Wrongful Death Lawyer in Melbourne

Florida’s Wrongful Death Act stipulates that survivors of deceased individuals shall have a right to compensation following a death caused by negligence. “Survivors” includes the deceased’s spouse, children, and parents, in addition to blood or adoptive siblings who had depended upon the deceased for support. While survivors have a right to receive compensation, it is the responsibility of the deceased’s estate’s personal representative to initiate and prosecute the lawsuit. The personal representative is the executor designated in the will of the deceased, or, if there is no will, a relative determined by Florida intestacy laws.

Placing a monetary value on a human life is impossible. Unfortunately, it is the only remedy the law is capable of offering. The calculations that go into determining the damages of a wrongful death case are complex, but the Wrongful Death Act provides some limited guidance:

• Each survivor is entitled to the value of both past and future loss of support and services from the deceased, based on the deceased's probable net income and the life expectancy of the deceased and the survivor.
• The spouse is also entitled to compensation for loss of companionship and for mental pain and suffering.
• The parents of a minor child are entitled to compensation for mental pain and suffering.
• The parents of an adult child can receive compensation for mental pain and suffering if there are no other survivors.
• Any survivor who has paid medical or funeral expenses on behalf of the deceased may recover them.
• The estate of the deceased may recover lost earnings from the date of injury to the date of death and any medical or funeral expenses due. The estate may also recover the savings the deceased would have accumulated had they lived, provided the deceased had a spouse or children.

Although prior success cannot guarantee future outcome, here are some of the many wrongful death cases Morgan & Morgan’s attorneys have been involved in, as well as the compensation we successfully got for our clients.

• $3 million settlement in a medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit, in which medical professionals failed to diagnose and treat a 38-year-old father’s infection, causing his death.
• $1.6 million verdict awarded to a client who lost their loved one in a drunk driving accident.
• $1.4 million settlement after a truck driver was killed in a truck vs. truck collision where the defendant pulled from a driveway into his path of travel.
• $810,000 verdict after the failure to diagnose a 61-year-old man’s lung cancer.

No one who has lost a loved one should have to go it alone. At Morgan & Morgan, our wrongful death attorneys and the legal team is devoted to helping families in Melbourne that have been devastated by the avoidable loss of a loved one.

If your family has lost someone due to a car or workplace accident, medical malpractice, a defective product, or any other unexpected and avoidable event, we may be able to help. We cannot alleviate your grief, but we can give your family financial peace of mind and the justice you and your family needs to overcome the tragedy of senselessly losing a loved one due to another’s negligence. Contact us today for a free, no-risk case evaluation.