Longmont Wrongful Death Lawyer
Losing an immediate family member can be one of life’s toughest challenges, especially if it happens unexpectedly. When someone else’s negligence played a role in their passing, you have to navigate the complex legal field on top of grieving your loss. Having an experienced personal injury attorney by your side can prove essential during this challenging time.
Colorado laws provide a handful of recoverable damages in the case of an immediate family’s sudden passing when it results from another person’s actions. While the path to recovery may seem confusing, a Longmont wrongful death lawyer could zealously advocate on your behalf, working to make you and your family whole again.
Understanding Wrongful Death Claims
A wrongful death claim in Colorado can be brought when someone’s immediate family member passes away as a direct result of another person’s or entity’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional actions. It is a civil claim, and it is designed to cover a variety of damages that immediate family members suffer due to the death of their loved one.
Car accidents are often associated with wrongful death claims when someone’s negligent driving causes the death of another person. If the driver was driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, did not obey traffic signals and laws, or was driving distracted, they could be found negligent and subject to a wrongful death claim by the victim’s immediate family members.
A Longmont wrongful death attorney could use the claim to seek to compensate immediate family members for medical expenses, funeral costs, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Who is Entitled to Wrongful Death Claims?
Colorado places certain time limits on who can bring a wrongful death claim within the state. Within the first year after the individual’s passing, only a surviving spouse may bring a wrongful death claim.
There are exceptions to this rule, however. The surviving spouse may elect in writing to allow the heirs of the deceased to bring the claim within the first year. Depending on who survived the deceased, parents may also have the right to bring a wrongful death claim for their child.
After the first year, the heirs of the deceased may bring a claim. In the second year, the spouses of the heirs and any beneficiaries of the deceased may also bring claims.
It is imperative to keep track of the time after death because the statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim in Colorado is only two years. If someone has experienced the unexpected, wrongful death of their spouse or parent recently, it is crucial to contact a Longmont lawyer as soon as possible.
How to Prove Wrongful Death
In a wrongful death claim, the person bringing the claim, the plaintiff, must show that the actions of another caused their family member’s death through negligence, recklessness, or intention. A lot of wrongful death claims in Colorado involve negligence, where a Longmont attorney attempts to prove that the defendant failed to take safe measures in their actions and broke their duty of care to the deceased.
A large majority of negligence-based wrongful death lawsuits are connected to car collisions or accidents involving other types of vehicles or machinery. The operation of cars or other machinery must be done with the safety of others in mind. If someone operates something dangerously and a loved one dies as a result, the immediate family members could be entitled to compensation.
Call a Longmont Wrongful Death Attorney for Assistance
You and your family are not alone when a loved one tragically dies. Colorado laws and practices provide substantial compensation to make you whole again. Your pain and suffering, lost wages, medical expenses, and emotional losses may be covered.
If you have recently lost a loved one from someone else’s negligence, recklessness, or intention, you have time to gain what you are entitled to. Call a Longmont wrongful death lawyer to begin your process of recovery.
