Wrongful Death Lawyers

Wrongful Death Attorneys

We’ll help you through your grief with compassionate care. Count on us to seek justice and accountability.

Justin McKay on Seeking Justice

“The enormous pain and loss from a wrongful death is something no one can truly prepare for. In these cases, we honor the memory of lost family members by pursuing maximum compensation from those responsible. Our fierce tactics help our clients move forward with dignity and deter the negligent conduct from happening again in the future.”

Justin McKay, Wrongful Death Attorney

In an instant, your world can be turned upside down with the loss of a loved one.

Suffering the death of a spouse or family member is devastating and many times leaves survivors at a complete loss on how to move forward. If that loss was due to the negligence of another person, business or government agency, Arizona tort law allows the family of a deceased to seek justice and financial compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit. The law recognizes that the negligent person’s liability extends past the death of the deceased. In no way will financial compensation replace the loss of a loved one, but it may help ease the stress associated with the family’s financial burdens. Lamber Goodnow Injury Lawyers has years of experience advocating for clients in their efforts to hold those responsible for the deaths of their loved ones liable for their negligence.

What is a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

When a person dies due to a wrongful act, neglect or misconduct of another, certain surviving members of the victim’s family may bring a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court. According to A.R.S. Section 12-611, a wrongful death suit may be brought to court if the deceased person could have filed a personal injury case based on the negligent or wrongful conduct that caused their death. Another way to look at a wrongful death claim is that it is akin to a personal injury case in which the injured person is no longer able to bring the case on their own behalf; therefore, certain family members may seek justice through a wrongful death claim.

In order to have a successful a wrongful death lawsuit, the family member initiating the lawsuit has the burden of establishing that the defendant acted negligently and that their negligence was the proximate cause of the death of their loved one. Proximate cause means an event that is sufficiently related to an injury to make the courts deem that the event is the cause of that injury.

Many wrongful death lawsuits follow criminal trials. Wrongful death lawsuits may use similar evidence as criminal trials, however, the standard of proof in a wrongful death civil trial is different than that of a criminal trial. In a criminal trial the prosecution must establish the wrongdoer’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This means that the evidence against the wrongdoer is fully satisfied, that all the facts have been proven and that the guilt of the wrongdoer has been established. In a civil trial the family members must prove that the wrongdoer was responsible by a preponderance of the evidence. This means that the evidence that the family presents showing the wrongdoer’s negligence caused the death of their loved one was more probable than not. Additionally, a defendant found guilty in criminal court goes to prison, while a defendant found guilty in civil court must pay monetary damages. A person convicted of wrongful death may or may not be convicted of a crime associated with that death.

Required Elements of a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

In order to bring a successful wrongful death claim in Arizona, the following elements must be present:

Institute for Healthcare ImprovementWho is Entitled to Initiate an Arizona Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Under A.R.S. Section 12-612(A), an action for wrongful death shall be brought by and in the name of the surviving:

• Husband or Wife;
• Children, both natural and adopted;
• Natural Parents, Adoptive Parents, or Guardian; or
• Personal Representative of the deceased person for and on behalf of the surviving husband or wife, child, parents, or if none of these survive, on behalf of the decedent’s estate.

Additionally, either parent may maintain a wrongful death action for the death of a child.

Under Arizona law, however, if any family member who would have been eligible to file a wrongful death lawsuit or benefit from damages awarded by a wrongful death lawsuit, is found guilty under A.R.S. Section 13-3623 (child or vulnerable adult abuse), or A.R.S. Sections 13-1103-1105 (manslaughter, second degree murder and first-degree murder), the law treats the family member as having predeceased the decedent and therefore disqualifies them from recovering benefits. This portion of the Arizona wrongful death law eliminates a loophole that, in the past, had allowed family members who had caused the wrongful death to benefit from a wrongful death lawsuit.

Reducing Damages in a Wrongful Death Case

Although the family may receive an award of damages in a wrongful death case, their damages may also be reduced by certain actions that occurred during the decedent’s life. An example is if a husband abused his wife while she was alive. This may be shown to reduce damages because it may prove that the husband did not suffer as a result of her wrongful death.[4]

The courts have addressed a number of factors which may reduce the amount of damages the beneficiaries receive in a wrongful death action. Arizona law, however, provides that evidence of remarriage of a surviving spouse is not admissible to reduce damages.[5]  The reason behind this rule is that a defendant should not benefit from the fact that a surviving spouse has remarried.

Survival Actions

A survival statute preserves an injured party’s right to recover for personal injury after the victim dies. In a survival action the victim’s estate assumes the victim’s claim against the negligent party. Survival statutes vary from state to state, but they generally allow the estate to sue for damages, pain and suffering, but not wrongful death. A survival action is completely separate from a wrongful death action and arises out of the original injury and not out of death.

