What Are The Elements Of A Wrongful Death Claim?
The death of a loved one is not just an emotionally traumatic experience, it can also have financial ramifications. As the survivor, you have the right to file a wrongful death claim. In order to be successful in your claim, you have to prove four different elements.
Duty of Due Care
The first element in a wrongful death case is duty of due care. The element refers to the responsibility that a party has to another to ensure his or her safety. For instance, an employer has a duty to ensure that the work environment for employees is safe.
Unless you are unable to prove that there was a responsibility present between your loved one and the other party, your claim could possibly be denied.
Breach of Duty
If you are able to establish that another party had a responsibility to ensure your loved one's safety, you then have to prove that the duty was breached. In other words, the other party failed to keep your loved one safe. The mere fact that your loved one died is not enough proof. You have to specifically show what actions led to your loved one's death.
For instance, if the employer failed to ensure that safeguards were in place to prevent employees from being exposed to dangerous chemicals despite it being legally required and your loved one was exposed, you could point to the employer's actions as a breach of duty.
Causation
Even if you are able to prove responsibility and breach of duty, you still need to prove causation. Causation basically means that you have to show that the actions of the responsible party directly caused your loved one's death.
Using the previous example, it has to be abundantly clear that the exposure to the hazardous chemicals directly caused your loved one's death. Proving causation can sometimes be challenging. For instance, the employer could argue that other environmental factors caused your loved one's death and not the exposure to the chemicals.
Damages
Once proving all of the other elements, you still need to prove the damages that resulted from the loss of your loved one. Damages can extend beyond the actual death. You could sue for pain and suffering, lost wages, loss of companionship, final expenses, and a host of other damages.
Proving each element of a wrongful death case can be difficult, but it is possible. Work with an attorney to determine whether or not your case meets each element.