Posts Tagged ‘wrongful death attorney’
Friday, July 9th, 2010
The death of a family member or loved one can be an extremely difficult time in your life – especially if the death was not one of natural causes. The situation can be frustrating as the negligence of another individual’s behavior caused the death of your beloved. In this instance, though it may be difficult and emotionally draining, the best course of action is to consult a wrongful death attorney who can assist you through the process. Unlike other personal injury cases, a wrongful death claim must be filed by the surviving family members of the deceased. However, there are statutes of limitation and state laws that must be complied with in order to successfully file a claim.
Then the central question is – who is eligible to file for a wrongful death lawsuit? The answer to that question is – it depends. In all states, including California, immediate family members (spouses, children, etc.) can file a wrongful death suit against the responsible party(ies). However, there are other various state laws that dictate if extended family members can file a lawsuit (sometimes), and what the statutes of limitation are when filing a wrongful death suit. Statutes of limitation put a time limit on when the lawsuit can be filed; family members cannot file a claim after this time period has passed, unfortunately.
A wrongful death is an extremely tragic incident, and the family who undergoes the pain and suffering deserves to be compensated for their losses. Not only is there financial damage that the family is forced to deal with, but a family and a circle of intimately acquainted individuals consist of a dynamic. A family is able to function on the dynamic of all of the individual family members, and a wrongful death takes a crucial factor out of that equation. Emery Ledger, a California wrongful death attorney, has taken on wrongful death cases and understands the family’s pain and suffering in these extenuating circumstances. Not only is the family forced to pay medical expenses, funeral expenses, and property damage, but they must also cope with the loss of a loved one. You and your family do not deserve to go through this, and hiring a wrongful death attorney can at least minimize the financial burdens you may be facing during this difficult time. Why should you have to be financial responsible for an action that you did not commit?
If you have suffered the loss of a family member as of a wrongful death, the most important thing is to have the best legal representation available to you and your family. If you would like a free and detailed evaluation of your California wrongful death case, please contact a wrong death lawyer from the Offices of Ledger of Ledger & Associates for more information on your legal options. Please call 1-800-300-000 or visit the website at www.ledgerlaw.com
Tags: california wrongful death attorney, death lawyer, deceased, extenuating circumstances, funeral expenses, loss of a loved one, pain and suffering, Personal Injury, personal injury case, personal injury cases, statutes of limitation, surviving family, tragic incident, wrongful death, wrongful death attorney, wrongful death case, wrongful death cases, wrongful death claim, wrongful death law, wrongful death laws, wrongful death lawsuit, wrongful death suit
Posted in Wrongful Death Lawyer | No Comments »
Monday, May 24th, 2010
If you have a loved one that recently passed away under the care of a nursing home, retirement home or was receiving care by a private caregiver and you feel that the negligence of the facility or caregiver caused or contributed to their death, you may have the basis for a California wrongful death lawsuit. Sadly, elder abuse is more prevalent in the United States than most of us realize. Statistics of reported incidents tell us they over one million seniors are abused every year by caregivers or staff at long-term care facilities, nursing home or even in the privacy of their own home. Experts believe that the prevalence of abuse and neglect is actually much higher as many incidents go unreported.
Every year, millions of families face the decision to put their loved one in a long-term care facility, nursing home, retirement home or to hire a private caregiver for their elderly loved one. After making the difficult decision to do so, we assume that our loved one will be well cared for and treated with the respect they deserve. Most of the time, this is exactly what happens, but studies show us that sometimes the very people that we count on to take care of our elderly loved one is actually abusing or neglecting them. Elder abuse and neglect can come in many forms. If your loved one has been the victim of elder abuse, they may have been pushed, shoved or restrained. While abuse such as this is unacceptable and illegal under any circumstances, it can have devastating consequences when the victim is elderly. A single fall for a senior citizen can lead to fatal consequences. Additionally, neglect can lead to, or contribute to, the death of a senior citizen. Neglect can come in the form of failure to attend to the hygiene or medical needs of an elderly patient. Leaving a patient in bed for an extended period of time can produce bedsores that can become infected. Not adhering to the required medicine schedule of a patient can lead to medical complications and even death.
