal injury case is duly defined as the demise of a loved on due to the negligent or wrongful action of a person, organization or company. It may be intentional or truly accidental and those who are entitled for claims under this lawsuit were the surviving relatives of the victim.

PARTIES QUALIFIED FOR A CLAIM

The federal and state laws had created standards for family members in order for them to qualify for a wrongful death lawsuit. They should be well guided on the different concepts used in court litigations and California wrongful death attorneys could provide these. Moreover, a “personal representative” is needed in court coming from one of the surviving members. Here is the list of those who could qualify for a claim.

DIRECT FAMILY MEMBERS

They have direct blood relation to the deceased. This includes the parents, children (could be adopted or not) or the spouse. In litigations, they could also be termed as “distributees”.

DISTANT FAMILY MEMBERS

These people were the next in the line of the possible relatives. This includes the siblings (brothers and/or sisters) as well as grandparents of the dead loved one.

FINANCIALLY AFFECTED

There are places, which were now accepting petitions even if the complainant has no direct relation to the deceased but through financial loss.

PUTATIVE SPOUSES
Putative spouses are people who believe that they were married or had a relationship with the person who died.

CALIFORNIA WRONGFUL DEATH ATTORNEYS
Cases of wrongful deaths hold high amount of damages awards, thus any defendant would do its best to secure that there is no basis for responsibility. With this in mind, it is important to seek the help of California wrongful death attorneys to be well informed and ready for the long process.

It is true that the death of a loved cannot be replaced by any amount. However, keep in mind that the awards that could be claimed from the lawsuit would be of big help in order to recover and to start anew in life.