White Marsh Wrongful Death Lawyer

When you lose a loved one in a fatal accident, it can feel overwhelming. Alongside the emotional toll of losing someone close to you, dealing with unexpected funeral costs and other expenses can be difficult and distressing for survivors.

However, there are options available to you. You can sue parties responsible for negligently causing the death of your loved one and obtain financial compensation to offset the loss in some way. We can help you fight for justice while you focus on healing and recovering from a very difficult situation.

Call (410) 694-7291 and talk to Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s wrongful death lawyers about your claim today.

When Should You Start Looking for Help Filing Wrongful Death Lawsuits in White Marsh?

Understandably, you will probably want to take time to make sense of things, collect your thoughts, and deal with the fallout of the unexpected death of a loved one. Indeed, you should take time to do these things, as leaving feelings like that alone to fester can hamper your effectiveness in pursuing legal action. That being said, there does need to be a certain sense of urgency when thinking about filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

Under Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art., § 3-904(g), most wrongful death lawsuits must be filed within three years of the deceased’s passing. Exceptions exist for some occupational diseases and actions leading to death that would constitute criminal homicide. For the former, plaintiffs have the shorter of ten years from the deceased’s passing or three years from the discovery of the occupational disease. For the latter, plaintiffs have three years from when the plaintiff discovers the homicide and the party responsible for that homicide.

When you talk to our wrongful death lawyers, we can examine the facts of your claim to determine how long you have left to get your case filed with the appropriate court. For example, if your claim arises out of a car crash, you probably have three years or less to file your claim. On the other hand, if your loved one worked with hazardous materials and got an occupational disease due to inadequate protection, you may have more time to file based on when the link between their job and cause of death was discovered.

How Does a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Work in White Marsh?

In many ways, wrongful death lawsuits are similar to other kinds of personal injury cases. However, there are also some key differences. We will walk you through how these cases work so that you have some idea of what to expect.

How Wrongful Death Cases Are Like Other Personal Injury Cases

There are some things that are universal in civil claims. Wrongful death cases can be seen as a sort of subset of personal injury cases in a lot of ways. For example, you have to prove the same thing: the defendant was negligent and caused your injuries. The key difference would be that, in a wrongful death lawsuit, the “injury” would be the loss of a loved one.

Like with other civil claims, you prove your case through legal argument and evidence, which will be gathered in a similar manner to how it would be in any other kind of case. The distinction in a wrongful death lawsuit is that your evidence may include things like coroner’s reports and other items that would not necessarily exist for a different type of personal injury lawsuit.

How Wrongful Death Cases Are Different

Of course, there are also some very important differences between wrongful death cases and other personal injury cases. Most importantly, while anyone can file a generic civil claim, there are only specific people who can file wrongful death claims. With some exceptions, only parents, children, or spouses of the deceased can file wrongful death claims pursuant to § 3-904(a). Under § 904(b), if the deceased does not have any living or eligible parents, children, or spouse, then anyone who “substantially” depended on the deceased and is related to them by blood or marriage can file a wrongful death claim instead. For example, if the deceased was taking care of an aunt, uncle, or other relative and was a provider for them, that relative could file a wrongful death claim if the deceased did not have a living or eligible spouse, child, or parent because they were dependent on the deceased’s support.

Can You Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuits in White Marsh?

The vast majority of litigation does not actually make it all the way to trial. Cases are usually resolved in some way beforehand. This is true for wrongful death cases, too. Parties may elect to settle a case for any number of reasons, ranging from desiring a quick resolution to the matter to genuine remorse to guaranteeing an outcome rather than leaving things in the hands of the jury.

While settlements can be a good option for many plaintiffs, you still want to be sure that accepting a settlement offer is worth your while. You need to be sure that the offer you are considering meets all your needs and compensates you for any losses and injuries you received because your loved one died. When you get an offer, our lawyers can look it over and advise you on whether we think it is one you should consider accepting or not. Factors that can go into this consideration include the actual compensation you are getting out of the settlement, your desire to see justice done, and other settlement terms agreed to by both parties. Of course, you always have the right to go to trial no matter what, and our lawyers will help you out regardless of your decision.

Discuss Your Claim with Our White Marsh Wrongful Death Lawyers

Rice, Murtha & Psoras’s wrongful death lawyers can provide free case reviews when you call our office at (410) 694-7291.