Husband or Wife's Wrongful Death.

If your spouse dies in a fatal car accident that he or she didn’t cause, then you have the right to file a wrongful death claim. The death of a husband or wife is no doubt a devastating time, so we recommend that you consult with an experienced wrongful death attorney in San Diego as soon as possible for help with the complicated legal process.

Wrongful Death Claims Start with Financial Support

Your spouse’s financial support can be proved in several ways. If you had knowledge of your husband or wife’s earnings then you are qualified to provide that information. Our wrongful death attorneys can also seek out others who may know more about your spouse’s business affairs and personal working habits to further document your claim.

Your wrongful death claim is not limited to your spouse’s earnings at the time of death. Our wrongful death attorneys will estimate what your spouse likely would have earned if not for his or her untimely death. Pertinent information includes the spouse’s age, education, skill, personal habits and ambition. Please note that this claim is not limited to your wife or husband’s personal labor if your spouse owned a business and would have earned money from the work of others at their business.

As a widow or widower, you may also recover damages for the following:

Contributions for personal items, holiday gifts and entertainment money
Medical care in which your spouse provided to you
Child support (as long as it was being paid at the time of death).

You can also claim for funeral and burial expenses.

Emotional Losses are also factored into the Wrongful Death Claim

As the surviving spouse, you can make a claim to recover loss of comfort, society and protection as well as loss of consortium, which the law defines as the loss of support, services, love, companionship, affection, sexual relations and comfort. The total amount of money that can be claimed for your emotional damages is ultimately measured by either your age or your spouse’s age, whichever is shorter.

Remarried Surviving Spouses Can Still Recover for a Wrongful Death

A lot of people think they cannot make a wrongful death claim if they remarried after their spouse died. That is incorrect. Remarrying does not hurt your wrongful death claim in any way.

On the other hand, if you were separated from your spouse at the time, your wrongful death claim is generally limited to loss of legal support. Furthermore, say your marriage was disintegrating at the time of your spouse’s wrongful death, another person (i.e. a child) could testify to this and reduce your wrongful death settlement.

Call Us Now to Maximize Your Wrongful Death Settlement

Due to the complexity of wrongful death claims, you should consult with an experienced wrongful death attorney in San Diego as soon as possible after your spouse’s death. In addition to the strain on your family, you will be forced to deal directly with insurance companies if you go about this alone. Insurance companies will probably not explain all of your legal rights to pay you as little as possible.

For these reasons we strongly recommend that you consult with a wrongful death attorney from our San Diego law offices as soon as possible after your spouse’s death. With two decades of experience on our side, we can help make sure that your wrongful death claim is handled professionally with care.

Don’t get stuck dealing with this on your own. Call us now at 1-800-655-6585 for a FREE consultation with an experienced wrongful death attorney in San Diego or click here to submit your case for a FREE online review. We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that you owe nothing until we recover money on your behalf.

Most Recent Blog Post

[caption id="attachment_21715" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Photo Credit: The San Diego Union Tribune"][/caption] Last week, we reported on a car accident in San Diego that resulted out of alleged teen street racing. In new developments, the 18-year-old driver charged with the death of the two teenagers involved in the street racing has pleaded not guilty to vehicular manslaughter among four other charges according to reports at the San Diego Union Tribune. The news follows the earlier arrest of another 16-year-old driver that was taken into custody on similar charges. Just shortly after his arraignment, Michael Johnson, the 18-year-old driver of a Volvo S40, said, according to his attorney, that he is not the responsible party in the tragic San Diego accident fatalities that occurred April 4. Accident reports indicate that Johnson was returning from a spring break beach party in La Jolla when he was allegedly involved in a street racing contest with another teen driver – the unidentified 16-year-old driver of a Volkswagen Passat whose name has not been released since he is a minor. According to Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler, the two vehicles were zigzagging across lanes at speeds reaching up to a staggering 100 m.p.h. The 16-year-old driver in the Passat lost control over the vehicle, causing the car to flip over several times across multiple lanes of the road. Two passengers, Anthony Foreman, 18, and Jayli Campbell, 16, were thrown from the Passat and died at the scene of the accident. Two passengers survived the crash. Charlotte McQuillen, survived the accident although she suffered serious injury as a result of the collision including reports that say the teen will have to recover from traumatic brain injury. Anthoney Taylor, 16, also survived the crash although his injuries are unclear at this time. Johnson did not flee the scene of the accident according to police reports and cooperated with authorities once officers assessed the scene of the collision. The teen has no prior criminal record, although authorities say his vehicle was found containing a small amount of marijuana. Johnson is being charged with intoxicated driving, although his lawyer says there were no field sobriety tests to confirm the teen’s alleged intoxication. Teen driving: reminders for concerned parents Last week, we blogged on actions parents can take to prevent teen car accidents. Tips include:

Sign a parent-teen contract. Download your free contract now.
Enforcing the rules. Every teen driver needs to know that rules are there for a purpose, and when they are broken, consequences will follow.
Have a DUI backup plan. As most parents can attest, there are many instances when teen drivers run into problems that supersede their know-how and maturity. Drinking is one of those problems. In cases of emergency, your teen should have an open-door policy where they feel safe to call you when they need help – such in the case of drunk driving or driving while intoxicated.

About the Law Offices of Michael Pines, APC The Law Offices of Michael Pines, APC are specialists in car accident injury. Every personal injury attorney in our San Diego office works hard to seek maximum recovery for every injured client. Your case is handled without any out-of-pocket costs, so do not hesitate to speak to a San Diego personal injury lawyer today for a free legal evaluation. Call us at 1-800-655-6585.