The Basics of Compensation and Damages in a Wrongful Death Case As with any personal injury claim, there are specific kinds of compensation that can be recovered. This is no different for a wrongful death claim. There are many different types of damages to be considered when working through a wrongful death claim. These exist...
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in the State of Texas? The state of Texas only allows certain family members, or statutory beneficiaries, to file a wrongful death claim on behalf of their deceased loved one. As we saw on the Explaining the Basics page, if anyone effected by the decedent's passing could file...
A Summary of the Texas Wrongful Death Act When someone dies from a preventable cause, and someone else is responsible for negligence that contributed to that death, the family members of the deceased person are protected under the Texas Wrongful Death Act. Just as the debts due and owed follow the deceased person after death,...
Rights Available to Family Members in a Wrongful Death Case We're sorry for the loss of your loved one. We're sure that you have many questions, and we hope this article will answer some of them. We'll look at who the law says is eligible to file a claim, the kinds of remedies that are...
The Difference Between Wrongful Death and Survival Claims Wrongful death and survival claims both deal with the aftereffects of someone's death. However, there are important distinctions between the two. The main difference is that wrongful death claims are in place to compensate the family members of the deceased for their injuries (mental anguish, loss of...
Losing a loved one is traumatizing. There is no way that we can overstate or empathize with the pain and heartache that you're going through at this time in your life. Further, to make matters worse, that family member may have been a contributor to your monthly bills, so now not only are you emotionally...
Punitive damages function a bit differently than the other categories of damages we've been discussing. They are also referred to as "exemplary damages," and they must be specifically plead in order to be awarded. Let's look briefly at what punitive damages are, how they are decided, and what to do if you have questions about...
What are the Rights of the Spouse in a Wrongful Death Case? As we mentioned in our earlier article, a spouse is considered a statutory beneficiary in the state of Texas. As a result, they can file a wrongful death claim on behalf of their deceased spouse. Let's look a little closer at the different...
What Rights Does a Child Have in a Wrongful Death Case? Children are considered statutory beneficiaries in the state of Texas. As such, a child can sue for the wrongful death of a parent. However, the law also has specific parameters in place regarding who and who is not included in this statue. Let's take...