Katy, TX is a small town located close to Houston and is prone to busy roads and traffic due to which fatal car accidents are common.
Loss of a person you love due to someone else’s fault or negligence is devastating. You know that such an unfortunate accident could have been avoided if the other person had been more vigilant and careful. If you’ve lost someone due to someone else’s fault in Katy, Texas, then you must hire a Katy car accident lawyer to file an auto accident lawsuit for wrongful death.
According to the Texas Statutes section 71.001, you may file a claim for wrongful death if someone’s neglect, wrongful act, carelessness, default, or unskillfulness caused the death. Here you will come to know how a car accident lawyer can help you file a claim.
Explains You the Rules
Texas law gives you two years’ time to file a claim from the death date if you lost someone due to another person’s fault or negligence. However, there might be some exceptions:
- Plaintiff is a minor
- You were not aware of the defendant’s negligence during that time of 2 years
- The plaintiff was physically or mentally impaired
- Fraud
A lawyer can help you understand these rules and file the claim accordingly.
Identifies If You Can File a Claim
In Katy, Texas, it’s not that anyone can come and file a claim. If you want to file a claim for wrongful death, here are a few conditions to meet:
- You are the surviving child, spouse, parent, or adoptive parent of the deceased
- You are the deceased’s legally adopted child
- You are the deceased person’s estate’s personal representative
A lawyer will make you understand that filing a claim for wrongful death is a civil matter, and you can file one even if the defendant already has criminal charges against him/her.
Helps You Understand the Damages
As a surviving child, parent, spouse, or representative of the deceased person, you are titled to receive compensation in Katy under two categories:
- Damages owed by the deceased from the date of their death, such as medical expenses, suffering, and pain, funeral expenses, lost wages, etc.
- Damages owed by the survivors, such as loss of wages, lost care and support, emotional and mental agony, loss of companionship, lost inheritance, lost comfort, etc.
Proves Negligence
Proving negligence is the primary element that the Katy car accident lawyer has to prove while filing a wrongful death claim. You have to prove that the person responsible for the death did not do something that he/she must have done or did something that he/she should not have done. Here are the four elements that the attorney has to prove:
- The defendant owed a legal duty like every driver must operate a vehicle without being drunk.
- The defendant breached a legal duty, like proving that the person was drunk when behind the wheel.
- The actual injury was caused due to the defendant’s breach of legal duty.
- The injury or death caused monetary damages, like hospital bills, loss of wages, inheritance loss, surgeries, etc.
According to statistics, 1 out of every 5 car accidents in Katy cause an injury of some sort. When a loved one dies in Katy due to someone’s negligence, it may be hard to make decisions during that time, and this is where you need the help of a Katy car accident lawyer. They can help you know the laws and evaluate your case. Once you make up your mind to file a wrongful death claim, get in touch with a lawyer and let them handle the filing on your behalf.
