Gulfport Wrongful Death Lawyer

Losing a loved one can cause you and your family significant grief and emotional pain. But your misery can turn into anger and frustration if your loved one has suffered an avoidable death caused by the wrongful actions of another party. Your family may have the right to seek financial compensation and accountability from those responsible for causing your loved one’s passing. A Gulfport wrongful death lawyer from Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, can help. 

With decades of legal experience in injury law, our attorneys have dedicated their careers to advocating for the rights and interests of families on the Mississippi Gulf Coast facing legal challenges after catastrophic accidents. As you and your loved ones heal following a family member’s death, our firm will protect you from insurance companies’ efforts to minimize your financial recovery and fight to hold those at fault for your loved one’s passing accountable for their wrongful conduct. 

When you’ve lost a family member due to the wrongful acts of another party, get legal help to pursue compensation and accountability for your loved one’s death. Contact us at (228) 872-8752 or fill out our online form for a free initial case review. You’ll get to talk with a personal injury lawyer for wrongful death claims in Gulfport about your family’s legal options for seeking compensation and justice. 

How a Gulfport Wrongful Death Attorney Can Help You

You may find it challenging to pursue a legal claim against those at fault for your loved one’s death while healing and learning how to adapt to life without your loved one. A Gulfport wrongful death attorney from Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, can help your family recover from a loved one’s passing by handling all the details of your case. While you and your family members focus on grieving and healing, trust us to:

• Thoroughly investigate the underlying facts and circumstances of your loved one’s death to recover evidence we can use to build your family’s wrongful death claim.
• Document your family’s expenses and financial losses, including medical bills, funeral/burial costs, and your loved one’s lost income and economic contributions to the family.
• Identify potentially liable parties and evaluate legal avenues for recovering compensation, such as applicable insurance coverage. 
• Prepare your case for trial, even if your family’s claim doesn’t get that far, so we can present a strong argument on your behalf and show opposing parties and insurers our determination to secure a favorable result for your family.
• File insurance claims or demand letters in your case and deal with insurance adjusters and defense attorneys on your family’s behalf so you have the space to heal. 
• Vigorously pursue maximum compensation and justice for your family, whether through a negotiated settlement of your claim or by taking the case to court and trial to hold those responsible for your loved one’s death accountable. 
• Take your case with no upfront fee. When you hire us, you’ll sign an agreement that your wrongful death attorney will work on a contingency fee basis for a percentage of the compensation we obtain for you.

What Do You Have to Prove in a Mississippi Wrongful Death Case?

To recover compensation in a wrongful death case in Mississippi, you must prove that your family member’s death occurred because of another party’s wrongful actions or omissions. A wrongful act or omission does not necessarily have to involve criminal activity. Instead, your family may pursue a wrongful death claim under circumstances that would give your loved one the right to pursue a personal injury claim if they had survived. 

In such a case, you may have to prove that another party caused your loved one’s death due to their negligence or recklessness. Proving negligence requires you to show that the other party breached a duty of care they owed to your loved one, and that this breach caused your loved one’s death. Proving recklessness requires showing that the other party consciously disregarded a substantial risk that their actions or omissions would cause severe injuries or death.

To successfully recover compensation in a Mississippi wrongful death case, you may be required to provide various evidence, such as:

• Accident scene photos/videos
• Police accident reports or arrest/citation records
• Surveillance/traffic camera footage
• Cell phone records
• Trucking company records
• Maintenance or repair records
• Eyewitness testimony
• Post-accident engineering inspections
• Medical records
• Accident reconstruction, engineering, or medical expert witness reports and testimony

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Mississippi?

Under Mississippi law, specific individuals have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit, including:

• The personal representative of the decedent’s estate
• A surviving spouse
• Surviving parents or children
• Surviving siblings

A personal representative and family members of a decedent may file only one wrongful death lawsuit. However, each person eligible to file a lawsuit may join an already filed lawsuit. A personal representative or surviving family member who brings a wrongful death lawsuit pursues the action on behalf of all people entitled to recover compensation from the claim. 

