When a person or company behaves carelessly or fails in fulfilling a legal obligation to keep others safe and a death happens because of it, surviving loved ones may be entitled to significant compensation for their devastating loss. Finding the right legal advocate can help those who have been left behind to get the money they deserve.
A personal injury attorney in Belleville from Drafahl Law Firm has extensive experience in wrongful death claims and is ready to fight for you.
Give us a call at (314) 300-6260 or contact us online today to schedule your free consultation and find out more.
What to Look for When Choosing a Belleville Wrongful Death Attorney
In Illinois, wrongful deaths happen every day. Unintentional injuries — 6,036 to be exact — were the fourth highest cause of death for all ages in Illinois in 2019, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
With so much money at stake after a death, surviving loved ones pursuing a wrongful death case need a committed, compassionate attorney with solid experience handling these types of claims.
You will find the attorney you are looking for at Drafahl Law Firm. Some of the many reasons why we stand apart from the competition and are the firm you should turn to include:
- Our extensive professional recognition, as our attorneys have received numerous awards and accolades including being designated as “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers and Top 40 Under 40 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers
- Our long history of satisfied clients who have stated in testimonials that we “represent what attorneys should be,” and that we were “able to increase the at-fault insurance carrier’s offer to me by roughly 60% in less than a week”
- Our many past successful wrongful death cases in which we recovered millions of dollars in compensation for clients
- Our negotiation skills and litigation experience ensure we can resolve your claim in or out of court depending on which approach maximizes your wrongful death compensation and allows you to resolve your claim effectively
For these and many other reasons, Drafahl Law Firm should earn your trust after you’ve suffered unspeakable loss.
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How A Lawyer Can Help You Handle Your Wrongful Death Claim
After your loved one has lost their life, Drafahl Law Firm will take the steps needed to get justice. Our firm will:
- Help you to determine who is eligible to bring a wrongful death claim under Illinois’ 740 ILCS 180/0.01 statute. This can include spouses, surviving kids or descendants, parents, and siblings
- Help you to identify all defendants responsible for the death, which is important to ensure there is enough insurance coverage available to cover a lifetime of loss
- Gather evidence proving the cause of the death and the defendant’s responsibility in the fatality
- Negotiate a settlement outside of court when possible to resolve your claim quickly so you can begin to move forward
- Pursue a civil case in court when it’s not possible to get full and fair compensation for all of your losses through settlement negotiations
One of the most common culprits of wrongful deaths are car accidents — if a loved one was hit by another car and succumbed to fatal injuries, contact a car accident attorney in Belleville to get the justice they deserve.
Wrongful Death In Belleville?
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Leading Causes of Wrongful Death
Wrongful death claims arise from a range of circumstances where another party’s intentional actions or neglect lead to loss of life. Understanding the most common causes can help families recognize when they may have a legal right to hold someone accountable.
Motor Vehicle Accidents
Car, truck, and motorcycle crashes remain a leading source of wrongful death cases. These often happen because of distracted or impaired driving, speeding, reckless maneuvers, poorly maintained roads, or manufacturer defects. When the negligence of a driver, employer, or vehicle maker is to blame, surviving family members may have grounds for a claim.
Medical Malpractice
These tragic deaths occur when a doctor, nurse, or other healthcare provider fails to follow accepted standards of care, resulting in fatal injury or complications. Medication errors, surgical mistakes, missed diagnoses, and delayed treatment are common contributing factors.
Workplace Accidents
Certain jobs, such as construction, manufacturing, or trucking, carry a higher risk of fatal incidents. Wrongful death at work usually involves failures in safety procedures, lack of training, faulty equipment, or negligent third-party contractors on job sites. In some cases, the loved ones will file for death benefits through workers’ compensation insurance. In others, a third party (someone other than the employer) might be liable, which could open up the possibility of a lawsuit.
Defective Products
In some cases, life is lost due to dangerous products, such as defective vehicles, household appliances, medical devices, or toxic materials. Manufacturers, designers, and retailers can be held liable if a product defect directly causes someone’s death.
