Aurora Wrongful Death Attorney
Wrongful death is a tragedy no family should have to endure. Unfortunately, careless actions of others can inflict fatal injuries on others. If you lost a family member in an accident, contact our Aurora wrongful death lawyers.
Acts of negligence carry consequences for their victims. Sometimes victims pay the ultimate price due to fatal injuries. Our Aurora wrongful death attorneys help families pursue justice for their loss. Contact Front Range Injury Attorneys for a free case review of your family’s wrongful death claim under Colorado law.
Why trust our Aurora wrongful death lawyers
At Front Range Injury Attorneys we care about helping our clients throughout their cases. Our Aurora wrongful death attorneys understand your family’s loss is irreversible and no amount of money will make it right. We help our clients seek justice by holding the responsible party accountable for the loss your family suffered due to their carelessness or recklessness. Contact our law firm to learn more about how we can help your family.
No Fee Unless You Win
Our law firm represents clients on a contingency fee basis. That means you don't pay us until we recover on your case.
Expertise with wrongful death claims
Our Aurora wrongful death attorneys understand your injuries and how to tell your family's story to the insurance company or a jury.
Communication is important to us
We maintain communication with you through your case. We want you to know what's going on with your case and the work we're doing for you.
How can an Aurora wrongful death attorney help?
The entire legal procedure can be made less stressful by hiring a wrongful death attorney to represent you and your family throughout a civil claim in Aurora. While you grieve over your loved one and spend time with family, your attorney can handle intricate legal issues on your behalf. A few of these tasks are:
- Investigating the fatal accident
- Determining the correct defendants responsible for the accident
- Collecting available evidence
- Preparing a compelling case for full value of the wrongful death claim
- Negotiating with insurance companies and defense lawyers
- Preparing your case for trial if necessary
Most significantly, a wrongful death attorney in Aurora can provide you with information, updates, and support as you work to heal from the tragic loss of a loved one. An Aurora wrongful death attorney with Front Range Injury Attorneys is available to assist you with each stage of a claim while you seek justice, so you don’t have to handle this on your own.
What damages can I recover in a wrongful death case?
You may be entitled to financial compensation if you lost a loved one because of someone else’s carelessness. Either a settlement can be reached through negotiation, or the case can be tried in court. Economic and non-economic damages are the two main categories of damages that can be obtained in wrongful death lawsuits in Colorado.
Economic damages
Economic damages are costs that the surviving party can recoup for costs they incurred as a result of their loved one’s passing. Economic losses that can be recovered frequently include future lost wages that the decedent would have most certainly earned, benefits that were forfeited due to the death, such health insurance and retirement savings, as well as funeral and burial costs.
Non-economic damages
Non-economic damages are those that are meant to make up for the survivor’s future intangible losses as a result of the death of their loved one. Examples that are frequently used are emotional distress, sadness, loss of companionship, and pain and suffering.
Punitive damages
Rarely, a wrongful death lawsuit will result in punitive damages for the surviving party. Punitive damages are not given as compensation for the victim; rather, they are meant to punish the offender and dissuade others from repeating the same behavior. Punitive damages are usually only awarded in cases where the defendant’s actions were especially severe.
How long do I have to file a wrongful death claim?
You have two years from the date of the death in Colorado to submit a wrongful death claim. If your wrongful death claim is not filed within that time frame, you will be unable to launch a lawsuit and will not be entitled to any financial compensation, even if you would have otherwise been eligible for it. Even though it could seem like a long period, it can go by quite fast. It will be more challenging for a wrongful death attorney to thoroughly examine your case, preserve crucial evidence, and collect it the longer you wait to call them.
Who can file a wrongful death claim?
Who is eligible to submit a wrongful death claim is governed by statutes in Colorado. The surviving spouse has one year from the date of death to bring a wrongful death claim. Both the surviving spouse and the decedent’s children are eligible to bring a wrongful death claim in the second year following the death.
- The parents of the decedent may bring a wrongful death claim in the second year following the death if there is no surviving spouse or children.
- The heirs or personal representative of the estate may bring a survival action, which is comparable to a wrongful death claim, if the decedent had no surviving spouse, children, or parents.
Who can be held liable?
Several parties may be held accountable in a wrongful death claim in the state of Colorado. The kind of incident or circumstance that resulted in the death will determine who can be held accountable. The following are some of the most typical scenarios and possible offenders:
At-fault drivers
It’s usual for the motorist who caused the accident to be found responsible for the loss of your loved one if they were even the slightest bit negligent. Speeding, intoxicated driving, texting while driving, disregarding other traffic regulations, playing phone games, and scrolling through social media are common examples of negligence in accidents involving vehicles.
