Wrongful Death Attorney in McAllen, TX

The unexpected death of someone you love is always difficult, but if that death was avoidable, grief is coupled with anger. Had someone taken the care they should have, your loved one would still be here. Life would go on.

At The Law Office of Aaron Fonseca, I have watched clients grieve in many ways after the life of someone they love was cut short by someone else’s negligence. Each client is different. Each circumstance is different. The devastation is always the same.

Accidents don’t have to happen. If someone else caused the loss of your loved one in Edinburg, McAllen, or Mission, Texas, or anywhere throughout the Rio Grande Valley, let me help you file a wrongful death claim.

Why File a Wrongful Death Claim?

Many clients ask what the point of filing a wrongful death claim is. It won’t bring their loved one back. Some are uncomfortable with the thought of somehow profiting from their death. There are two very important reasons to view this process through a different lens.

First, filing a wrongful death claim holds the individual or entity responsible for your loved one’s death accountable for it, not only financially but justly as well. Such accountability may bar the party from acting with such negligence ever again, and that could save another family from the grief you feel right now.

Second, negligent parties are held financially liable for damages and losses under the law. Many of those left behind struggle financially with medical bills, funeral expenses, and the income lost by a loved one’s absence. A wrongful death claim can help ease that financial burden now and far into the future.

What Constitutes Wrongful Death in Texas?

Wrongful death is a death that occurs as the result of a party’s wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, lack of skill, or inattention. Texas law holds such parties financially responsible for the losses to the decedent’s estate and the damages incurred by their heirs and beneficiaries.

In Texas, you have two years from the date of your loved one’s death to either settle a wrongful death claim or file a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?

The only people who can file a wrongful death claim in Texas are a surviving spouse, children, and parents of the deceased, including adopted children and adoptive parents. If none of these parties file a wrongful death claim within three months of the death, the personal representative of the decedent’s estate may file one, unless all of those entitled to file request otherwise.

If the decedent had no will at the time of death and therefore no personal representative, the probate court will appoint someone to serve in that capacity.

What Damages Can Be Recovered?

“Damages” are those losses you suffer after the unexpected death of a loved one. Some damages can be quantified, such as the income they would have earned and the inheritance they likely would have left to heirs had they lived.

Many of the damages are difficult to quantify, which is why working with an experienced personal injury attorney is so important. Your attorney can help substantiate a value for the lost care, support, advice, counsel, and guidance your loved one would have provided, the lost love, companionship, and comfort they would have provided their spouse, and the mental pain and anguish suffered by those left behind.

In some cases where the negligence was reprehensible, a jury may award punitive damages. Punitive damages take the form of a significant sum of money designed to punish the negligent party and discourage such negligence in the future.

Even when you are suffering such loss, the negligent party and their liability insurer will not want to compensate you for your damages. You need to grieve; I will fight them for you.