As we age, we typically require additional health monitoring and many of us require a daily regimen of prescription drugs or supplements to keep us healthy. If a caregiver fails to administer those medications as required, they may be found to be negligent. If a caregiver’s actions of a staff member’s action at a care facility caused or contributed to the death of your loved one, then you may be able to file as the claimant in a California wrongful death lawsuit. A wrongful death lawsuit is generally filed by a surviving family member. In a wrongful death lawsuit, the claimant may be able to receive compensation for the loss affection, love and support of the decedent. A California wrongful death lawsuit cannot turn back the clock and prevent the death of your loved one, however if someone was responsible, in whole or in part, for their death, then it can hold them accountable.
For more information on elder abuse or wrongful death lawsuits, please feel free to contact California elder abuse and wrongful death attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or visit him online at www.ledgerlaw.com.
Tags: abuse and neglect, attorney, attorney emery ledger, death lawsuit, decedent, dents, elder claim, elder claimant, elder compensation, emery, emery ledger, fatal consequences, Hire, law, lawsuit, lawsuits, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, neglect, neglect consequences, Negligence, nursing home, prescription drugs, schedule, states, statistics, surviving family, united states, wrongful death, wrongful death attorney, wrongful death claim, wrongful death claims, wrongful death law, wrongful death laws, wrongful death lawsuit, wrongful death lawsuits
Posted in Nursuing Home Abuse | Elder Abuse | No Comments »
Monday, May 17th, 2010
The sudden and unexpected death of a loved one can be both emotionally and financially traumatizing. If the decedent was your spouse, you have lost your life partner as well as the other half of your financial future. If you have children, they have lost not only their parent but someone that contributed financial and emotional guidance. If the decedent was your adult child, aside from having to deal with the nightmare of outliving your child, you may have lost someone that you trusted to care for you in your later years. If the death of your loved one was caused by the negligence of another person or persons, then the loss and the pain are that much worse.
Filing a California wrongful death lawsuit will not bring your loved one back, but it may help ease the financial burden faced by you and your family as a result of the death of your loved one. A wrongful death lawsuit is an action that alleges that your loved one’s death was the result, in whole or in part, of the negligent or willful conduct of the defendant. According to California wrongful death attorney Emery Ledger, a wrongful death lawsuit can only be filed by specific heirs or persons with a relationship to the decedent as outline in the California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.60. Once a wrongful death lawsuit has been filed, your attorney will begin the process of attempting to value the case. This can be a very emotional process as no one wants to put a value on the life of a loved one. Once you and your attorney have reached what you believe to be a reasonable value for the case, your attorney will begin to negotiate with the Defendant or their insurance company. If a settlement amount is agreed upon, then the case will come to a close. If however, you and your attorney are not able to reach a reasonable settlement amount with the Defendant, then your case will eventually move to a jury trial where the jury will determine whether the defendant was negligent and if so, how much to award you for your loss.
At the jury trial phase, there are a number of factors that the jury is allowed to consider when determining the value of the case and some things that the jury cannot consider. Among those things that the jury may consider are: loss of financial support that the claimant will suffer; earning capacity of the deceased; whether the decedent was thrifty or generous with his money; whether the decedent contributed freely to your support; the age of the decedent and your age; the health of the decedent and your health; and the life expectancy of the decedent and your life expectancy. The jury will only consider the shorter of the two life expectancies. In other words, if the decedent was your father, than compensation would be figured through the expected end of his life – not yours. Unlike other types of tort cases, the jury may not consider pain, suffering, emotional distress, mental distress, grief or sorrow that you have experienced as a result of the decedent’s death. The jury may, however, award an amount for loss of support, affection, love, companionship, comfort, society, solace and consortium (if applicable). The statute does not address how to figure this amount but says that damages awarded “under all the circumstances of the case, may be just”.