Responsibility for a truck driver accident involving your loved one that involved a company employee might frequently shift or be split. According to the respondeat superior concept, if a trucking company employee negligently results in the death of your loved one, their employer may be held liable in a wrongful death lawsuit. Colorado courts often consider the level of authority and control the employer has over the driver when determining whether the employer is liable. This will be a very fact-specific situation, so speaking with an accomplished wrongful death attorney in Aurora is always beneficial.
Additionally, the trucking business may be held accountable if the mistake was made by them rather than the driver. For instance, if the truck was overloaded, if it wasn’t properly serviced or maintained, if the driver didn’t have the right license to operate the vehicle, if the hiring or training process was done carelessly, or if the employer encouraged the driver to continue his route even though he was breaking the rules regarding hours and sleep.
Medical providers
When the majority of us see a healthcare expert, we typically expect that they will either help us get better or, at the absolute least, won’t seriously harm us or kill us. A medical professional can be sued if a death happens as a result of their carelessness.
Defective product manufacturers
A product’s producer may be held accountable if someone dies while using it and the product was faulty. This could occur in a variety of circumstances, such as when a person operates a vehicle with faulty brakes or when a doctor uses a faulty medical device. Product liability is the area of law that covers this. Depending on the details, these cases will either be founded on strict liability or negligence.
Property owners and business operators
If your loved one was killed in a slip-and-fall accident that happened on someone else’s land, the property owner may be held accountable for the death if the owner was negligent and that negligence resulted in the death. A property owner is always required by law to take precautions to keep visitors on the property safe, whether this is done by issuing warnings about hazardous situations or by maintaining the environment and making sure the property is secure.
What are Colorado's wrongful death laws?
For the surviving family members, wrongful death is extremely personal. Your feelings, emotions, and responses to the loss of a loved one have a role in personal injury law because they can aid a jury in comprehending how much the deceased meant to you.
To ensure that your case is successful, it is crucial to take an objective look at the overall legal situation. Learn Colorado’s three fundamental wrongful death statutes first:
- Wrongful death under Colorado law. In Colorado, wrongful death is defined as the death of one person caused by the carelessness, recklessness, or willful misconduct of another. You most certainly have a wrongful death claim if your loved one could have brought a personal injury lawsuit had they lived.
- Burden of proof. A preponderance of the evidence, or sufficient proof to establish that the defendant is more likely than not to blame for the fatal damage, must be presented by the party filing the lawsuit (plaintiff) in order to establish wrongful death.
- Statute of limitations. In Colorado, you have two years maximum from the date of the death of your loved one to initiate a wrongful death claim. The parents, kids, and surviving spouse all have the option to file.
You can appropriately and effectively navigate the state’s wrongful death statutes with the help of a wrongful death attorney. Anytime during the day, your attorney is available to answer your legal inquiries. Additionally, your Aurora personal injury attorney can handle complex legal matters on your behalf, such as submitting your claim and gathering evidence to create the most convincing claim for damages.
Survival action vs. wrongful death claim in Colorado
As was said above, filing a lawsuit against the party at fault in order to receive compensation for the financial and emotional strain of losing a loved one is known as a wrongful death claim. Although a survival action is similar to others, there are some definite differences as well. As a result of someone’s passing, both survival actions and wrongful death lawsuits are sought.
A wrongful death claim seeks compensation for the losses and suffering of the surviving loved one. A lawsuit is brought in a survival action in an effort to get damages based on the decedent’s prior grief and suffering. You must show that the decedent survived for a while before passing away as a result of an accident that was someone else’s fault in order to be successful in a survival action.
The only person allowed to submit a claim under a survival action in Colorado is the decedent’s personal representative. All litigation-related decisions, such as whether to settle or proceed to trial, are made by this person. The probate court that manages the estate will appoint a personal representative if the decedent never did. The fact that non-economic damages cannot be recovered in a survival action claim is another important distinction. The most frequent sorts of damages granted in a survival lawsuit are payment for the decedent’s pre-death medical care, lost wages for the time between the injury and death, funeral and burial costs, and reimbursement for any property damage that resulted from the decedent’s passing.
Any recompense that is obtained is given to the decedent’s estate. After that, the funds will be used in accordance with Colorado probate law. Typically, this involves covering remaining debts and funeral costs. The remaining money are subsequently given to the deceased’s heirs in accordance with their will or, in the absence of a testament, Colorado’s intestacy law.
Contact our wrongful death lawyers for a free consultation in Aurora, Colorado
Contact our wrongful death lawyers at Front Range Injury Attorneys right away if you have lost a loved one in an accident in Aurora. We have the expertise, assets, and sympathetic team of attorneys to support you at this trying time. Today, allow us to analyze your case without charge and tell you more about how we may help. Contact us online or by phone at 720.826.4399 to set up your meeting right away.
