A number of different factors determine whether or not a wrongful death claim will be granted placement at the position that allows such a claim to initiate a wrongful death lawsuit. In legal terms, each such factor gets called an element.
What is a wrongful death case?
After one member of a family where a loved one has died suddenly has submitted a wrongful death claim. All such claims must be based on an allegation that the loved one’s passing had resulted from the negligent acts of a person, a company or an organization.
The court studies what has been claimed, and then decides whether or not the evidence supports the opening of a lawsuit, or case. Smart families consult first with a personal injury lawyer in St. Albert, in order to find out if their claims include all the elements required for the initiation of a wrongful death case.
The first element required
Did the person that has been charged with negligence have an implied or expressed responsibility to care for the decedent? If there is no proof that such a responsibility existed, the family lacks all the elements required, for initiating a lawsuit.
The second element needed
Did the responsible party prove capable of honoring his or her responsibility (duty of care)? Was care administered at an adequate and reasonable level?
The most important of the 4 necessary elements
Did a neglect of duty on the part of the responsible party cause the untimely death of the deceased family member? If any other underlying factors contributed to that family member’s death, then none of the grieving loved ones has the right to move forward on a wrongful death claim. Despite this one element’s importance, the proof of its existence does not guarantee the court’s granting of permission to proceed with the proposed case. Evidence of one further element has to be proven.
The last of the 4 necessary elements
Did the untimely passing of someone loved by members of the grieving family place a financial hardship on any member of those same grieving relatives? That question must have an affirmative answer, if those same relatives hope to gain permission from the court for proceeding with their proposed case. Why does this last question have to elicit an affirmative answer? That is due to the nature of the reward that might be granted those that grieve the sudden passing of a loved one. Lawyers use the term damages to express that reward.
A financial hardship develops when some aspect of the family’s financial structure has been damaged. If there is no evidence that such a hardship has developed, then the court has no reason to agree to the granting of any damages.