Losing a loved one is an emotional and life-altering experience, especially when their passing stems from someone else’s negligence. While no amount of compensation can erase the pain, understanding what damages you can seek can help ease the financial burden and provide some sense of justice. Whether you’re navigating a wrongful death case or considering survival actions, knowing the types of damages available is a crucial step in moving forward. Continue reading to explore what damages you can seek after a tragic loss.
Medical Expenses
Tragic losses often come after prolonged medical care or emergency treatments that can save a life. These services, from hospital stays to surgeries, usually come with significant costs. You can seek compensation for all expenses incurred due to the accident or injury leading to your loved one’s passing.
This compensation includes invoices for ambulance rides, overnight stays, medications, and long-term treatment costs that attempted to address their injuries. These recoverable expenses alleviate the weight of medical bills so you don’t need to handle them alone during an already heartbreaking time.
Funeral and Burial Costs
Funerals, while necessary, often bring unexpected and overwhelming expenses. Between the costs of burial plots, caskets, and services, many families find these fees a heavy burden on top of their grief. Fortunately, you can seek compensation to cover these necessary costs.
Claims for funeral and burial expenses include everything from arranging commemorative services to securing burial or cremation arrangements for the loved one you lost. By pursuing these claims, families can focus on honoring their loved ones without being financially strained.
Loss of Income
Losing a loved one often comes with losing their financial contributions to the household. For families who relied on their income, this sudden absence can cause significant hardship. Seeking damages for loss of income involves calculating the wages your loved one would have earned up until their retirement and the benefits tied to their job, such as health coverage or pension plans. This element becomes a critical factor when pursuing survival actions since it helps secure the financial stability your family depended on before the tragedy.
Pain and Suffering
Beyond financial losses, we can’t understate the emotional toll of losing someone you love. Though difficult to quantify, courts recognize the need to compensate for the emotional distress, loss of companionship, and psychological effects experienced. These “non-economic” damages capture the personal pain felt by surviving family members.
Whether it’s the void caused by a spouse’s absence, the unfulfilled promise of a parent-child relationship, or the sorrow of life forever changed, seeking damages for pain and suffering acknowledges the profound, lasting impact on your family.
Navigating the legal and emotional complexities of a tragic loss can feel overwhelming. By seeking legal advice, you can better understand how wrongful death and survival actions apply to your situation and start the path toward financial relief and justice. Meeting with an experienced attorney helps you focus on what matters most during such challenging times.
