26+ Years of Experience as a Wrongful Death Lawyer Serving Bakersfield

In California, wrongful deaths happen every day and in every conceivable manner. Surviving loved ones may not know where to turn after the sudden death of a family member. If the death was an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, schedule a consultation to discuss your family’s rights with a Bakersfield wrongful death lawyer at The Paris Firm.

If someone’s negligence is the reason for someone else’s death, the negligent party can be held liable with a wrongful death claim, a legal claim for economic compensation. A wrongful death lawyer can offer the legal guidance a wrongful death victim’s survivors may need.

Which Deaths Are Wrongful Deaths?

Wrongful deaths resulting from fatal accidents can occur whenever:

1. Reckless, negligent, distracted, or intoxicated drivers get behind the wheel.
2. Landlords do not maintain their properties.
3. Consumers use defective products.
4. Physicians misdiagnose serious illnesses or make surgical mistakes.
5. One person’s negligence causes someone else’s avoidable and unnecessary death.

When someone intentionally causes another person’s death, a prosecutor may file criminal homicide charges while family members pursue a civil wrongful death lawsuit, but if no criminal charges are filed, surviving family members may still file a wrongful death claim.

What Can The Paris Firm Do for Your Family?

No amount of money can assuage your family’s grief if you suddenly lose a loved one. Still, a wrongful death action can at least help your family meet immediate financial obligations. It also lets the family hold accountable the party or parties with liability for their loved one’s death.

Every wrongful death case is unique, so you’ll need personalized legal advice from an experienced Bakersfield wrongful death attorney. You can schedule a case evaluation with The Paris Firm by calling 909-325-6185.

At your free consultation, attorney Eric Paris can explain your family’s rights as wrongful death survivors. If you become a client at The Paris Firm, he can negotiate on your family’s behalf and, if necessary, fight in court for the justice your family needs and the compensation you deserve.

Who May Bring a Wrongful Death Claim?

Every state allows recovery of financial damages for wrongful death. What varies is who has the standing to take legal action. In California, your right to bring a wrongful death action depends on your relationship to the decedent.

Those with the standing to bring a wrongful death claim in California are the decedent’s surviving spouse or domestic partner and children. If there is no surviving partner, spouse, or children, a wrongful death lawsuit may be pursued by anyone who would be a legal heir, including the decedent’s siblings or parents.

Stepchildren may file a claim if they can prove they were financially dependent on their stepparent, and so may a “putative spouse” and that person’s children. (California law considers someone a putative spouse when a marriage is invalidated, but one party believed the marriage was valid.)

What is a Survival Action?

Two slightly different types of lawsuits arise from wrongful deaths in California: standard wrongful death claims and “survival actions.” If your family experiences a wrongful death, you should know the difference and understand your legal options.

A survival action can be pursued only if the decedent did not immediately pass away after the fatal incident. If the decedent survived for even a short time between the incident and the death, a survival action may be appropriate.

What Can You Recover With a Survival Action?

Only the personal representative of a decedent’s estate may file a survival action. If the decedent did not name a personal representative, the decedent’s “successor in interest” (the beneficiary of the wrongful death victim’s estate) may bring the action.

Survival actions let you recover what a loved one could have recovered with an injury claim if that person had survived: medical expenses, lost wages, and more. Survival actions and wrongful death claims are usually separate, but they may sometimes be combined into a single lawsuit.

How Are Wrongful Death Cases Resolved?

Wrongful death cases are usually resolved out of court when attorneys for each side reach an agreement that is acceptable to both the plaintiffs (surviving family members) and the defendant (the presumably at-fault party). Very few wrongful death cases go to trial.

Cases go to trial only if liability for the wrongful death is disputed or if no fair settlement offer is made in the private negotiations. When a case goes to trial, the plaintiff’s attorney must show jurors that:

1. The defendant legally owed a duty of care to the decedent.
2. The defendant breached the duty of care, directly causing the wrongful death.

In a traffic-related case, your lawyer must prove the defendant breached the duty of care by driving recklessly or carelessly. Your lawyer then must prove the decedent “more likely than not” passed away due to the defendant’s negligent driving and for no other reason.

How Are Job-Related Wrongful Deaths Handled?

California workplace fatalities are usually covered exclusively by workers’ compensation insurance, which provides benefits to survivors without having to prove an employer was negligent or should be held liable.

California families are usually prohibited from suing employers directly. There are exceptions. Wrongful death lawsuits can be brought against employers for intentional, egregious misconduct or against third parties (such as equipment manufacturers) whose negligence caused the death.

At The Paris Firm, attorney Eric Paris can advise you whether a wrongful death claim can be brought against your deceased loved one’s employer or against a third party in a job-related wrongful death case.

It’s Imperative to Act Quickly

Grieving families need time after a wrongful death. Even talking about your loved one’s wrongful death may be difficult. Still, you should act as quickly as possible to seek the advice and services of a Bakersfield wrongful death lawyer at The Paris Firm. In California, the statute of limitations for wrongful death lawsuits is two years from the date of the decedent’s death.

Claims involving medical malpractice must be initiated within one year, and any claim against a state or local government entity must be filed within six months. You should speak to a lawyer at The Paris Firm while the evidence in the case and the memories of any witnesses are still fresh.

You may not be ready to deal with the legal and emotional issues a wrongful death claim entails. Attorney Eric Paris can be sensitive to your family’s feelings and needs while pursuing the legal process to recover financial damages and secure the justice your family is entitled to under the law. He can identify all possible compensation sources and act to hold the negligent accountable.

Schedule a Free Case Evaluation

If your family loses a loved one in the Bakersfield area because someone else was negligent, The Paris Firm can help. Your initial consultation with our firm is free, and you’ll owe us no lawyer’s fee until we recover your family’s compensation.

With more than 26 years of legal experience representing the survivors of wrongful death victims, Bakersfield wrongful death attorney Eric Paris knows what steps to take on your family’s behalf.

In Bakersfield, contact The Paris Firm at 909-325-6185. At your free consultation, attorney Eric Paris can review your wrongful death case, help you understand your family’s options, and help you decide on the appropriate legal action.