Henderson, NV Wrongful Death Lawyer

Losing a loved one in an accident is an awful event, and it can throw your family into long-term distress.  Our attorneys fight to get you damages from the responsible parties to help cover funeral and burial costs, end-of-life medical care, and ongoing lost earnings, plus other damages.

When you file your case, our attorneys will do everything in our power to maximize damages and help you get justice for what happened.  Whether your loved one was killed in a car crash, property accident, construction accident, or another event, we can work to get your family the damages you deserve.

For your free case evaluation, call our wrongful death lawyers at Mitchell Rogers Injury Law at (702) 702-2622.

What Constitutes a Wrongful Death Claim?

Wrongful death cases are filed instead of personal injury claims when there is a deadly injury.  These cases are the same sorts of claims your loved one would have been able to file if they lived, but they cover damages for your family as well as the victim’s own damages.

Wrongful Act

A wrongful death case requires a wrongful act.  This typically means some form of “negligence,” though you can also sue for murder, manslaughter, and other criminal, intentional, or reckless killings.

There are four elements of negligence:

• The defendant owed the victim a legal duty.
• The defendant breached that duty.
• That breach caused the victim’s death.
• There are damages the court can compensate (death itself qualifies).

This allows wrongful death claims for all kinds of accidental deaths, including car accidents, property accidents, and more.

Types of Claims

A victim’s death produces two claims that can be filed:

• A survival action is filed by the victim’s estate to recover damages the victim faced before death.
• A wrongful death claim is filed by the victim’s heirs to recover damages the family faces because of the death.

These produce different rules about who can file, who recovers damages, and what damages can be recovered.

Who Files?

Wrongful death claims are filed by the victim’s heirs.  Under NRS 41.085, this is limited to only the people listed in the intestacy statute – i.e., the people who would inherit if the victim had no will.  That leaves the right to sue to their spouse, children, and parents, but it can pass to other relations if there is no spouse, children, or parent to sue.

The survival action is actually filed by the estate through the victim’s personal representative or executor.  This can complicate matters, but that person often is a spouse, parent, or other loved one who can cooperate in bringing the claims together.

Who Benefits?

Regardless of who is suing, the benefits/damages in the lawsuit have to flow to specific beneficiaries.  This includes the children, spouse, parents, etc., in the wrongful death suit and the estate in the survival action.

What Damages Can You Claim?

The damages are divided based on which lawsuit they come under:

Survival Action

This lawsuit recovers the victim’s pre-death damages, such as

• End-of-life medical care
• Pre-death lost wages
• Pre-death pain and suffering.

If the victim lingered for a long time, these damages might be high; if they died instantly, these damages are likely low.

Wrongful Death

This lawsuit recovers damages for the family, including a wide range of economic and non-economic damages, such as

• Reasonable burial and funeral expenses
• Ongoing lost income/financial support
• Lost counsel
• Lost companionship
• Grief and other emotional damages.

FAQs for Wrongful Death Cases in Henderson, NV

What Kinds of Cases Qualify for Wrongful Death Lawsuits?

You can sue for any case where there was a breach of a legal duty that caused the victim’s death, as well as any intentional killing cases.  This means you can sue for

• Car accidents
• Construction accidents
• Property accidents
• Defective products
• Pharmaceutical and medical device deaths
• Medical malpractice
• Murder
• Manslaughter
• And more.

Can Unmarried Partners Claim Damages?

Unfortunately, the law does not allow unmarried partners to sue for wrongful death, only spouses.  However, if you are the parent/guardian of the victim’s children, you can potentially sue on their behalf, whether you were married to the victim or not.

Additionally, if you were in the victim’s will, then you would be able to get money through their estate, potentially including some of the survival action damages.

Does a Will Affect Your Claim?

If the victim died with a will, it would determine who is appointed as the executor of the estate, and thus who gets to bring the survival action.  It would also dictate who gets money from the estate, which would include any of the victim’s pre-death damages.

However, a will cannot change who gets to file or benefit from the wrongful death statute; that is only the spouse, children, parents, and other listed heirs.

Can Siblings or Other Family Sue?

The right to sue for wrongful death goes to the victim’s heirs under Nevada law.  This starts with the spouse and children, but if there is no spouse/child, it passes to the parents.  Similarly, if there is no parent, it passes to siblings, then to the next closest family members if there is no one at the previous closest level.

Talk to a lawyer about how this works in complex situations.

How Long Do I Have to File?

Wrongful death and survival claims need to be filed within 2 years in most cases.  Note that this would usually mean 2 years from the date of injury for an injury case and 2 years from the date of death for a wrongful death case, meaning there might be a difference in filing deadlines if the victim lingered for some time between injury and death.

In any case, you should file much sooner and contact a lawyer as soon as you can after the injury or death.

Call Our Wrongful Death Lawyers in Henderson, NV Today

Reach out to our wrongful death lawyers at Mitchell Rogers Injury Law for a free case review: (702) 702-2622.