Compassionate Miami Wrongful Death Attorney
We want to begin by offering our deepest and most sincere condolences to you and your family. The sudden and unexpected loss of a loved one is a devastating event. When that loss was caused by the wrongful act or negligence of another person or company, the grief is often compounded by a profound sense of injustice and anger. While we understand that no legal action can ever truly compensate for your loss or heal your pain, it can provide a path to justice and accountability.
Â
A wrongful death claim is a way to honor your loved one by holding the responsible parties accountable and securing the financial stability your family needs to face an uncertain future. At Ace Your Case, our Miami wrongful death attorney team is here to provide strong, respectful, and compassionate guidance through this incredibly difficult time.
Seek Justice for Your Loved One. Schedule a Free, Confidential Consultation.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Florida?
Florida’s Wrongful Death Act is very specific about who can seek compensation after a fatal accident. The lawsuit is filed by the personal representative of the deceased’s estate. This representative then acts on behalf of the estate and the qualifying “survivors” to recover damages.
Under the Florida Statutes, “survivors” typically include:
- The Spouse: The surviving husband or wife of the deceased.
- Minor Children: Children under the age of 25.
- Adult Children: If there is no surviving spouse, adult children may be considered survivors.
- Parents: The parents of a deceased minor child, or the parents of an adult child if there are no other survivors.
- Dependent Blood Relatives: Other blood relatives or adoptive siblings who were partly or wholly dependent on the deceased for support or services.
Â
An experienced wrongful death lawyer in Miami-Dade can help you determine who the eligible survivors are and ensure the claim is filed correctly on behalf of all entitled family members.
Types of Compensation Available to Your Family
A wrongful death claim seeks to recover the full scope of losses suffered by both the surviving family members and the deceased’s estate. We fight to secure the maximum compensation available, which may include:
Damages for Surviving Family Members
- Loss of Support and Services: The value of the income and services the deceased would have provided to the family, both now and in the future.
- Loss of Companionship and Protection: For a surviving spouse, this compensates for the loss of their marital partner’s love, companionship, and society.
- Loss of Parental Companionship and Guidance: For surviving minor children, this compensates for the profound loss of a parent’s guidance, instruction, and presence.
- Mental Pain and Suffering: Compensation for the deep emotional and psychological anguish suffered by each qualifying survivor due to the loss.
Damages Recoverable by the Estate
- Lost Earnings: The value of the earnings the deceased would have accumulated from the date of injury to the date of death.
- Medical and Funeral Expenses: The full cost of any medical treatment related to the final injury, as well as the funeral and burial expenses paid by the estate or a family member.
How We Can Help: Lifting the Legal Burden
During a time of immense grief, your family should not have to bear the additional stress of dealing with insurance companies, legal paperwork, and complex investigations. When you entrust your case to us, we handle the entire legal process from start to finish. Our commitment to you includes:
- Conducting a Thorough Investigation: We will immediately work to gather all evidence related to the fatal accident claim in Miami, identify all at-fault parties, and build a powerful case.
- Handling All Communications: We will take over all communications with insurance adjusters and the at-fault party’s lawyers, shielding you from their questions and pressure tactics.
- Consulting with Experts: We work with economists and other experts to accurately calculate the full financial impact of your loss over a lifetime.
- Providing Compassionate Guidance: We will be there to answer your questions and provide support at every step, allowing your family the space to grieve and heal.
You Have a Limited Time to Act: The Florida Statute of Limitations
It is critical to understand that your time for losing a loved one to negligence and seeking justice is limited. In most cases, the state of Florida imposes a strict two-year statute of limitations for filing a wrongful death lawsuit. This means the claim must be filed within two years of the date of your loved one’s death. If you miss this deadline, your family will likely be permanently barred from ever recovering compensation. This makes it essential to contact an attorney as soon as you are able to do so to protect your rights.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a wrongful death claim different from a criminal homicide case?
A criminal case is brought by the state to punish the wrongdoer, with penalties like prison time. A wrongful death claim is a civil case brought by the family to recover financial compensation for their losses. A person can be acquitted in criminal court but still be held liable in a civil wrongful death case because the standard of proof is lower.
What if my loved one was partially at fault for the accident?
Florida follows a “pure comparative negligence” rule. This means your family can still recover damages even if your loved one was partially at fault. The total compensation award will simply be reduced by your loved one’s percentage of fault.
How much does it cost to hire a Miami wrongful death attorney?
We handle these sensitive cases on a contingency fee basis. This means you pay absolutely no upfront fees or out-of-pocket costs. Our fee is a percentage of the compensation we successfully recover for your family. If we do not win, you owe us nothing.
Our Firm Is Here To Help
Plantation Personal Injury FAQs
When Is It the Right Time to Call a Personal Injury Lawyer?
The right time to call is as soon as possible after your accident. There are many reasons why you need to begin the legal process as quickly as you can. The legal process may even begin without you, with many calls from the insurance company trying to either rush you or to pressure you to give a statement. They may try to catch you unaware and trick you into compromising your legal rights. Hiring an attorney could prevent this from happening.
