Have you ever worried about whether you’ll ever be murdered?
While this might not cross one’s mind every day, accidents do happen and someone else’s negligence might lead to your death. But is there a method for your family to receive justice and compensation?
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The two main types of defense are wrongful death and survival action. It’s important that you know the difference between the two to see how your family can receive compensation. Ask your car accident lawyer Phoenix to learn more.
Here’s what you need to know about wrongful death versus survival action:
What Is a Wrongful Death Claim?
Wrongful death is when someone else’s negligence or recklessness can lead to someone else’s death. In some cases, intentional action can also lead to death.
Some examples of wrongful deaths include car accidents, medical negligence and malpractice, and construction accidents. Even an incident that causes you to slip and fall can lead to wrongful death!
In such a scenario, your family can file a wrongful death claim which intends to prove that your death was due to someone else’s negligence, etc. They’ll request financial compensation to pay for your medical bills, funeral costs, etc.
This is a hard claim to prove so you’ll want to consider additional reading to find a lawyer to assist you with your needs.
What Is Survival Action?
With survival action, a case is filed against someone by the deceased person’s estate rather than their family.
It’s intended to compensate the estate rather than the direct family members. In the claim, the estate has to state that the deceased would have survived if it wasn’t for someone else’s negligence.
In such a case, the estate will also have to discuss the emotional aspects that come about from the person’s death. This can include grief, emotional stress, financial stress, etc.
It’s much harder to prove a survival action case but it’s often a better solution if you don’t succeed with a wrongful death claim.
Wrongful Death Versus Survival Action
The main difference between these two types of lawsuits is who can file the claim. But another difference is the type of compensation you can win.
With wrongful death, you can only claim monies needed to compensate for medical expenses and funeral costs. It’s rare to earn more than what’s needed for compensation.
With survival action, the estate can often fight to win more money. This goes beyond requiring compensation to pay for costs. It presents an opportunity to acquire more wealth for the person’s estate.
File Your Lawsuit
If someone you know died due to someone else’s negligence, you should consider filing a lawsuit. Let this guide help you understand whether wrongful death versus survival action is better.
Wrongful death is when a family sues to receive compensation to pay for the deceased’s medical expenses and funeral costs. With a survival action claim, the estate has the opportunity to accumulate more wealth.
In either case, you want to hire a lawyer to help you fight your case. They’ll prove negligence and prove to a court that compensation is owed.
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