Now, the truth is that the institute of wrongful death has undergone through some changes over the decades. Just to provide you with an idea of what it used to be – prior to the creation of the survivor statutes as well as the entire legislation surrounding wrongful death, claim of the kind couldn’t be filed. The reason is quite surprising – the claim died with the plaintiff as he was the only one entitled to sue for damages.
Of course, the current Canadian legislation can’t afford it any longer and it has managed to take care of it conveniently. Now, under the Family Act of Ontario, the direct relatives as well as the spouse of the deceased are capable of claiming damages on behalf of the deceased. Of course, they aren’t all the damages that one would be able to claim as personal injury as this would be highly unethical. For instance, damages for pain and suffering on behalf of the deceased are absolutely off the table as this would suggest that someone else was able to actually understand the feelings, pain and suffering of another person which is wildly inappropriate.
Proving Fault In The Wrongful Death Case
There are a few things which need to be said when discussing responsibility for wrongful death. First off, the death might have been caused by negligent behavior but it also might have been caused entirely on purpose. This needs to be accounted for. As we are regarding personal injury, let’s lay the attention towards negligence as it’s a primary factor in all cases.
Proving The Duty Of Care
As it is with every personal injury case, the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant has had some sort of duty of care. This is an individual state from the entire process of proving.
Breach of the duty of care
Consequentially, in order for the defendant to be liable, he must have breached said duty of care and thus unleashing the consequential sequence which followed.
Proximity
This is the necessary proximal cause – the link between the breach of the duty of care and the death of the deceased. Anything in between is going to make matters more complicated so if there is a direct link the task of proving is going to be easier.
Claiming Damages
There are a number of claimable damages which could be sought after in a wrongful death case on behalf of the deceased. Damages for medical bills, loss of income, loss of companionship, pain and suffering on behalf of his inheritors and many more are all claimable.
Of course, you need to make sure that you have a good personal injury lawyer in order to ensure that your rights have been properly protected. They understand all aspects of wrongful death and how to go about the case so that the next of the kin are compensated adequately for the loss of a loved one due to negligence or carelessness.