If you have additional questions regarding a California wrongful death claim, please feel free to contact California wrongful death attorney Emery Ledger at his firm Ledger & Associates either online at www.ledgerlaw.com or at his toll-free number 1-800-300-0001.
Tags: death lawsuit, emotional distress, grief, insurance, insurance company, killed, ledgerlaw.com, Trust, wrongful death, wrongful death attorney, wrongful death claim, wrongful death law, wrongful death laws, wrongful death lawsuit, wrongful death Negligence, wrongful death stress, wrongful death suffering, wrongfuldeath settlement
Posted in Wrongful Death Lawyer | No Comments »
Monday, May 17th, 2010
The birth of a child is one of the most amazing and exciting moments of a parent’s life. After months, or years, of preparation and anticipation you are finally a parent. Every parent’s imagines the future that they will share with their child. No parent imagines that they will outlive their child – much less that their child will be taken from them before they reach adulthood. Losing a child is like having your life taken from you. If you have experienced this profound loss, and you feel that someone was responsible for the loss, then you may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Not surprisingly, accidents are the number one cause of death for children under the age of 18 years old. Clearly, accidents do happen where no one is to blame – where they simply could not have been prevented. Unfortunately though, many times the accident was actually the result of someone’s negligence. Deaths that are the result of car or aviation accidents are frequently the result of negligence. Other common examples are swimming pool accidents, failure to supervise accidents or product liability deaths. Anytime that a person, or company did not use the care that the law requires to protect your child from harm, they are potentially responsible under the theory of negligence and therefore may be sued under a wrongful death lawsuit in the State of California, says California wrongful death attorney Emery Ledger & Ledger & Associates.
No one is implying that it is possible to put a monetary value on the life of a child from a parent’s perspective. Most parents would tell you that their child is priceless. While the result of a wrongful death lawsuit is monetary compensation, it also accomplishes something else – it makes the person, or entity, that was to blame for your child’s accident face up to the responsibility. A wrongful death lawsuit cannot turn back the clock and bring your child back, but it may make a difference for other children in the future. It may force someone to be more careful in the future or force a company to change unsafe practices. Sadly, sometimes it takes a lawsuit for a company to recognize that it is putting people – especially children – in harms way.
If you have suffered the loss of a child, nothing can take away the pain you are going through, but if someone else was responsible for the accident that took the life of your child you may want to consider filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Contact an experienced California wrongful death attorney to find out more about filing as a claimant in a wrongful death lawsuit and holding the person or persons responsible for the death of your child accountable for their negligence. The team at Ledger & Associates have been handling wrongful death lawsuits in the State of California for more than a decade and will treat you will compassion and understanding during this difficult time.
Tags: attorney emery ledger, aviation accident, aviation accidents, compensation, deaths, dents, emery, emery ledger, law, lawsuit, lawsuits, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, liability, monetary compensation, Negligence, product liability, state of california, wrongful death, wrongful death attorney, wrongful death law, wrongful death laws, wrongful death lawsuit, wrongful death lawsuits
Posted in Wrongful Death Lawyer | No Comments »
Monday, May 17th, 2010
Most of us plane for our financial future. We plane for our children’s education. We plan for the time when we will retire with our spouse. We may even plan for the eventual death of one spouse. None of us ever plan to lose a spouse during the prime earning years. None of us factor in what will happen if we suddenly lose the income or household support of one spouse. Unfortunately, the early and unexpected death of a spouse is something that some of us may have to deal with at some point in our life. If the death of your spouse came about through someone else’s negligence, then you may be eligible to file as a claimant in a wrongful death lawsuit.
