PROVO, UTAH WRONGFUL DEATH ATTORNEY. UTAH WRONGFUL DEATH LAWYER. UTAH WRONGFUL DEATH LAW FIRM. Jake Gunter Call/TXT (801) 373-6345
Nearly every attorney will advertise that they handle wrongful death cases, but few actually do. Selecting the right type of attorney to handle a large wrongful death claim is super important. If your attorney has never been to court, never tried an injury case to a jury, you might not have the right attorney to handle your wrongful death claim.
Attorney Jake Gunter has nearly 20 years’ experience trying lawsuits to juries. He has over 2,500 court appearances and makes his living inside the four corners of a courtroom.
WHAT ARE ELEMENTS OF A UTAH WRONGFUL DEATH INSURANCE CLAIM?
By definition, a Utah wrongful death is when a person dies because of the negligence of another. Negligence just means that a person had a duty to act reasonable under the circumstances and failed to act reasonable and killed someone.
Next of kin, relatives, family members or defined “heirs” are entitled to monetary damages for the loss of their loved one.
WHO ARE HEIRS IN A UTAH WRONGFUL DEATH CASE?
—NEW DEFINITION OF HEIRS 05/04/2022 . In May 2022 the Utah Legislature changed the heirs definition slightly in wrongful death contexts to add stepchildren under certain circumstances. Otherwise heirs for wrongful death purposes are: (1). Spouse. (2). Children. (3). Parents. (4). Stepchildren in certain circumstances. (5). Other relatives, when the spouse, children or parents are not alive.
Effective 5/4/2022
78B-3-105. Definition of heirs.
As used in Sections 78B-3-106 and 78B-3-107, “heirs” means the following surviving persons:
(1) the decedent’s spouse;
(2) the decedent’s children as provided in Section 75-2-114;
(3)(a) the decedent’s natural parents; or
(b) if the decedent was adopted, the decedent’s adoptive parents;
(4) the decedent’s stepchildren who:
(a) are younger than 18 years old at the time of decedent’s death; and
(b)(i) received financial support from the decedent at the time of decedent’s death; or
(ii) resided with the decedent on at least a part-time basis at the time of the decedent’s death; or
(5) any blood relative as provided by the law of intestate succession if the decedent is not survived by a person under Subsection (1), (2), or (3).
Amended by Chapter 190, 2022 General Session
Heirs Example Wrongful Death. Mother and father are driving in Provo Canyon and both are killed by a head-on car accident. They are survived by their two minor children. The minor children would be the only heirs because the parents’ parents were not alive and they had no other children, or stepchildren.
Heirs Example Wrongful Death. Mother is killed while driving on I-15 near Juab County, Nephi City. Mother is survived by husband and one child. Mother’s parents have predeceased her. Husband and child would be the only heirs to her wrongful death estate. They would split the wrongful death settlement proceeds.
WHO CAN FILE A PROVO, UTAH WRONGFUL DEATH CLAIM?
Utah Code 78B-3-106 states any heir can file a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of all the heirs. “[w]hen the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another, his heirs, or his personal representatives for the benefit of his heirs, may maintain an action for damages against the person causing the death, or, if the person is employed by another person who is responsible for his conduct, then against the other person.”
There is no need necessarily to race to the courthouse to be the filing heir. Yet, knowing the process and understanding how wrongful death proceeds can be split between competing heir is important. Hiring an a Utah wrongful death law firm to help you through the process is critical.
HOW ARE WRONGFUL DEATH PROCEEDS SPLIT BETWEEN HEIRS?
There have been many of family fights over wrongful death settlement proceeds or inheritance. It can really tear a family apart. Utah wrongful death settlement proceeds are to be split between the heirs. Sometimes the heirs can agree to the split, other times the heirs each will have their own attorney and dispute the splitting of wrongful death proceeds.
Utah wrongful death proceeds can be split between the heirs in the following ways:
(1). By agreement. The heirs simple agree to a distribution arrangement.
