Who
can recover if the motorcycle rider dies?
When someone dies in
Florida as a result of negligence, the types of damages that may
be recovered, and also who has a right to recover damages, is
strictly controlled by the Florida Wrongful Death Act. Here is
what is allowed:
1- A living spouse may recover for his or her own intangible
damages, such as mental pain and suffering and loss of
companionship.
2- A living spouse may recover the value of lost services
(usually of a household nature), and lost economic support if
the decedent was employed.
3- Any other blood relative wholly or partly dependant on the
deceased person for support or services may recover for the
value of those lost services or support. This usually means
children, but also includes adopted children, and would even
include brothers, sisters, grandparents, grandchildren and any
other blood relatives if they were wholly or partly dependant on
the deceased person for support or services.
4- Living children of the deceased person, if under the age of
25, may also recover intangible damages for mental pain and
suffering and loss of parental guidance and companionship. If
there is no surviving spouse, then all children of the decedent
may recover regardless of age.
5- If the deceased person was employed and you can fairly
predict (usually with the help of an economist) that he would
have accumulated more assets over his remaining work-life
expectancy, then the estate of the deceased person may also
recover for those lost assets. These damages are called "lost
net accumulations of the estate".
6- The estate can also usually recover for any medical bills
actually caused by the negligence.
7- The estate or family may recover for the funeral expenses
depending on who paid them.
8- Each parent of a deceased minor child (minor here means under
age 25) may also recover for mental pain and suffering from the
date of injury. Each parent of an adult child may also recover
for mental pain and suffering if there are no other survivors.
An important procedural difference is that in wrongful death
claims the case can only be brought by the person appointed by
the court to be the Personal Representative of the estate of the
deceased person. The Personal Representative is the plaintiff in
the case, but they have a duty to bring the case on behalf of
all the estate and all of the family members who are entitled to
receive damages. To get appointed as the Personal Representative
of the estate requires a fairly simple but necessary probate
court procedure.
The
McMillen Law Firm represents motorcycle accident victims
throughout Florida, including Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville,
Ft. Lauderdale, Bradenton, Clearwater, Daytona Beach, Fort
Myers, Fort Pierce, Kissimmee, Melbourne, Miami, Naples,
Panama City, Pensacola, Sarasota, St. Augustine, St.
Petersburg, Sebring, Tallahassee, Vero Beach, and West Palm
Beach, and the counties of Bay, Brevard, Broward, Collier,
Dade, Duval, Escambia, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian
River, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Martin, Miami, Orange, Osceola,
Palm Beach, Pinellas, Polk, St. John’s, St. Lucie, Sarasota,
Stuart, and Volusia.
