Banning Survival Actions Lawyer
When someone gets injured due to another person’s reckless, careless, or intentional actions, they can demand civil compensation to account for their losses. If someone passes away as a direct result of someone else’s misconduct, they cannot take legal action on their own behalf, but that does not mean the “cause of action” they would have to file suit had they survived their injuries is no longer valid.
In a situation like this, it is possible for someone representing the estate of a deceased person to file suit with a qualified wrongful death attorney’s assistance. If you want to explore your options, guidance and legal support are available from a Banning survival actions lawyer at Walter Clark Legal Group.
How Survival Actions Differ from Wrongful Death Claims
After someone passes away directly due to someone else’s negligent or wrongful act, it is common for the incident to serve as grounds for both a survival action and a wrongful death claim. While both types of cases are centered around the premature death of a specific person, they are each meant to recover for losses suffered by different people.
More specifically, wrongful death claims seek restitution on behalf of family members and dependents negatively impacted by the decedent’s death. In contrast, survival actions are specifically meant to recover for losses experienced by the decedent between when they were first injured and when they passed away. As a Banning survival actions attorney could explain, this sort of claim can arise from:
- A scenario where the decedent passed away directly from an injury caused by negligence, or
- A scenario where the decedent was injured non-fatally through negligence and then passed away for another reason before they could file suit over their original injury
Recovering for All Available Damages
Because a survival action is essentially a standard personal injury claim surviving the death of the person who would have had standing to pursue it, most of the same damages that could be factored into a standard personal injury claim can also be factored into a survival action. This can include both economic forms and non-economic forms of harm like:
- Medical bills for treatment received prior to passing away
- Lost work income prior to passing away
- Physical pain
- Psychological distress
Furthermore, survival actions differ dramatically from wrongful death claims in that the plaintiffs can be awarded punitive damages. These are damages imposed against defendants to punish them for extremely egregious negligence or intentionally malicious conduct. Punitive damages are not available through wrongful death claims under any circumstances. Still, they are also not awarded in every survival action, so it is worth discussing the effect they may have on a particular claim in private with a knowledgeable survival actions lawyer in Banning.
Consider Working with a Banning Survival Actions Attorney
Survival actions are complicated in both legal and emotional terms, especially if they are built around an incident involving an intentional criminal act by the defendant. Even if your loved one’s premature death happened entirely by accident, though, their estate still deserves to be reimbursed for the losses for which they never had the chance to demand compensation for themselves.
Representation from a Banning survival actions lawyer could make a huge difference in your chances of securing the best possible case result. Call Walter Clark Legal Group today to learn more.