The wrongful death of a loved one may be attributed to many things, including car crashes caused by negligent or careless drivers, accidents at work due to a company’s failure to adhere to safety regulations, and a multitude of other causes. The most common causes of wrongful death are as follows:

❖ Truck / Automobile Accidents
❖ Fatal Workplace Injuries
❖ Maritime Accidents
❖ Motorcycle Collisions
❖ Pedestrian & Cyclist Accidents
❖ Medical Malpractice
❖ Occupational Diseases

Although work-related deaths decreased by nearly 30 percent between 2008 and 2012, the Louisiana Workforce Commission reported more than 45 work-related deaths in 2012. Worker’s compensation aims to reduce the burden placed upon the loved one’s of the victim of the wrongful death. However, the benefits of workers’ compensation are limited and most often insufficient. Furthermore, they fail to address the harm caused by third parties at fault in the wrongful death.

Causes of Wrongful Death...

Compensatory damages, such as the pre-death pain and suffering of the deceased and the emotional anguish of the surviving family members are the most common type of compensation a person seeks after a wrongful death. While compensatory damages are the most common types of economic damages, there is a large number of other types of damages that people can claim. Some other types of compensation include:

❖ Pre-death Pain and Suffering
❖ Burial Expenses
❖ Medical Expenditures
❖ Loss of Future Earnings
❖ Loss of Future Benefits of Employment like Health Insurance and Pensions

For certain damages, such as loss of future earnings, an expert will be employed to assist in proving the amount of earnings the individual may have gained over his or her lifetime.

Wrongful Death Compensation...

According to Louisiana law, family members who are affected by a wrongful death must follow the hierarchy of who is eligible to make the wrongful death claim. It is important to note that the surviving spouse or family member has one year from the date of the accident to make a wrongful death claim in Louisiana.

The right to bring a wrongful death claim is exclusive to only the following classes of beneficiary (including by adoption):

❖ The surviving spouse and child or children of the deceased, or either the spouse or the child or children
❖ The surviving father and mother of the deceased, or either of them, if he left no spouse or child surviving. However, a father or mother who has abandoned the deceased during his minority is deemed not to have survived him
❖ The surviving brothers and sisters of the deceased, or any of them, if he left no spouse, child, or parent surviving
❖ The surviving grandfathers and grandmothers of the deceased, or any of them, if he left no surviving spouse, child, parent, or sibling.

In addition, the right to recover damages for injury to the deceased may in some circumstances be urged by the deceased's succession representative in the absence of any class of beneficiary listed above.

Who Can Make a Wrongful Death Claim?