After the untimely death of a spouse, most people experience grief, anger, depression, denial and sometimes a sense of hopelessness. Whether your spouse was the primary breadwinner in the house or stayed at home and took care of the house and children, they were undoubtedly an integral part of your family. Trying to plan for the future without them may seem impossible. While the emotions you are feeling are normal, at some point you will need to think about the future – for your sake and for the sake of your family.
If the death of your spouse was do to the negligence of someone else, then you may want to consider a wrongful death lawsuit. Examples of negligent deaths include drunk driving accidents, medical malpractice deaths and airplane accidents. This is not an exclusive list; there are many other situations that may qualify as a wrongful death. As a claimant in a wrongful death lawsuit, you may be entitled to financial compensation for the death of your spouse. Of course, nothing can bring your spouse back, but the compensation you may be entitled to through a wrongful death lawsuit may go a long way in securing the financial future of you and your family. Compensation in a wrongful death lawsuit is computed by a complex formula that includes factors such as: earning capacity of the decedent at time of death; education level and future earning potential of the decedent; contribution to household support; loss of affection; loss of consortium; and many others. The idea behind a wrongful death lawsuit is to attempt to put you back in the same financial situation that you were in before the death of your spouse.
Many people do not want to think about lawyers, courts and lawsuits after the death of a spouse. While this is certainly understandable, the financial future of your family is a crucial concern at this point in your life and time may be a critical factor. Most wrongful death lawsuits must be filed within two years of the death. In some situations, the time frame to file is ever shorter – as short as six months. For this reason, if you believe that your spouse’s death may have been the result of someone’s negligence, it is important that you consult with an experienced California wrongful death attorney as soon as possible.
If you would like a confidential detailed evaluation of your case – at no cost to you – from California wrongful death attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates, please contact him at 1-800-300-0001 or visit his website at www.ledgerlaw.com
Tags: accident, accidents, airplane, airplane accident, airplane accidents, attorney, attorney compensation, deaths, decedent, dents, drunk driving accident, drunk driving accidents, emery, emery ledger, grief, law, lawsuit, lawsuits, lawyer, lawyers, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, loss of consortium, medical malpractice, Negligence, plane accident, time of death, untimely death, wrongful death, wrongful death attorney, wrongful death law, wrongful death laws, wrongful death lawsuit, wrongful death lawsuits
Posted in Wrongful Death Lawyer | No Comments »
Saturday, May 15th, 2010
Despite the efforts of state legislators to increase penalties for drinking and driving as well as the numerous public awareness campaigns over the last couple of decades to educate the public about the dangers of drinking and driving, people continue to do so. Not surprisingly, drunk driving accidents continue to top the list of accident causes. Deaths related to drunk driving accidents also persist at an alarming rate. Recent statistics indicate that someone is killed as the result of a drunk driver every 45 minutes in the United States. That adds up to almost 12,000 deaths a year.
For the families of the victims of a drunk driver, the legal system can be frustrating, slow and sometimes may appear unjust. While most states have enacted tougher laws for repeat drunk drivers and even first time drunk drivers, for a variety of reasons many of them will still not spend any meaningful time in prison. Even drunk drivers that are charged with an accident that resulted in a death do not always go to prison. Some of them are not convicted at all and others that are convicted may end up with probation instead of prison time. This may seem like salt poured on an already huge wound for the families of the victims. So what can you do if you have lost a family member as a result of a drunk driver?
One option, according to California wrongful death lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates, it to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Unlike the criminal charges that driver may be facing, a wrongful death claim is civil in nature. It can be filed contemporaneously with the criminal charges or after the criminal case has been resolved. Be aware, however, that it must be filed within the appropriate statute of limitations timeframe which can be anywhere from 180 days to two years.
