A child is the greatest present of their lives for most parents. There’s no greater feeling than bringing a life into the world. Unfortunately, if something happens and a fetus or a newborn child dies, all parents are left asking why? And what they can do? If parents have lost their child because of someone else’s fault, then parents can sue for the wrongful death of their child. It is pretty common to sue for wrongful death, but after losing a child, most parents don’t really know what steps to take next?
What is Wrongful Death?
In simplest of terms, wrongful death is a death caused due to the negligence of a person. Let’s take an example of this to make the situation clear if a mother and her child are in a car accident where the other driver was driving while intoxicated, and the child dies in the accident, the mother is allowed to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Another thing to think about before suing for wrongful death, is could the loss of life be prevented if the other person acted with more caution and reasonably? If in the above-mentioned situation, the loss of a child could have been prevented then the parents are liable to file for wrongful death.
Wrongful Death of a Child
When a child dies due to a mistake caused by someone else’s negligence or reckless behavior, the state allows parents to file for a wrongful death lawsuit. To be able to claim a wrongful death lawsuit, many states laws require the child to be born before or any wrongful death action. Among states that allow wrongful death suits for losing a fetus, the law stands that the fetus is able to live outside of the womb at the time of death. Some states have no specific requirements for filing a lawsuit.
Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit of a Child
A child is not an adult, so there’s no standard practice on putting a price on the wrongful death of a child. The child is yet to have a full-scale education and is yet to have a professional career. So how a state or a law can put a price on the life of a child? When a child dies, the parents’ recovery is limited to their financial loss. So put a price on the life of a child is determined by factors such as:
- The age, sex, life expectance, work expectancy, health, and lifestyle of a child.
- The earning potential of the child.
- The relationship of a deceased to those filing a wrongful death lawsuit.
- The health, age, and circumstances of those claiming monetary losses.
All the above-mentioned categories for putting value for the child’s life are based on speculation. There’s no fixed way to predict the earning potential of a child, or how long they’d have lived under normal circumstances.
Because of these factors, juries tend to use a standard practice for calculating work-life expectancy for gaining a final figure.
Hiring a Wrongful Death Lawyer
If a child passes away due to negligence or due to someone else’s fault, it is essential to reach out to a wrongful death law firm. There’s no greater loss in this world than losing a child, but unfortunately, things like this happen on a daily basis. A wrongful death law firm and lawyers can help the grieving parents to take the right steps and ensure that the person is held accountable.
Parents may be entitled to compensation for their child’s medical bills, emotional pain, punitive damages to punish those whose actions led to the death of a child. A good wrongful death lawyer can help in taking care of the important matters so the parents can manage their child’s loss in a better way.
