Georgia Injury Law Blog
A woman was killed and her five-year-old son suffered a personal injury in a car accident in Henry County last week.The accident occurred on Georgia Highway 20 near McDonough.According to police, a Chrysler station wagon crossed the centerline, and crashed into a Chevrolet Silverado being driven by the victim.The woman sustained massive injuries, and was rushed to the hospital, but succumbed to injuries later.Her five-year-old child was in the backseat, and also suffered injuries in the auto accident. Given how the accident unfolded, a wrongful death and personal injury claim appear likely.
The driver of the station wagon suffered injuries, and was taken to the Atlanta Medical Center.Police are still trying to determine whether to press charges against her. Georgia’s laws allow survivors of victims of a car accident to file a claim for wrongful deathdamages.Under Georgia’s laws, only certain individuals can file a wrongful death claim for monetary damages.For instance, in the case of an adult victim, his spouse and children have the right to pursue a wrongful death claim, but the spouse controls the any lawsuit.However, when the deceased is a child, the parents have the right to file a claim.When a person dies in a car accident and does not leave behind parents, spouse or children, then his estate has the right to file a wrongful death claim against the motorist responsible for the accident.
In addition to a wrongful death claim, the heirs may also pursue a separate “estate claim.” A wrongful death claim allows a person to recover for the full value of someone’s life, while an estate claim permits the estate to recover for economic losses such as medical expenses and funeral bills as well as for pain and suffering.In some cases, an “estate claim” may also include a claim for punitive damages.Punitive damages are awarded in rare circumstances where the defendant has been found to have acted intentionally, willfully or with a conscious disregard for the consequences of their conduct. Most punitive damage claims fall in this last category.
Wrongful death claims and “estate claims” can be complicated to file because of the challenges involved in attaching an appropriate monetary value to the person’s death and due to the need to make certain that you recover all economic and non-economic losses.An Atlanta wrongful death lawyer will consider a number of factors before attaching a monetary value to your claim.These factors will include the severity of the injury, the other party’s liability in accident, and the kind of losses that have been sustained.
A person wishing to file a wrongful death claim in Georgia has just gone through the most traumatic experience that he or she can ever go through.Dealing with a loved one’s loss can be truly painful, and often, Atlanta wrongful death lawyers find that survivors have mixed feelings about filing a claim.
It’s important to understand that the loss of a loved one can leave survivors not just with an emotional and spiritual void in their lives, but also financial insecurity and uncertainty, especially if the victim was the sole breadwinner of the family.While monetary compensation cannot make up for the loss of a loved one, it can help relieve many of the financial worries and stresses that can be expected in the future.