When a person is killed due to the harm or negligence of another person, their family and estate may file a lawsuit to recover damages. Wrongful death has many of the same criteria as a personal injury lawsuit, but with more complicated calculations for damages and regulations on who can collect which part of the damages.
The Georgia Wrongful Death Act can be found in the state’s legal code. This code lays out a few specifications about wrongful death, such as that the statute of limitations to bring a wrongful death lawsuit is 2 years from the date of the death, not the date of the initial injury. The estate of the deceased collects damages for the medical, funeral, and other expenses incurred by the deceased as a result of the injury.
The family or dependents receive damages that consider the “full life value” of the deceased. This factors into account the amount of money the deceased earned annually, potential future earnings with consideration to work history and education levels, and a more subjective value on the fullness of the individual’s life, such as the value of a parent to a child or a husband to a wife.
An Atlanta wrongful death attorney may be able to provide more information about filing this type of lawsuit.