If you’ve lost a close family member in an accident in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s important to call Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers. Someone else is responsible for your devastating loss, and our Atlanta wrongful death lawyers want to help you hold them accountable.
Choosing Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers puts a top-rated team of Georgia litigators with over 75 years of collective experience in your corner. We help our clients stand up to insurance companies, manufacturers, employers, and other powerful opponents in the name of justice. The results we’ve achieved – which include $250 million in settlements and jury verdicts – speak volumes about what it means to hire our law firm.
Contact or call (404) 255-9000 our Atlanta, GA, law office to discover how we can help you in the wake of your loved one’s tragic death, too. Members of our team are always available to help you schedule a free consultation with an Atlanta wrongful death attorney.
How Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers Helps Families After Fatal Accidents in Atlanta, GA
It’s never easy to lose a spouse, child, or parent. If you relied on them financially, their death can be even more difficult to navigate. Through a wrongful death lawsuit, you can demand accountability and compensation from the person who caused your life to turn upside down.
However, you shouldn’t be expected to navigate a complex legal dispute on your own. That’s where our Atlanta personal injury lawyers can help.
Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers provides honest, trustworthy, effective legal representation to families and injury victims in Atlanta, Georgia. We appreciate that you have a single opportunity to recover compensation for lost wages, the household support you’ve lost, the cost of a funeral, and other damages. Our top-rated law firm intends to help you make the most of it.
You’ll be able to count on our award-winning legal team to take care of all aspects of your wrongful death case, which might include:
- Conducting a thorough independent investigation into your loved one’s death
- Gathering and evaluating key pieces of evidence during discovery
- Consulting expert witnesses as we build your case and assess your damages
- Filing a claim with the local court and/or insurance company
- Determining the best plan of action if claims of shared fault are raised
- Seeking a substantial settlement offer during negotiations
- Arguing your wrongful death lawsuit at trial if the defense won’t take responsibility for your devastating loss
Don’t worry about the cost of hiring our Atlanta wrongful death attorneys. We represent our clients on a contingency fee basis.
There’s no cost unless we recover compensation for your wrongful death claim.
You’ll have a limited opportunity to file a legal claim, so don’t hesitate to contact our Atlanta law office to set a time to discuss your case with our team for free.
What Is Wrongful Death?
In Georgia, wrongful death is defined as the death of a person “from a crime, from criminal or other negligence, or from property which has been defectively manufactured, whether or not as the result of negligence.”
So, a death can be “wrongful” under Georgia law when it results from:
- An act of negligence
- A defective product
- Criminal activity, or
- Intentionally harmful actions
When an accident or crime is fatal, the at-fault party doesn’t just get to walk away without consequence. Since the victim isn’t around to initiate a legal claim on their own, the right to do so shifts to another party.
Who Can Bring a Wrongful Death Action in Georgia?
Georgia, like many states, limits who can file a wrongful death lawsuit. You must have a certain relationship with the decedent to seek damages from an insurance company or a negligent party.
Priority always belongs to the victim’s spouse. If the victim has no surviving spouse, the right to file a wrongful death action belongs to the victim’s surviving child(ren).
If a victim dies without any surviving spouse or child(ren), a parent or parents may initiate a wrongful death lawsuit.
In cases where there is no surviving spouse, child, or parent, the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit is not lost. Rather, it shifts to the personal representative of the victim’s estate. When filed by the estate, any damages recovered through the wrongful death claim are distributed to the victim’s beneficiaries in accordance with a will or Georgia intestacy law.
Fighting For Clients in All Types of Wrongful Death Cases in Atlanta
At Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers, our wrongful death attorneys in Atlanta have decades of experience fighting for families who’ve lost loved ones as a result of:
- Car accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Pedestrian accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Uber and Lyft accidents
- Truck accidents
- Slip and fall accidents
- Dog bites
- Defective products
- Construction accidents
- Workplace accidents
- Nursing home abuse
- Medical malpractice
- Birth injury
- Boating accidents
- Assault
- Sexual assault
You deserve to work with a law firm that will provide the personalized, compassionate representation you need in this difficult season of your life. That’s why Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers should be your first call.
We can offer the experience and resources you need to win and the passion and determination required to achieve the best results. Call our Atlanta law office to set a time for your free consultation now.
What Damages Can Be Awarded to Plaintiffs in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Georgia law allows a wrongful death lawsuit to seek compensation for the “full value of the life of the decedent, as shown by the evidence.”
This can include both economic damages and non-economic damages for:
- The value of household services the victim would have provided
- Lost wages and benefits
- The victim’s loss of companionship, care, advice, and counsel
These damages can be awarded without deducting any personal expenses the victim would have incurred if they’d survived.
Additional compensation can be awarded to the family but can only be sought through a related survival action.
The survival action, which can only be brought by the victim’s estate, can seek compensation for:
- The cost of the victim’s funeral and burial
- Medical bills incurred prior to the victim’s death
Other expenses related to the victim’s death may also be recoverable through a survival action.
When a wrongful death lawsuit goes to trial, a jury can also reserve the right to award punitive damages. These are appropriate when there is clear evidence of a defendant’s wrongful actions, criminal conduct, or gross negligence.
How Could Georgia’s Comparative Fault Statute Affect a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Georgia’s modified comparative negligence statute applies to most personal injury cases, including matters of wrongful death.
Under the law, a victim’s shared fault is a factor when they file a legal claim for damages with an insurance company or another liable party. In cases of wrongful death, the victim’s shared fault affects the family’s pursuit of damages.
Whether or not a family can recover damages – and how much – will depend on how much fault the decedent shares.
- Damages are reduced proportionately to fault if the decedent is 49 percent or less at fault
- Damages are prohibited when the decedent is 50 percent or more to blame for their fatal injuries
Let’s say your spouse was killed in a truck accident in Atlanta. You file a wrongful death claim seeking $500,000 in damages. However, your spouse is assigned 10 percent of the blame for their fatal wreck. As a result, your maximum take-home recovery will be limited to $450,000. If your spouse was assigned half of the blame for their accident, a financial recovery would be disallowed.
Our Atlanta wrongful death attorneys understand the impact claims of shared fault can have on your fight for compensation. We’ll be there to fight these claims at every turn, working hard to protect your loved one’s name and help you recover the life-changing financial award you deserve.
What is the Statute of Limitations for Wrongful Death Lawsuits in Georgia?
Georgia gives families two years from the date of a loved one’s death to file a legal claim for damages. You will lose the right to recover compensation if your wrongful death claim is not filed within the statute of limitations.
Don’t miss out on well-deserved compensation or the justice you deserve in the wake of your tragic loss. Protect your rights and future by calling Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers for help right away.
Schedule a Free Consultation With an Experienced Atlanta Wrongful Death Lawyer
It’s easy to feel hopeless when you suffer the unexpected and tragic death of a family member in an Atlanta, GA, accident. While money won’t bring them back to you, it can make your future a little bit easier.
Maximize your financial recovery by trusting Guardian Accident & Injury Lawyers to fight for your family.
Our Atlanta wrongful death lawyers have over 75 years of experience and a proven ability to win top results from insurance companies, hospitals, employers, and other tough adversaries. We’re ready to do whatever it takes to help your family move forward.
Call our Atlanta law office today to learn more. Your initial case evaluation is absolutely free.