The two important differences in a wrongful death lawsuit and the criminal charges that the driver may be facing are the burden of proof and the possible results if the driver loses. In a criminal case, if the driver loses, he faces jail time or probation. In a wrongful death lawsuit, if he loses he faces a monetary judgment against him that he must pay to the survivors. Also, in a criminal case, the driver can only be convicted if he is found guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt”. This is the highest burden of proof used under our system of justice and requires that there be virtually no doubt of the defendant’s guilt in order for him to be convicted. It is intended to prevent the innocent from being wrongfully convicted but sometimes also allows the guilty to go free. In a wrongful death lawsuit the burden of proof is “beyond a preponderance of the evidence”. This burden is easier to meet and therefore makes your chances of winning higher. It is possible for a defendant to be found “not guilty” at a criminal trial but then be found culpable in a wrongful death lawsuit. It is for this reason that many families of drunk driving deaths choose to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
If you have lost a loved one to a drunk driver and would like additional information on how to file a wrongful death lawsuit, please contact California wrongful death attorney Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or contact him online at Wrongful Death Laws.
Tags: accident attorney, accident death, accident lawyer, attorney, attorney emery ledger, death lawyer, drunk driving accidents, killed, lawsuit lawywer, lawsuits, lawyer, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, preponderance of the evidence, statute of limitations, survivors, united states, wrongful death, wrongful death attorney, wrongful death claim, wrongful death laws, wrongful death lawsuit, wrongful death lawsuits
Posted in Wrongful Death Lawyer | No Comments »
Friday, May 14th, 2010
A wrongful death claim is a cause of action that asserts that the death of a person was caused by the wrongful or negligent act of another person. Common examples of wrongful death claims are medical malpractice cases where the patient dies, fatal drunk driving accidents and asbestos related deaths. These are only a few of the possible wrongful death claims. As you can see, a wrongful death can come from almost any set of circumstances but all have in common the negligence of another person.
The amount of time that you have to file a wrongful death action can vary from state to state. The type of wrongful death that you are alleging may also affect the time frame within which you must file the claim. Each state determines their own statute of limitations for different types of actions. A statute of limitations is just a legal term for the time frame that you have to file your action. If you do not file within the allotted time frame, you are usually forever barred from filing and subsequently receiving compensation.
In the State of California, California Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1 governs the periods of time within which you must file a wrongful death action in most circumstances. Section 335.1 states that claimants must file a wrongful death action within two years of the death that gave rise to the claim. There are, however, exceptions to the general two year statute of limitations. For instance, if you believe that a government entity or municipality was responsible for the death, then you must put them on notice within 180 days of the death. As you can see, this shortens the time frame considerably. Another example of an exception is for a death caused by the exposure to asbestos. In that case, Section 340.2 applies and requires that the claim be filed within one year of the death of the decedent OR within one year from the date the plaintiff first knew, or through the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known, that the death was caused or contributed to by such exposure – whichever date is later. Lastly, when the claimant in a wrongful death action is a minor, the statute of limitations is tolled – meaning put on hold – until the minor reaches the age of majority. If the death was intentional, as in the case of murder, the statute of limitations may also be extended depending on whether the person was convicted of the crime and whether they are incarcerated.
As you can see, knowing how long you have to file a wrongful death claim is extremely important. In some cases you may only have six months to protect your claim. The law is ever-changing and it is best to check with an experienced wrongful death attorney as soon as you feel that you might have a wrongful death case. If you would like a free detailed evaluation of a potential California wrongful death case, please feel free to contact California wrongful death lawyer Emery Ledger of Ledger & Associates at 1-800-300-0001 or online at www.ledgerlaw.com
Tags: accident, accidents, amount of time to sue, asbestos attorney, california code of civil procedure, cause of action statute of limitation, claimant time frame, compensation, deaths, decedent, dents, drunk driving accident, drunk driving accidents, law, Ledger, ledgerlaw.com, medical malpractice, Negligence, negligent act, plaintiff, state of california, states, statute of limitations, sue government entity, time to claim, wrongful death, wrongful death attorney, wrongful death case, wrongful death claim, wrongful death claims
Posted in Wrongful Death Lawyer | No Comments »
