Losing a loved one because of someone else's negligence or intentional act is devastating. You'll need time to grieve, and the last thing you want to deal with during these difficult moments is thinking about damages or how you will pay for funeral expenses.

However, there is a limited timeframe in which you can file a wrongful death claim in South Carolina. If someone you care about has died due to negligence or medical malpractice in South Carolina, hiring a skilled Spartanburg wrongful death lawyer can help you get peace of mind and obtain the necessary compensation to support your family during this time.

How Do I Establish Grounds for a South Carolina Wrongful Death Case?

In South Carolina, wrongful death cases are handled in criminal and civil courts. If the death of your loved one occurred due to a criminal action, the case would be tried by a criminal court. Meanwhile, you can file a civil claim before, during, or after the criminal lawsuit. Non-criminal wrongful death cases are tried in a civil court.

South Carolina law defines wrongful death as any death caused by another person's negligence or unlawful act. Various circumstances can justify a wrongful death claim in South Carolina. Different parties can be held responsible for wrongful death, including an individual, a public entity, or a company. The legal grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit in South Carolina include the following:

• Medical malpractice
• Negligence
• Nursing home abuse and neglect
• Defective products
• Deaths related to medical devices
• Unlawful and criminal acts

Damages to Recover in a Wrongful Death Case

Damages recovered in wrongful death settlements are meant to compensate for your family's current and future financial and emotional losses. These include:

Economic Damages

Economic damages cover financial losses and can help return your family to their financial position before the loss. They include the following:

• Medical and funeral expenses
• Lost wages
• Lost time
• Loss of current and future benefits

Non-economic Damages

Non-economic damages are more difficult to measure, but they are even more important. Their purpose is to cover the most important things in life that have been lost due to the wrongful death. They include:

• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Loss of consortium 
• Loss of care and compassion
• Grief
• Inconvenience 

The value of a life is immeasurable, but when it comes to a wrongful death case, lawyers should strive to make sense of the value of the lost person’s life by determining the value of the elements of the person’s life that has been lost. This will help the jury to come to a verdict that fully compensates the surviving family for their loss. 

Punitive Damages

In some scenarios, the court might find punitive damages necessary. For example, if the defendant made a deliberate or reckless decision that caused the death of a loved one, you may have a right to claim punitive damages.

Get Help from a Spartanburg Wrongful Death Lawyer Today

If you lost a loved one in South Carolina, our legal team at the Law Office of Tyler Rody can help you file a wrongful death compensation claim. Rody has experience handling wrongful death claims and can provide aggressive representation for your case.

Contact us at (864) 381-7969 to schedule a free consultation with Spartanburg wrongful death lawyer, Tyler Rody, and discover your options.