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No matter the amount of compensation, monetary damages will never make up for the death of a family member. Even so, North Carolina law allows a family to hold legally responsible any person who negligently causes a death. Whether it’s a large corporation, drunk driver, or other negligent individuals, the person who caused your family member’s death can be required to compensate your family for your loss in a wrongful death lawsuit. Contact the Charlotte wrongful death attorneys of Maginnis Howard for experienced and compassionate representation.
At Maginnis Howard, we take wrongful death cases seriously and have two primary objectives when accepting them. Firstly, we strive to ensure that the person responsible for the negligence is held accountable and understands the magnitude of their actions. Secondly, we aim to assist the affected family financially, enabling them to return to their everyday lives. This often involves recovering lost income, medical bills, and other expenses resulting from the incident.
A wrongful death lawsuit addresses two crucial issues. The first issue is determining if the defendant is liable, which means deciding whether their negligence caused the death. Proving negligence can be complicated, and it often involves a lot of legal proceedings, including numerous depositions and hiring expensive experts like engineers and economists. Due to these complexities, the Estate needs to have competent legal representation.
After establishing liability, the next question is what “damages” the Estate may recover under North Carolina’s wrongful death statute. Those damages include compensation for the physical and emotional pain and suffering of the deceased, and medical and funeral expenses. The estate’s beneficiaries may also recover the present monetary value of the expected “net income” of the deceased family member. This is especially important when a family faces the death of a working mother or father.
North Carolina’s wrongful death statute takes into consideration the emotional loss suffered by the family. Although putting an exact monetary figure on such losses can be challenging, juries are tasked with this responsibility. Compensation for the family’s “services, protection, care, and assistance,” as well as the “society, companionship, comfort, guidance, kindly offices, and advice of the decedent,” may be awarded to them by the jury. This is particularly significant because it allows the jury to send a message to the defendant about the emotional loss they have caused.
We provide free consultations to family members investigating a wrongful death claim. To schedule a free consultation with a Charlotte wrongful death attorney, call our firm at (704) 376-1911 or send a message through our contact page. Our attorneys often travel to meet clients if they cannot come to our offices.
Our firm offers a contingency fee arrangement for most wrongful death lawsuits. This means that unless we recover a verdict or settlement, you do not owe any attorneys’ fees. We have three conveniently located offices across the state in Raleigh, Charlotte, and Fayetteville.
