Wrongful Death Lawyers

A legal procedure where a plaintiff or a small group of plaintiffs act on behalf of a larger group or class of plaintiffs who have all suffered similar injuries or damages. A class action must have a common defendant or defendants. Class actions can arise from injuries that are physical or financial in nature (and less commonly, certain types of nuisances). These plaintiffs work together against the defendant(s) as a class in order to seek remedy for the entire group through a class-action lawsuit or a settlement resulting from negotiation prior to entering the courts. The final awarded compensation or settlement is then divided between the members of the class based on various criteria agreed upon by the class at large. Class actions are commonly utilized in product liability claims, defective vehicle claims and toxic torts.

If you’ve lost a loved one you may be exploring your legal options. If your loved one was involved in a situation such as a truck wreck or motor vehicle accident, a defective product injury, a toxic environment or other disaster, where negligence was involved, you may be able to seek remedy for your losses. You should immediately seek the advice of an experienced wrongful death attorney who practices in Texas or the state where you reside.

Wrongful death claims and survival actions are two very distinct forms of legal proceedings in terms of a death involving negligence. You may have grounds to pursue both forms of legal action in Texas. Tate Law Offices can help you better understand the differences between these two types of actions, and we’re here to help 24/7 should you wish to talk to an attorney about your case. Please call or text us us at 972-499-4813 or use our chat feature or contact form to get a free consultation regarding your wrongful death claim or survival action case.

A surviving spouse, child or parent may file a wrongful death lawsuit in Texas courts to seek compensation for a deceased family member. This allows surviving relatives to be compensated for damages they have suffered due to a fatality involving a loved one. What kind of damages can a family collect for? Medical bills and expenses, funeral expenses, and loss of the deceased’s financial support and companionship.

A survival action aims to collect damages suffered by a victim prior to their death. This could include the cost of medical care, such as hospitalization, any losses due to property damage, pain, suffering, mental anguish and other potential damages that deserve compensation. Survival actions address damages similar to those a plaintiff might seek in a claim that does not involve a fatality. Any compensation obtained is placed into the estate of the deceased to be to dispersed. Therefore, the settlement or the amount of the awarded damages is not distributed directly to those family members surviving the deceased.

Family members may seek to collect compensation via both a survival action and wrongful death claim in the state of Texas, or may only be able to use one or the other, depending on the circumstances. On proper grounds a family can file both actions if the fatality was caused by a third party, the deceased incurred losses due to injury, and the surviving family members were also subject to damages.

The Statue of Limitations in Texas for wrongful death claims and survival actions is two years from the date of of the fatality. There may be exceptions to this, but these are best determined with the help of a qualified wrongful death attorney that practices in the state of Texas. An injury attorney can help you decide which kind of action applies to your claims and guide you through the details and process of filing a lawsuit is proper remedy is not possible through settlement negotiations with the defendant.