Following the death of a loved one in an accident, a family may be in complete shock. Their grief may be so deep that it can be hard to even think about the tragic circumstances that caused the person’s death.
Following a deadly accident, though, it is important to determine whether another person’s negligence caused the accident. If a person was negligent in causing the deadly accident, then that person can be held financially responsible for damages. However, determining liability often requires a family to ask tough questions that they may want to avoid.
Avoiding these questions for too long, however, poses a threat to the family’s financial security. A wrongful death suit can only be brought for so long after the person’s death. If a family waits too long from the accident to file, then they may be precluded from doing so.
In particular, under the so-called “discovery rule,” if the decedent had reason to know the cause of the person’s injury before the person died, then the statute of limitations starts to run even before the person died. In other words, once the person has reason to know that negligence caused the person’s injury, the time in which the person can bring a suit starts to run. If the person ultimately dies, that time is counted towards the time that the person’s family has to bring a wrongful death suit.
These complicated statute of limitations rules can significantly affect a family’s ability to recover damages for a deadly accident. Once the time runs out to bring a suit, it can be difficult to recover compensation.
Deadly motor vehicle accidents are both emotionally devastating and expensive. People need to do everything they can to ensure that they are properly compensated by a negligent driver. With the help of an attorney, people can make sure that they follow the discovery rule and other legal technicalities. This can help them seek a favorable result in the case.
Source: Findlaw, “Wrongful Death Claims: Time Limits and the “Discovery” Rule,” accessed Sept. 13, 2015
