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Pursuing a wrongful death claim can be a complicated and emotional process for survivors in Indiana. We can help you prepare and present your case so that you have the best chances of success.
Our lawyers will begin by reviewing your case and seeing if the victim’s death meets Indiana’s definition of a wrongful death. You must then determine who among the victim’s survivors is their personal representative, as only this person can bring a claim for wrongful death in Indiana. Our lawyers can then assess the circumstances surrounding the victim’s death to determine if the at-fault party owed them a duty of care and breached it by acting negligently. To have any hope of winning your claim, you must bring it within two years of the victim’s death. When plaintiffs win wrongful death cases, they can recover damages for medical and funeral expenses and loss of love and companionship.
Call Wruck Paupore’s Indiana wrongful death lawyers at (219) 322-1166 and schedule a free case evaluation today.
To win a wrongful death claim on your behalf, our lawyers must first prepare your case and ensure the necessary elements are present for its success. For example, we can determine if the victim’s death constitutes a wrongful death in Indiana and who among your loved ones can bring a claim.
Under I.C. § 34-23-1-1, plaintiffs can only bring wrongful death claims when a victim’s death is due to the wrongful act or omission of another party. Furthermore, the victim in question must have had cause to pursue compensation against the negligent party had they survived.
For example, suppose your loved one died because of a car accident due to negligence. Had they lived, they might have brought a claim against the negligent driver. But, because they passed away, you might be able to bring a claim in their place.
Furthermore, survivors can only bring wrongful death claims if they are a victim’s personal representative. We can review the victim’s will to see if they named a personal representative, such as the executor of their will. If the victim is a child, their parent or guardian could bring a wrongful death claim on their behalf under I.C. § 34-23-2-1(c).
To succeed in your claim, our lawyers must ensure certain elements are present. For example, we must establish that the defendant owed the victim a duty of care and breached it. A duty of care is a responsibility one party owes to another. Depending on the relationship between the victim and the negligent party, the level of duty might differ. For example, drivers owe one another a duty of care, which differs from the duty a landlord owes their tenants.
On top of proving duty, we must also show how the at-fault party breached their duty of care, injuring the victim and causing their death. This will be the negligent act in question and will vary from case to case.
Plaintiffs will also have to establish additional elements, such as causation and damages, which our attorneys can do after investigating your claim and organizing relevant evidence.
You must bring your case on time to hold a negligent party accountable for your loved one’s death. In Indiana, personal representatives must file wrongful death cases within two years. If you delay this and miss the deadline, the court could dismiss your case, leaving you with no opportunity to present your evidence against a negligent party.
A plaintiff’s chance of winning a wrongful death claim largely depends on the evidence they have supporting their case and if they can meet the standard of proof.
In wrongful death cases, plaintiffs must prove that it is more than likely a defendant caused a victim’s death. To accomplish this, our wrongful death lawyers can review incident reports, interview eyewitnesses, source expert witness statements, evaluate physical evidence from the scene, and assess the victim’s medical records to prove the aforementioned four crucial elements of a wrongful death claim: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
Those damages will compensate a victim’s estate for certain damages incurred before the victim’s death or damages to the estate due to the victim’s death.
After winning wrongful death claims in Indiana, victims’ families can recover compensatory damages for certain losses from a victim’s untimely death.
Damages vary, depending on various factors. For example, in cases involving both adult and child victims, damages may cover reasonable medical and funeral expenses. Damages might also cover the loss of the victim’s love and companionship but may not exceed $300,000 in cases regarding adult victims under I.C. § 34-23-1-2(e). Parents who file claims for the wrongful death of a child might recover additional damages under I.C. § 34-23-2-1(f), such as compensation for mental health services. Punitive damages are not available in Indiana wrongful death cases.
Damages will first go to the decedent’s estate. Any remaining damages will then go to the victim’s surviving spouse and children. Damages will not cover a victim’s lost wages or survivors’ grief. That said, plaintiffs might be able to bring survival actions alongside wrongful death claims, which could compensate them for damages a victim incurred before their death or because of their injuries. For example, if you file a survival action, you might get damages for the victim’s lost wages incurred before their death because of their injuries.
Call the Indiana wrongful death lawyers of Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166 for a free case review.
Don is a founding partner and one of the nation’s top-ranked personal injury litigators. He is a member of the Multi-million Dollar Advocates Forum, which includes less than 1% of the nation’s trial lawyers, and awarded the highest ranking given by Martindale Hubbel and AVVO.
More importantly, Don understands representing personal injury victims is about more than recovering the best settlement: it’s about helping clients get back on their feet and supporting them in every aspect of their recovery.
In nearly all cases, our clients seek compensation from the wrongdoer’s insurance company. Before forming Wruck Paupore, Jason worked for a prominent law firm representing some of the world’s largest insurers. This experience gives Jason a deep understanding of the insurance industry and the strategies it uses to pay injury victims as little as possible.
Jason -- and our entire team -- put this inside knowledge to work to force insurance companies to pay what is actually owed. Often, we use the insurance company’s own tactics against them as we fight for the full compensation our client deserves.
For more than four decades, Keith has been fighting for injury victims. During that time, he’s watched the insurance industry change, with insurers now more interested in protecting their stock price than treating injury victims fairly.
Since the beginning, Keith has put people first. From his childhood in Gary, Indiana during the 1960’s and working his way through law school, Keith has risen to become one of the Midwest’s most respected trial lawyers. He has never forgotten that being a lawyer is about helping people -- and seeing injury victims through struggles in a way that could change their lives forever.
Over the decades, Keith, Don and Jason have fought relentlessly for clients, even when other lawyers have said the case was impossible to win.
Contact Us:
Wruck Paupore P.C.
Injury Lawyers
275 Joliet St. Suite #250
Dyer, IN 46311
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