(2). By mediation. The heirs can agree to mediate how the settlement proceeds are to be split up with the help of a mediator. A mediation agreement is final outside of fraud.
(3). By binding arbitration. The heirs can submit their claims voluntarily to binding arbitration where an arbiter determines who gets what and how much. This is final, outside of fraud, or an agreement that the parties can appeal the arbitration award.
(4). Judge decision. A lawsuit can be filed where the heirs submit their claims about how much money they should receive to the judge. The judge ultimately makes the decision on who gets what and how much. A judge’s decision can be appealed to Utah’s appellate courts.
COMMON PROVO, UTAH CAR ACCIDENT WRONGFUL DEATH EXAMPLES.
Single Car Rollover. Anytime a vehicle rolls over, or slides off the road, hurting people, generally there is negligence involved. If your car rolls over because of icy conditions and hurts passengers, the driver is nearly always at-fault. The at-fault driver will not have a wrongful death claim, but each passenger will have a wrongful death claim.
Animal Roadway Strikes. Hitting domesticated animals or wild animals can cause death, especially at high interstate speeds. Hitting domesticated animals, like cows or horses will often have a third party liability claim against the animal owners. Compared to hitting wild animals like deer, bucks or elk, only the passengers will have claims against the driver. High speeds, inexperienced drivers, night time conditions, and speeding all contribute to the driver’s inability to avoid objects (wild animals) in the roadway.
Multi-car pile-up on I-15. Several at-fault parties. High speed interstate conditions can cause deaths and significant injuries. The unique aspect to any multi-car accident is that there will be several insurance policies available to help pay the wrongful death damages.
Semi-Truck Incidents. 18 wheelers, commercial vehicles. Most commercial vehicles will carry black box recorders which are very helpful in detailing what happened and who was at-fault. Further, work trucks and commercial 18 wheelers will have larger, commercial insurance policies capable of paying adequate damages.
Pedestrian Strikes on Roadways. Police, EMTs and first responders are especially susceptible to being hit on the roadway during their work. Whenever you are hurt while on the job and hurt by a third party who was not a fellow worker, you will have a two claims. (1). A workers compensation claim, and (2). A personal injury third party claim.
COMMON TYPES OF DAMAGES IN WRONGFUL DEATH CAR ACCIDENT CASES.
General Damages. Pain and suffering endured by surviving family members or heirs. Loss of companionship, care and society from the deceased.
Economic Damages. Pre-death medical bills. Funeral and burial expenses. Future wages. Lost back wages.
Future Lost Income Stream. Future inability to work. Future inability to work in the same job that you were working in, causing a loss of income stream.
Example. A surgeon passed away at 35 years old. His projected future income stream will be into the millions and is a part of economic damages.
Loss of Consortium. Loss of consortium is where the non-injured spouse bears the burden the injured party’s damages. Loss of consortium is the loss or impairment of the relationship between spouses. Children when they lose their parents can have consortium claims also. Children, parent loss of consortium claims are called filial claims.
WRONGFULL DEATH STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.
Wrongful Death Against the Government. Wrongful death claims against the government have a short, one year statute of limitations. With any injury claim against the government you should immediately consult an experienced Utah wrongful death attorney.
Wrongful Death Against Non-Governmental Entities. Generally you have a two year statute of limitation for non-governmental organizations and wrongful deaths.
Minors. The loved ones of minor children, just like adults can have wrongful death claims.
IS IT WORTH IT TO GET AN ATTORNEY FOR MY WRONGFUL DEATH CASE?
—YES. A real, working wrongful death attorney will bring valuable perspective to your claim. They will have been start-to-finish on wrongful death cases many, many times before. This will be your first wrongful death case and possible the only wrongful death case you will ever see. For the attorney, they have seem many. This helping perspective will guide your case to a better result.