Â
Equally important, as time passes from the time of your accident, the evidence that could help your claim can become harder to find. People might quickly clear the scene of the accident, and you may lose the ability to contact witnesses. The witnesses that you have may begin to lose their recollection of what they saw. When you hire a personal injury lawyer, they will get to work immediately to gather the evidence before it is lost.
Â
Calling a lawyer to get started on your case is a crucial step in the legal process. Knowing that you have someone on the job with the experience and tenacity to fight for you can give you at least some peace of mind during an undoubtedly difficult time.
How Do Insurance Settlement Negotiations Work?
An insurance claim is just like any other negotiation. You have a number in mind for what you think that you should receive for your injuries, and the insurance company has a much lower number in mind for what it wants to pay. Your insurance claim begins when your Plantation personal injury attorney files a demand letter with the insurance company. This is when the adjuster goes to work to try to save money for their bosses.
The insurance adjuster may outright deny your claim or question liability. They may come back with a settlement offer. When the number seems low, and it will, know that this is just their opening offer. Your Plantation injury attorney will likely reject the offer and respond with your own demand.
Eventually, you will lower your number, and the insurance company will raise theirs, and you could meet somewhere in the middle. This is a time-honored dance that personal injury lawyers have been doing with insurance companies since the advent of courtrooms. Even when you seem very far apart from the insurance company, most cases eventually will settle.
What Happens After I File a Personal Injury Lawsuit?
Filing a personal injury lawsuit is an early part of the claim process. Most cases will never go far enough to see the inside of a courtroom. Statistically speaking, a vast majority of personal injury cases are settled out of court. However, if your case does make it to court, you should expect going into it that the trial process may take one to two years to complete. The legal system is far from rushed, as courts and judges have busy schedules and full dockets.
In the short term, you can expect motions and attempts to obtain evidence. Many people associate a lawsuit with a trial, but that only happens after many months of the nuts and bolts of the legal system. The phase of your case that will take the longest time is discovery. This is when the two sides obtain evidence that the other has in their possession. At this point, you may even need to sit for a deposition.
Filing a lawsuit will not cut off settlement negotiations. As was previously mentioned, most cases will settle without a trial. If anything, litigation may give each side more incentive to settle. The two parties usually continue negotiating right up until the point when the jury is seated.
What Evidence Can Prove My Injury Claim?
Negligence is the basis of every personal injury claim. When you file a lawsuit in court, you have the burden of proof. It will be up to you to show that what you say is more likely than not to have happened. You need to back your claim up with evidence.
Â
Your Plantation personal injury lawyer will work to gather things that can backup your side of the story, including:
— Witness statements from people who say your injury or accident
— Pictures of the scene of your accident
— Security camera footage
— Expert witness testimony that could reconstruct the accident
— Maintenance logs of the area or vehicle involved
— Medical records that can help prove damages
Â
These are things that can be difficult to get on your own and piece together to tell the story of what happened. Injury lawyers in Plantation, Florida, know how to both get the evidence and use it to prove that someone else was responsible for your accident.
What if I Cannot Work Due to My Injuries?
Your personal injury damages include both economic and non-economic compensation. Economic compensation aims to pay you back for the actual money that you lost. This includes bills that you paid and earnings you lost. This specifically pays you back for lost wages from your job when you are unable to work. Since you would have worked, this is money out of your pocket.
Lost wages in a personal injury settlement are much broader than you think. Of course, this includes the time that you have already missed from work. It also encompasses time that you will miss from work in the future. You do not need to outright miss work to receive compensation for this. For example, if you were qualified for a promotion but cannot get it now because your injury limits you in the type of work that you can do, you can get compensation for the reduction in your earning capacity.
Lost wages are often a very contested part of your personal injury claim because you can bet that the insurance company will see things differently to try to lower its bill. They may dispute what your possible earnings are or use a lower rate of inflation to calculate what they may be in the future.
Hear It From Our Clients
“Ace Your Case Excellent Attorneys”
Personal injury attorneys Craig Posner and Eric Feingold are both excellent attorneys, but more importantly, they are excellent people. I have seen first hand their hard work and dedication to clients. I would not hesitate to recommend their services to others.
“Great Guys Who Take Their Job Seriously”
Great guys who take their job seriously. They took care of me when I had my accident and made sure I was walked through 100% of the way.
“Pleasure And Blessing To Have Ace Your Case Represent My Family”
It has been a pleasure and blessing to have Ace Your Case represent my family. They always kept me updated on our case. The staff was excellent they always got back to me on questions I had. I highly recommend them and will continue to use them if needed.
“Not Only Very Efficient But Caring As Well”
These lawyers are not only very efficient, but caring as well. I would not hesitate to refer them to anyone.
“I Highly Recommend Them!”
Big thanks to Eric and Doug for doing a great job with the handling of my auto accident. I highly recommend them!
