Can you imagine the anguish and the pain of the family of an individual who was wrongfully killed in a traffic altercation? The pain would be great especially if the victim is the breadwinner of the family.
Sadly, this is the harsh reality that wrongful death claimants would have to accept. This kind of claim is extraordinary in a sense that it is the surviving relatives of the victim In a normal lawsuit, the injured person is the one who files the claim with the help of their attorney. Of course, in a wrongful death, it is impossible for the victim to sue the defendant for damages. However, the family of the deceased is not entitled to receive damages instead what they are entitled to is some form of compensation.
A wrongful death claim has four aspects namely:
- the death was due to the action of the defendant,
- there was negligence on the part of the defendant, which led to the death of the victim,
- there is a surviving spouse, children, and other beneficiaries, and
- monetary damages have resulted from the victim’s death.
The case of the young schoolboy who died because of a trash compactor system is just one of the many incidents of wrongful death. We are all responsible for our actions. If our behavior leads to the demise of another individual, then we could be held liable for whatever happens.
This is a valuable lesson in life that we must learn so that it would not happen to us.