What Compensation Is Recoverable in a Gulfport Wrongful Death Claim?

Although no amount of money can truly make up for the loss of a loved one, pursuing economic and non-economic damages in wrongful death cases may provide a family with some measure of justice. Mississippi’s statute identifies the types of losses for which a wrongful death claim can provide financial recovery. 

Compensation for wrongful death cases may include:

• The decedent’s final medical expenses
• Funeral and burial expenses
• Conscious pain and suffering experienced by the decedent before their death
• Loss of the decedent’s companionship and society
• Lost wages and benefits the decedent would likely have earned if they had lived
• Repair costs for the decedent’s property damaged in the accident or reimbursement for the value of destroyed property

However, Mississippi law also limits the amount of compensation recoverable for noneconomic losses, such as the decedent’s pain and suffering or loss of the decedent’s companionship/society. A wrongful death claim can recover up to $1 million for noneconomic losses or up to $500,000 for claims arising from medical or nursing home malpractice. 

How Are Gulfport Wrongful Death Settlements Paid Out?

Because a loved one’s death may create a substantial loss for a family, a wrongful death settlement can provide surviving family members with significant financial compensation. These settlements can easily reach the six- or seven-figure range. Due to the amount of money involved in a wrongful death settlement, parties may structure payment of the settlement in one of two ways. 

Parties may choose a lump sum settlement. In a lump sum settlement, a family receives the total value of the settlement in one payment. Lump sum settlements benefit families by providing all the compensation from a settlement up front, enabling them to settle debts or expenses from their loved one’s passing, such as medical bills or funeral/burial costs. 

Alternatively, parties may negotiate a structured settlement in a wrongful death case. In a structured settlement, compensation gets paid in multiple installments. Installments may involve equal payments, or parties may negotiate a large upfront payment or a large final “balloon” payment. Payments may occur monthly, quarterly, annually, or according to another schedule negotiated by the parties. 

Although structured settlements force families to wait for total compensation, they have other benefits. First, structured settlements can provide families with an income stream that can help them adjust to the loss of a breadwinning family member. Second, families might recover more compensation in a structured settlement, as an opposing party might afford a larger settlement if they can spread the cost over time. 

What Is the Mississippi Wrongful Death Statute of Limitations?

Under the statute of limitations for wrongful death in Mississippi, your family usually has three years from a loved one’s passing to file a lawsuit. However, your family may have only one year to file suit if your loved one’s death occurred due to another party’s intentional act, such as homicide. 

Contact a Gulfport wrongful death attorney from Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, as soon as possible following a loved one’s death. Our firm can help you file your family’s claims on time. Otherwise, the court might dismiss your case if you file your lawsuit after the limitations period expires on your wrongful death claim. If this happens, your family may lose the opportunity to seek financial recovery from those responsible for your loved one’s passing. 

What Are the Common Wrongful Death Cases in Gulfport?

At Haug, Farrar, Franco & Ruiz, PLLC, our attorneys represent families who have lost loved ones due to accidents. Causes of wrongful death can include:

• Car accidents
• Truck accidents
• Motorcycle accidents
• Bicycle accidents
• Pedestrian accidents
• Bus accidents
• Train accidents
• Boating accidents
• Aviation accidents
• Premises liability accidents
• Animal attacks
• Defective products (products liability) accidents
• Medical malpractice
• Construction accidents
• Workplace accidents
• Assaults or criminal/violent activity

After a loved one has died because of somebody else’s conduct, contact our firm to see how we might help your family pursue a wrongful death claim. 

Contact a Gulfport Wrongful Death Lawyer Today

After losing a loved one due to another party’s action or inaction, your family deserves to seek economic recovery and accountability from those responsible for your loved one’s death. Let our attorneys’ experience in legal representation in wrongful death lawsuits help you and your family move forward. Contact our legal firm at (228) 872-8752 or complete our online form for a free, no-obligation consultation.