Did someone you love pass away as a result of another party’s negligence, recklessness, or misconduct? Intentional or not, situations like this can leave family members and loved ones alike reeling with grief, which is often further compounded by legal and financial concerns.
At Foster Wallace, we understand that wrongful death cases are devastating, and the person you cared about didn’t deserve to lose their life in such an unfortunate way. While we can’t bring them back, we can help you seek justice as your Shawnee wrongful death lawyer.
We’ve been representing clients as their Shawnee personal injury lawyers for six years and counting. Together, our attorneys have over 45 years of combined experience and have recovered more than $1 billion in compensation.
What Constitutes Wrongful Death in Missouri?
Wrongful death is defined as a death caused by the negligent, reckless, or intentional act of another party. Had the deceased survived, the incident would have entitled them to file a personal injury lawsuit. Instead, their family members become eligible to pursue a wrongful death claim on their loved one’s behalf.
These are common causes of wrongful deaths:
- Motor vehicle accidents: Fatal crashes involving cars, motorcycles, commercial trucks, or pedestrians due to speeding, distracted driving, drunk driving, or reckless behavior
- Medical malpractice: Fatalities caused by surgical errors, misdiagnoses, medication mistakes, birth injuries, or negligent medical treatment
- Workplace accidents: Fatal injuries that occur on construction sites, in industrial settings, or in any workplace with unsafe conditions, defective equipment, or a lack of proper safety protocols
- Defective products: Deaths caused by dangerous consumer products, faulty medical devices, contaminated food, or unsafe drugs due to manufacturer negligence
- Premises liability accidents: Fatal injuries suffered on another person’s property, such as those that arise from slip and fall incidents, inadequate security, swimming pool accidents, or dog attacks
- Criminal acts: Deaths that occur due to homicide, assault, or other violent crimes
Statute of Limitations for Wrongful Death Lawsuits in Missouri
Missouri law imposes a strict three-year statute of limitations for wrongful death claims. This means that you only have 36 months to file a personal injury lawsuit. If you fail to file within three years from the date of the person’s death, you might not get to file at all.
Failing to file within this timeframe typically results in the total loss of your legal right to seek compensation. While there are limited exceptions, the courts rarely extend the deadline, so working with a Shawnee wrongful death attorney is very important.
Contact our Kansas city personal injury lawyers now.
Proving Liability in a Missouri Wrongful Death Case
To succeed in a wrongful death claim, your Shawnee wrongful death attorneys must establish four main elements on your behalf:
- Duty of care: The defendant owed a legal duty to the deceased. For example, drivers have a duty to follow traffic laws, and doctors have a duty to provide competent medical care.
- Breach of duty: The defendant violated the duty of care that they owed through a negligent, reckless, or misconduct-related manner.
- Causation: The breach of duty directly caused or contributed to the victim’s death.
- Damages: The survivors of the deceased individual suffered monetary and emotional losses as a result of the wrongful death.
Types of Damages Your Wrongful Death Attorney in Shawnee Can Help You Recover Compensation For
As a surviving family member, Missouri law allows you to seek compensation for both economic and non-economic damages in a wrongful death case.
- Medical expenses: These refer to costs related to the deceased’s final medical treatment, hospital stays, surgeries, and emergency care received before dying.
- Funeral and burial costs: This includes compensation for reasonable funeral, burial, or cremation expenses.
- Lost wages and benefits: The amount of income, benefits, or financial support the deceased would have provided had they lived can be recovered in the form of financial compensation. This can include lost future earnings and retirement benefits.
- Pain and suffering: Damages for the emotional pain, grief, and suffering experienced by surviving family members may be a form of compensation you can recover.
- Loss of companionship: You can pursue compensation for the loss of guidance, love, and emotional support the deceased provided to you as their family.
- Household services: If the deceased contributed to the household—namely via childcare, cleaning, or maintenance—compensation may be awarded for the loss of those services.
- Punitive damages: In cases involving gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional harm, the court might award punitive damages to punish the responsible party and deter them from engaging in similar behavior at any point in the future.
Reach Out to Our Wrongful Death Law Firm in Shawnee for More Information About What We Can Do for You
Have you lost a loved one due to someone else’s actions or lack of action? Wrongful death cases arise when a person’s life is tragically cut short due to actions such as reckless driving, medical errors, workplace hazards, or dangerous products.
Even though these claims cannot bring the ones you love back to life, they do allow surviving family members to seek justice and financial compensation for their losses—and Foster Wallace is here to help.
Our wrongful death attorneys in Shawnee understand the immense pain and overall uncertainty that stem from situations like this. Contact our Shawnee wrongful death lawyers today to begin pursuing the compensation and closure your family deserves in this difficult time.