Premises Liability
Fatal accidents can result from unsafe property conditions. Slip-and-fall injuries, unmarked hazards, building code violations, or negligent security may all lead to wrongful death suits brought against landlords, companies, or homeowners who failed to maintain a safe environment.
Wrongful death has many potential causes, but in each situation the loss could often have been prevented by someone taking reasonable care.
Eligibility to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit
When a loved one has passed away due to another party’s wrongdoing or negligence, not just anyone can choose to file a wrongful death lawsuit. In Illinois, specific laws determine who can bring such a claim and who may receive potential compensation.
The Personal Representative Files the Lawsuit
In Illinois, a wrongful death lawsuit is almost always filed by the “personal representative” of the deceased individual’s estate. This person serves as the official legal party for the case and is responsible for acting on behalf of all beneficiaries. The personal representative may be:
- Named in a will
- Designated in other estate documents
- Appointed by a court (if no one has been chosen ahead of time, or if disputes arise)
Being named as the personal representative does not mean this person is the sole recipient (or recipient at all) of any money or award from the lawsuit. The representative simply holds the legal authority to begin and handle the case.
Illinois Statute of Limitations in Wrongful Death Cases
In Illinois, parties interested in bringing a wrongful death claim must be aware of the applicable statute of limitations. This law outlines the time you have to file your lawsuit. If you do not meet the deadline, you generally lose the right to seek compensation through the courts for the loss of your loved one.
Standard Deadline: Two Years from the Date of Death
Under Illinois law, most wrongful death actions must be initiated within two years of the date of the death. This is codified in the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180/2(d).
(d) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e) of this Section, every such action shall be commenced within 2 years after the death of such person…
In practice, this means that the clock starts running on the actual date of the person’s passing, and not when the accident or injury originally occurred.
Timing here is strict; failing to file within the two-year window will usually bar your case completely. However, Illinois law recognizes that not every situation is so straightforward. Certain circumstances may allow for extended deadlines.
Exception 1: Violent Crimes Resulting in Death
When a wrongful death is tied to violent or intentional criminal conduct, the law extends the statute of limitations because of how complex and serious these situations are. Actions
Involving Violent Intentional Conduct
If the death resulted from violent or intentional actions, a wrongful death lawsuit can be filed within 5 years of the date of death.
Criminal Prosecution For Certain Charges
When a defendant is being prosecuted for a crime directly tied to the death (such as first-degree murder, homicide of an unborn child, second-degree murder, manslaughter, reckless homicide, or drug-induced homicide), a civil action for wrongful death may be brought within one year following the final disposition of the relevant criminal case. “Final disposition” generally means once all the criminal proceedings, including appeals, are done.
Exception 2: Beneficiaries Who Are Minors Under Age 18
In some situations involving minor beneficiaries, Illinois law may allow additional time to pursue claims connected to the wrongful death.
Why You Shouldn’t Wait Until the Deadline Approaches in a Wrongful Death Case
When you are dealing with the loss of someone you love, dealing with legal deadlines may feel overwhelming. You might feel like the two-year deadline is plenty of time, and there’s no need to file a claim right away; the law gives you some breathing room, which is nice.
That being said, you are generally putting yourself at a disadvantage if you wait and file too close to the deadline. Here’s why:
- Evidence gets harder to secure: Witness memories fade over time, accident scenes change, and physical or digital records can be lost or destroyed.
- Case preparation is demanding: Wrongful death cases can be complex. It takes time for lawyers to gather facts, contact all necessary parties, determine liability, and get supporting documents in order.
- Financial relief is delayed: Many families need help covering funeral costs, ongoing bills, or lost income. Starting the claim as soon as possible means those benefits may come much sooner.
Taking action sooner rather than later is always a good idea, just to make sure you have the strongest case possible. We know this isn’t an easy situation to deal with, but when you contact us, we’ll handle all the legal details and you can focus on taking care of yourself and your loved ones.
Who Can Recover Compensation?
While only the personal representative can file the claim, multiple individuals may qualify to benefit from any compensation awarded by the court or agreed upon in settlement. Illinois law considers:
- The surviving spouse of the deceased
- The deceased’s children, including adult children
- Certain other next of kin (such as parents or siblings), depending on the situation
The distribution depends partly on the level of dependence and the nature of each relationship to the deceased. Courts consider a family member’s financial dependence and the actual loss suffered.