—We have the financial ability to hire the best expert witnesses. Hiring an attorney who has the financial ability to hire the best experts to capture your damages is critical. Hiring a solo lawyer, who has a general practice, doing some divorce and Bankruptcy will not have the knowledge or financial ability to hire the best experts to prove up your damages.
Economists and life care planners costs thousands of dollars but in the right case are completely worth it as they can forecast out over a lifetime the deceased’s financial contributions that were cut short.
DO WE REALLY HAVE TOS UE SOMEONE? OR IS THIS JUST AN INSURANCE CLAIM?
Rarely will you get fair value or the best value on a wrongful death claim without filing suit. It is believed that insurance companies have a value assigned to all claims that changes once a lawsuit is filed. Meaning, there is a pre-lawsuit value placed on the case and value assigned after the lawsuit is filed. The reasoning for the change in values is because once a jury is involved, the insurance company’s exposure simply goes up. Juries are hard to predict.
Not hiring an attorney who is capable of filing a wrongful death lawsuit will get you inferior results. The insurance companies and their insurance defense lawyers know which attorneys will take cases all the way to a jury trial and which ones always settle, or never even file lawsuits in the first place.
IS A WRONGFUL DEATH CASE CIVIL OR CRIMINAL?
A wrongful death claim is a civil matter. A Utah wrongful death claim can be a filed lawsuit or settled before you have to file a lawsuit for money damages. Yet, the underlying misconduct giving rise to the wrongful death can have a concurrent running criminal case.
Example. DUI Causing Death Utah Car Accident. A drunk driver hit and killed a young parent in Provo, Utah 84606. The heir’s of the deceased parent would have a civil claim for wrongful death damages. Concurrently the drunk driver would be prosecuted criminally for DUI causing death. The criminal case would be handled in Utah District Court where the DUI causing death occurred at. Any civil lawsuit would also be filed in the same district court, but would be an entirely different case with a separate case number and likely a different judge.
If a concurrent criminal case is pending you can often ask for criminal restitution in addition to your civil wrongful death claim. There can often be interplay between the criminal case and the wrongful death case that your Utah wrongful death lawyer should be monitoring. Any statements made by the wrongdoer, at-fault party in the criminal case can often be used against them in the civil wrongful death case.
TOP THINGS TO DO WRONG AFTER A PROVO, UTAH WRONGFUL DEATH
–Settle Without and Attorney. Wrongful death insurance claims can be very complicated and going in alone without an attorney will often result in significantly less compensation. You simply don’t know what you don’t know. The insurance company adjusters are trained in evidence, negotiations and medicine. They have seen hundreds of injury claims, while this will be your first and only wrongful death case you will every see. You will be in the dark.
Hiring an attorney who has been start to finish on wrongful death claims will give you the perspective you need to make good decisions and move the case along swiftly.
–Settle at the First Offer. The first offer is generally never the insurance company’s best offer. Even if the offer is a policy limits offer, you need to consult an attorney to see if there are other policies available, or the at-fault party has personal assets to cover the damages. Insurance companies work off settlement ranges. Meaning the insurance adjuster will value the case and assign an approved settlement range, with a low and high settlement number. The first offer is generally the starting point of their range.
–Give Inappropriate Estimates. Avoid putting out settlement numbers to the insurance company early. Sometimes the insurance company will hang their hat on those numbers or realize that you may settle for less than fair value. Putting out numbers without talking to an experienced wrongful death Utah lawyer is not wise and can set expectations poorly.
–Provide Signed Medical Releases to the Insurance Companies. Never provide a medical release for the deceased medical records. All you are doing is giving the insurance company materials to investigate and lower their offers.
–Give an Adjuster Interview. Never give an insurance adjuster interview without hiring an attorney first.
CALL/TXT (801) 373-6345 TO TALK TO PROVO BASED WRONGFUL DEATH ATTORNEY JAKE GUNTER. LET HIS NEARLY 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE WORK FOR YOU. FREE CONSULTATION. HE CAN TRAVEL TO YOU, OR DO A VIDEO CALL.