It is truly tragic when a fatal accident caused by someone else’s negligence results in the death of a loved one. To assist immediate family members in these terribly unfortunate situations, South Carolina law allows the surviving family members to make wrongful death claims and file survival actions. The purpose of wrongful death claims and survival actions are to compensate the surviving family for the untimely loss of a loved one in a fatal car accident or truck accident, motorcycle accident or any other fatality caused by someone else’s negligence. The family may be offered some kind of financial settlement but risk accepting a too-low settlement without representation from experienced wrongful death attorneys.
A wrongful death action may be brought by the spouse, children, parents, siblings or closest living relative of the deceased person for money lost because of the death. In a wrongful death action, the family can sue for the monetary loss the family is now deprived of due to the loss of the deceased persons earnings.
These beneficiaries may also sue for compensation for any hospital, nursing, medical, funeral and estate administration expenses that they had to pay because of the injuries that resulted in the wrongful death.
A survival action is different from a wrongful death claim. A survival action is like the personal injury lawsuit that the deceased person would have filed if he or she had survived the accident. Death does not take away the cause of action or claim. The cause of action survives the death of the injured person, and the decedent’s personal representative files the lawsuit on behalf of the deceased person.
If your spouse, parent or child died as a result of the negligence of someone else, call Harbin & Burnett LLP today at 1(888)821-0247 or contact us online for a free, no-obligation consultation with an experienced wrongful death attorney. Let Harbin & Burnett LLP be your team of lawyers who will fight for your rights.