Types of Damages Available in Illinois Wrongful Death Claims
When a loved one dies because of another’s negligence or wrongful conduct, the law seeks to provide some measure of compensation for surviving family members. Damages in Illinois wrongful death cases address both financial and emotional harm. The categories of damages you may be able to get include:
Economic Damages
Economic damages cover the concrete, measurable financial losses created by the death. Courts often look closely at details like age, earning capacity, and how many people depended upon the deceased for everyday support and income.
These damages may include:
- Lost future financial support, which is what the loved one would likely have contributed to the family through his or her expected work life
- Loss of benefits, such as health care, retirement, or pensions that were being provided or are expected in the future
- Funeral and burial expenses, including transportation, memorials, or other documented costs
- Loss of household services and contributions that the deceased provided, which now create added expenses for the family
Assessing these damages requires looking at evidence such as employment records, pay history, benefits, life expectancy, and contributions to the home or children.
Non-Economic Damages
Illinois law also recognizes that a sudden death severely affects the emotional, social, and everyday lives of family members. These damages often include:
- Grief, sorrow, and mental suffering of surviving family members
- Loss of companionship, which usually refers to loss of love, friendship, emotional support, and day-to-day closeness
- Loss of guidance and instruction to children from a parent
- Loss of consortium, which is the effect the death has had on the spouse
The exact non-economic damages available depends on the specifics of your case and your relationship with the person you lost.
Survival Claims
In addition to a wrongful death claim, Illinois law allows families to bring what is called a survival claim. This claim is to recover damages that your loved one suffered before they passed away – so it’s more about their pain and losses, and not yours or your family’s.
If the person who passed away would have been able to file a lawsuit to recover certain damages, this right essentially passes to their estate, and the claim can be filed through a survival action.
Some of the most common expenses that are recoverable in this type of lawsuit include:
- Medical bills related to the final injury or illness: All expenses incurred for hospitalizations, surgeries, medications, procedures, or any care as a direct result of the injury leading to death may be claimed under a survival action.
- Pain and suffering before death: If the person experienced pain or distress between the accident and their death, a survival action can recover compensation for these.
- Lost wages incurred before death: If the person survived for a period but was unable to work due to the incident, income lost between their injury and their death is typically recoverable under a survival claim.
The survival claim is generally filed on behalf of the person’s estate; any money recovered doesn’t go directly to beneficiaries. The money will then be distributed based on the person’s will or inheritance rules of the state.
Punitive Damages Under Survival Claims
In rare circumstances, courts in Illinois may also consider punitive damages as part of a survival claim. These damages go beyond compensation and are intended to punish and deter extremely harmful behavior. Punitive damages are not available automatically in every wrongful death case.
They are only given when the defendant acts with evil motive, which generally means situations involving intentional misconduct or extremely reckless behavior showing a conscious disregard for the safety of others.
Understanding the range of possible compensation is especially important for families considering a wrongful death lawsuit in Illinois.
How Wrongful Death Compensation Is Distributed
When a family receives compensation after a wrongful death case in Illinois, the law attemps to distribute them based on the impact of the loss for each surviving family member. Courts tend to look at the following factors:
- Financial dependence: Family members who relied on the deceased for income or everyday support (like a spouse or young children) may receive a larger portion of the compensation.
- Closeness of relationship: Spouses, children, and sometimes parents can all be eligible, but someone with a distant or minor connection usually will not receive as much, or anything.
- Emotional loss: Besides financial contribution, courts can also consider the impact of losing the loved one’s support, guidance, and companionship.
- Any special needs: If a survivor has particular medical or educational needs that the deceased would have supported, the court can consider this when making a decision about how the money is divided.
There’s no exact formula; each case is different depending on the dynamics of the family and other factors.
Message a Belleville Wrongful Death Lawyer Today
Drafahl Law Firm charges no legal fees unless we recover compensation for your claim.
If you want a compassionate and caring Belleville wrongful death attorney to represent you, give us a call at (314) 300-6260 or contact us online today to schedule your free consultation and learn how we can help you.