CARLINEVILLE WRONGFUL DEATH LAWYER

Every day, many Carlinville, Illinois residents sustain injuries from acts of negligence and misconduct. Motor vehicle accidents, slip and fall incidents, workplace mishaps, and various other causes can generate incredibly damaging or life-threatening injuries. When one party injures another in Illinois, state law upholds the victim’s right to hold the other party accountable for the losses they caused. Unfortunately, not all victims of personal injuries survive their experiences.

Compassionate Legal Counsel for Carlinville, Illinois Wrongful Death Claims

If you have recently lost a family member due to the negligence or misconduct of any other party in Carlinville or surrounding areas of Illinois, it’s easy to feel lost and distressed when it comes to resolving the aftermath of the death, ensuring accountability for the incident, and settling the surviving family’s economic concerns. A wrongful death occurs whenever one party is responsible for causing the death of another individual through a failure to exercise reasonable care, a failure to uphold a specific duty of care, or intentional misconduct of any kind.

Brandenburg & Rees, LLP, has assisted many Carlinville, Illinois clients with a wide variety of civil claims for damages, including wrongful death claims. If you believe another party caused the recent death of a loved one, our team can assist you in holding them accountable for the economic impact of the death and the pain and suffering you and your family have felt in response. We know the challenges you are likely to face in your impending wrongful death suit and want to help you approach this situation with peace of mind.

Filing a Wrongful Death Claim in Carlinville, Illinois

A wrongful death claim pertains to a death caused by an act of negligence, an act of illegal misconduct, or medical malpractice. Whenever one party bears fault for the death of a person, the victim’s surviving loved ones have the right to file a wrongful death claim. In some ways, a wrongful death claim effectively replaces the personal injury suit the victim could have filed had they survived. However, special statutes apply to wrongful death claims you must understand to succeed with any recovery efforts you pursue.

Money cannot bring back your lost loved one, but it can help your family resolve the economic strains caused by the death and compensate you on some level for the tragedy of the experience. However, success with your wrongful death claim requires meeting various procedural requirements, and state law determines who has the right to file a wrongful death claim and the damages they may seek from the defendant.

Illinois upholds a unique law compared to most other states when it comes to the right to file a wrongful death claim. Only the personal representative of the deceased’s estate may file a wrongful death claim. While most other states follow the rule of intestate succession and acknowledge the right of the surviving family to pursue a wrongful death claim, Illinois law requires a personal representative of the deceased’s estate to represent the case. If the deceased did not have an estate plan in place, the court would appoint a personal representative.

Damages in a Carlinville, Illinois Wrongful Death Suit

A personal injury case seeks compensation for the victim’s damages, but a wrongful death claim focuses on the damages sustained by the victim’s family. State law allows a wrongful death action to seek compensation for:

• The surviving spouse’s loss of consortium, companionship, and affection from the deceased. This may sound difficult to put into monetary terms, but your Carlinville, Illinois wrongful death attorney can assist you in determining a fair amount of compensation to seek for the lost intimacy you had with your spouse.
• The surviving family’s grief and emotional distress resulting from the death. This is another aspect of your claim which requires advice from an experienced attorney. Brandenburg & Rees, LLP, will carefully review the details of the family’s experiences following a wrongful death to ensure they receive suitable compensation for their emotional distress.
• Reasonable funeral and burial expenses for the deceased.
• Compensation for the surviving family’s loss of guidance, moral support, instruction, and education the deceased would have provided had they survived.
• Lost income and financial support provided by the deceased.

In the event the deceased did not die immediately from the defendant’s actions, they may have incurred various damages between their final injury and their time of death. For example, they may have incurred expensive medical bills during attempts at lifesaving care. These are damages to the estate. While technically separate from the damages available to the deceased’s family from a wrongful death claim, the representative of the deceased’s estate has the right to seek accountability from the defendant for the estate’s losses as well.

What to Expect from Your Illinois Wrongful Death Attorney

Facing a wrongful death case in Illinois can be incredibly challenging, but the right attorney can significantly impact your experience during the proceedings ahead of you. While the emotional stress of the situation and your everyday responsibilities can make it difficult to focus on the legal aspects surrounding your loved one’s untimely death, a good attorney can provide clarity and reassurance in this difficult time.

Brandenburg & Rees, LLP, has extensive professional experience representing wrongful death claims for clients in Carlinville and surrounding communities of Illinois from our Carlinville office and can help you make clearer sense of your legal options. We’ll assist you in determining liability for your loved one’s death, calculate the full scope of damages you can seek from the defendant, and prepare you for the proceedings ahead of you.

Our team will strive to resolve our client’s civil suit as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, swift settlement may not be possible in every wrongful death action. Our team is prepared to represent you in court if necessary. Ultimately, whatever your family’s wrongful death case may entail, you will be best prepared to meet the challenges ahead of you with the legal counsel you can trust. Contact Brandenburg & Rees, LLP, today to schedule a consultation with our firm and learn more about the legal services we can offer your family after an unexpected wrongful death in Carlinville, Illinois.