Wrongful Death Video

LEE KELSO

There is no greater loss one can suffer than to lose a spouse, child, parent, or close family member particularly if your loved one's death is caused by the negligence or fault of another party. The loss of a loved one can have devastating consequences both emotional and financial. Joining us today to talk about legal claims arising from the wrongful death of a loved one is attorney David Farnbauch, a personal injury attorney with the Sweeney Law Firm in Fort Wayne. Thanks for spending some time with us today to talk about wrongful death claims David.

DAVID FARNBAUCH

Thanks for having me.

LEE KELSO

David, you have handled a number of wrongful death cases in the course of your career. How do these cases differ from cases involving serious injury?

DAVID FARNBAUCH

Well, I think the central feature of wrongful death cases, the case is really about the loss of the survivors. The most important element of damages in a wrongful death case is the loss of death and companionship for the person who's deceased.

LEE KELSO

When a person dies as a result of someone else's negligence what are some of the different categories of damages that you can recover in a wrongful death case?

DAVID FARNBAUCH

As I mentioned earlier, the most important element of damage or category of damage in a wrongful death case are damages to a spouse or to a child or to a loved one as a result of the loss of love and companionship for the person that died. Another important category or element of damage in the wrongful death case or loss of future earnings. If a loved one dies and was projected to work another twenty or thirty years, the family can recover damages for the loss of future earnings. Another element of damage in a wrongful death case are the recovery of the funeral burial expenses associated with the person's death.

LEE KELSO

David it might be helpful if you take your viewers through some of the steps that are involved when your office is involved to represent a family in a wrongful death case.

DAVID FARNBAUCH

Well obviously the first is to schedule an appointment to meet with one of our lawyers in our office. We try to be as understanding ans compassionate as we can be when we are dealing with a family who has had the loss of a loved one. It's a very traumatic time and a very trying time and we try to be understanding and compassionate and try to give out helpful information and advice to families that are involved in this situation. The other thing that is unique about wrongful death cases is normally we have to open up what is known as an estate. An estate is simply a legal proceeding that's filed in a probate court with the county where a family member, usually a spouse, is selected to serve as the personal representative of the estate to pursue a legal case.

LEE KELSO

Can you offer any advice to families who've lost a loved one and have reason to believe that the loss of that person was caused by the fall of another party? 

DAVID FARNBAUCH

Well as I mentioned earlier the first thing to do in a situation where there has been a wrongful death and a potential legal case is to meet with an attorney, hopefully an experienced attorney who has handled wrongful death cases before. The other thing I can encourage families to do because we've had a number of cases in our office where we've represented families in a wrongful death situation is to seek counseling. Oftentimes these are very emotionally traumatic situations and we find that the families who seek counseling out professional psychological counseling after a wrongful death event, they really benefit from that type of counseling.

LEE KELSO

Thanks for sharing time and insights with us today here.

DAVID FARNBAUCH

It was great to be here.