Under A.R.S. Section 14-3110, the estate may sue for every cause of action, except:

• Damages for breach of promise to marry
• Seduction
• Libel
• Slander
• Separate Maintenance
• Alimony
• Loss of Consortium
• Invasion of the right to privacy

The purpose of providing both causes of action is to give and preserve to the parties damaged, a complete remedy and an opportunity to recover the complete loss sustained because of the wrongful injury or death.

Lamber Goodnow Injury Lawyers has experience litigating both wrongful death and survival claims and will work closely with our clients to make sure the correct action is taken in order to get our clients the remedies they deserve.

Wrongful Death Damage Recovery and Taxes

According to the IRS Publication 4345, wrongful death suits are under the same category as personal injury settlements. Both of these are generally non-taxable since they are seen as compensatory—or refunding the person for money lost. Any monies that were received due to a physical injury and as a consequence caused emotional or mental hardship, those are then labeled as medical expenses (compensatory) and therefore are non-taxable.

There are conditions, however, in which medical expenses are taxable. If the medical expense amount had already been labeled as a deduction in any prior tax returns, then the settlement must be labeled as income.

Any punitive damage monies received are not categorized as compensatory and instead are seen as financial awards which must be reported as “other income” on line 21 of Form 1040 in your taxes. Punitive damages are monies that go beyond the medical costs incurred due to the accident and wrongful death.

The Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 amended 26 U.S.C. § 104(a)(2) to provide that damages (other than punitive damages) received under a judgment or settlement of a claim for personal injury or sickness are excludible from gross income. The legislative history of the 1996 Act makes clear that this exception includes income received from a wrongful death claim.[6]

Deadlines to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Arizona

Every state has certain deadlines in which a family or an estate must file a lawsuit over a wrongful death. These deadlines are called a statute of limitations because it is a time deadline set by state law. The deadline from a wrongful death lawsuit to be filed is not affected by any criminal case that may also be filed in relation to the death.

In Arizona, under A.R.S. Section 12-542(2), barring unusual circumstances, a wrongful death lawsuit must be filed within two years of the date of the deceased person’s death.[7]

The Discovery Rule

Many courts believe that if the application of the limitation period would destroy the cause of action before it can be discovered the discovery rule should be applied.

The discovery rule states that the running of a limitations period in a wrongful death action begins when the party that is bringing the lawsuit discovers, or should have discovered through reasonable diligence, the cause of the decedent’s death. Arizona applies the discovery rule.[8]

Motor Vehicle Wrongful Death Claims

The National Safety Council estimates that in 2021, more than 46,020 people lost their lives in motor vehicle accidents.

In Arizona, 970 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents during 2020 according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Wrongful death lawsuits may arise from various types of vehicle accidents including:

• Fatal Car Accidents
• Motorcycle Fatalities
• Fatal Bicycle Accidents
• Boating Accidents
• Drunk Driving Accidents
• Truck Accidents
• Airplane Accidents
• Bus Accidents

Wrongful Death Resources

Although meeting with an experienced wrongful death attorney is imperative if your loved one has been killed due to the negligence of another, it is also important that you have resources in order to educate yourself on the negligence of others.

• Consumer Product Safety Commission: Provides information on consumer product recalls and other safety resources, including information on pool safety, baby cribs, carbon monoxide, and other household causes of accidental death.
• Medline Plus: Injuries and Wounds: From the National Library of Medicine, alphabetically arranged resources on injuries and wounds.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: Provides information on highway safety and fatalities, with special sections on drunk driving, distracted driving, and other key issues.
• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH): Comprehensive information on workplace safety, such as emergency preparedness, chemical exposure, and more.
• National Patient Safety Foundation: Features patient safety resources and literature, covering a wide range of medical topics, such as ways to prevent infections in hospitals and pharmacy safety.

FAQs

It is unfortunate that some accidents can cause catastrophic injuries, up to and including deaths.

When fatalities happen because of the negligence or intentional actions of other people or entities, certain family members of the decedents may file civil lawsuits against the parties that are responsible for causing the deaths of their loved ones. This area of law falls under tort law, and the lawsuits are civil actions.

Here are some frequently asked questions about wrongful death.

[4]  Quinonez v. Anderson, 144 Ariz. 193, 696 P.2d 1342 (App. 1985).

[5]  Taylor v. Southern Pacific Transportation Co., 130 Ariz. 516, 637 P.2d 726 (1981).

[6]  H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 104-737, 104^th Cong. 2d Sess., 301 (1996).

[7]  Rogers v. Smith Kline & French Laboratories, 5 Ariz. App. 553, 429 P.2d 4 (1967).

[8]  Lawhon v. L.B.J. Institutional Supply, 159 Ariz. 179, 765 P.2d 1003 (App. 1988) (cause of action does not accrue until plaintiff knows he has been negligently injured by a particular defendant).