CCD Law of Spokane safeguards families after they’ve lost a loved one in a car accident. We hold drivers and their auto insurance providers fully responsible for their negligence that leads to tragic deaths. Contact a skilled Spokane Car Accident Attorney to get a free wrongful death case consultation. It’s an easy, no-obligation way to determine how to hold an insurance company fully responsible for your family’s hardships after a terrible accident.
Should I Call a Lawyer After Losing a Family Member to a Car Accident?
When a driver’s mistake claims a precious life, the family members left behind face grief and often a difficult financial situation. They’ll be confronted with funeral costs and leftover medical expenses. This comes at a time when a spouse or children of the victim are also without the income the victims had always supported the family with.
Car insurance companies should immediately seek to help victimized families, but they often work harder at trying to limit the fault they have to accept and the support they must provide. A Spokane Wrongful Death Lawyer fights against their well-practiced tactics by fully investigating a tragic accident and making sure the facts of what happened can’t be changed. Then, your CCD Law demands the maximum in support for families to help immediately and in the years ahead.
Spokane Fatal Accident Danger and Wrongful Death Cases
Spokane motorists already know the daily risks encountered on busy local roads like I-90 and Division. A careless driver typing on a cell phone or a speeding motorist can cause a major crash and leave victims with life-threatening injuries. Sadly, many victims don’t recover and families end up losing their loved ones to another driver’s bad decisions.
Devastating traffic collisions affect local families, friends, and the Spokane community and across the state each year. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission’s accident dashboard reports that Washington State recorded 810 tragic deaths in accidents in 2023. That was up from 743 fatalities in 2022. Spokane and Spokane Valley recorded 29 traffic fatalities in 2023, up slightly from 2022’s 26 deadly incidents.
Like every other state, Washington has its own wrongful death statute. It’s found at RCW 4.20.010. It provides that when the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act, neglect, or default of another, a personal representative of that deceased person may bring an action for damages against the person who caused the death.
It mean’s that families can seek justice after a deadly accident and seek the financial support they’ll need to avoid economic hardships and even bankruptcy.
Who can file a wrongful death case in Washington?
The law in Washington only allows certain people to file a wrongful death case. Those individuals are:
- The personal representative of the decedent’s estate
- The spouse or registered domestic partner of the decedent
- A child, the children or step-children of the decedent
- If the decedent had none of the above, his or sibling or siblings
Do I Have to Wait on a Car Accident Criminal Trial to File a Wrongful Death Claim?
A wrongful death case is a civil case. Regardless of whether the person who caused the death is being prosecuted in the criminal courts, a wrongful death case can be brought. That’s because of the fact that criminal courts simply don’t have the authority to award damages. Without the civil remedy, the survivors of a person who died as a result of a wrongful death would have no remedy for damages. Even if a wrongdoer is found not guilty in a criminal case, he or she can still be found guilty in a civil case and be held liable for damages.
That’s because there’s a different burden of proof in the civil case. In the criminal case, the defendant must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In a civil case, he or she need only be found guilty by a preponderance of the evidence. That means that the plaintiff’s version of events need only be more likely true than not true.
What Type of Support Can my Family Expect After a Fatal Car Accident?
Auto accidents caused by the carelessness and negligence of a driver consist of the largest percentage of wrongful death cases. By filing a wrongful death action, the survivors of the decedent can seek compensation for both economic and non-economic damages that they’ve suffered as a result of the death of their family member. Those damages might consist of:
- Future lost earnings
- Lost benefits from employment
- Loss of marital or family relationship, care and guidance
- Funeral and burial expenses
Washington’s survival statute
Most people don’t know that this statute exists. It’s ordinarily brought as a second count of a wrongful death case. It’s found at RCW 4.20.046. It permits additional damages aside from those in a wrongful death action, so long as the deceased person survived for a period of time after the accident and then died from injuries that were the direct and proximate cause of the crash.
For example, a person may have been gravely injured in a motor vehicle accident due to the negligence of somebody else and experienced a protracted period of pain, suffering and medical expenses before dying. Those damages aren’t compensable under Washington’s wrongful death statute, but they are compensable under Washington’s survival statute.
How Long Does My Family Have to File a Wrongful Death Claim After a Car Accident?
The general rule in Washington is that a personal representative has three years from the date of an accident to file a wrongful death action. You don’t want to wait too long to talk to CCD Law. Evidence can get lost or destroyed, and witnesses might not be able to be located anymore. Since medical bills will continue to come in the mail, and collection agencies will continue to call, we recommend that you speak with us as soon as possible after an accident. Once you retain us, you won’t hear from those collection agencies again.
Contact a Spokane Wrongful Death Lawyer
Speak with a Spokane Fatal Car Accident Lawyer at CCD Law about your case as soon as possible before evidence disappears and witnesses become hard to locate. Contact us to set up a free case consultation for your family. It’s an easy way to find out how to hold drivers and car insurance companies fully accountable after a heartbreaking accident.
There’s no obligation and your case review is completely confidential. We want to stand by your family during this difficult time. CCD Law fights to see families receive the support they need to rebuild their lives. We also work carefully and compassionately to cause as little disruption to families as possible so they can mourn in peace.
If you need our help to secure the most in support for your family, you won’t need to worry about having the money to hire us. We don’t get paid unless we win your case for your family. Then our fee comes out of the settlement money an insurance company is forced to pay.
