Brea Wrongful Death Lawyer
Brea Wrongful Death Attorney
When a negligent party causes an accident and injury, the injured party can pursue compensation from the at-fault party. If the injured party dies at the scene or later from the injuries, their surviving family members must file a wrongful death claim in place of the personal injury claim that the deceased could have filed if they had survived. The support of a Brea wrongful death lawyer can help your family during this difficult time and hold the at-fault party accountable.
Filing and negotiating a wrongful death claim isn’t easy while you deal with grief and financial stressors. Finding the right attorney can be crucial to providing your claim with support and limiting your mental and emotional stress. A personal injury attorney can help your claim succeed and get the most compensation possible. This can help your family remain financially stable after a difficult loss.
Easton & Easton, LLP: Supporting Families in Brea
A wrongful death claim is a form of personal injury claim with the purpose of recovering the losses of the surviving family. These claims are much easier and more likely to be successful when you work with the right attorney. At Easton & Easton, LLP, we have decades of experience in many types of personal injury and wrongful death cases. If another party is to blame for your loved one’s death in Brea, CA, they should be held legally accountable. We can help support you and your family along each step of a claim.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Brea?
Not just any person can file a wrongful death claim on behalf of a deceased party. The filing individual must either be a surviving family member of the deceased or the appointed personal representative of the deceased’s estate, such as the executor. Which surviving family member is allowed to file depends on which of the deceased’s closest relatives are still alive. State law allows the following family members to file:
- The deceased’s surviving spouse, domestic partner, children, or descendants of deceased children are given priority.
- If there are no descendants of the deceased, then any party entitled to the deceased’s property under intestate succession law can file.
- If the parents would have been entitled to file based on intestate succession laws, but they are deceased, the deceased individual’s legal guardian is able to file.
- The deceased’s putative spouse, children of that spouse, stepchildren, parents, or legal guardians if parents are deceased, in the case where these family members were dependent on the deceased, have the right to claim for their losses.
- A minor who was living in the deceased’s household for at least 180 days prior to their death and relied on the deceased for at least half of their financial support has the right to file a claim.
If you are unsure whether you have the grounds to file a wrongful death claim, an attorney can review your relation to the deceased and how state laws affect you.
Liability in Wrongful Death Claims
Wrongful death claims can result from many different types of accidents, including car accidents, premises liability accidents, workplace injuries, and medical malpractice. Different types of accidents may require different types of claims, and each type may have different levels of standard of care. To hold a party at fault for the accident and your loved one’s death, you must prove the following elements:
- Duty: The party owed the deceased some level of duty of care to behave with consideration for their safety.
- Negligence: The party was negligent in that duty of care by action or inaction. Parties can also be at fault for acting with recklessness or misconduct.
- Causation: There is a direct causal link from the act of negligence that breached the duty of care to the injury or accident that caused the individual’s death.
- Damages: The surviving family sustained legally recognizable economic and noneconomic damages as a result of the individual’s death.
FAQs for Brea Wrongful Death Attorneys
Q: How Much Is a Wrongful Death Claim Worth in California?
A: The value of a wrongful death claim in California relies entirely on your unique case, the severity of your losses, and the amount of negligence displayed by the at-fault party. The damages that could be available in a claim include:
- Medical bills from before their death
- Lost income and earning potential for the family’s financial support
- Funeral and burial or cremation costs
- Lost inheritance and benefits
- Property damage repair or replacement costs
- In some cases, the pain and suffering of the deceased
- Emotional distress and trauma of family members
- Loss of personal support and companionship
Q: Can You Get Pain and Suffering for Wrongful Death in California?
A: Yes, you may be able to recover pain and suffering in a wrongful death claim. Typically, these noneconomic damages are only available to recover the emotional and psychological damages that surviving family members have suffered. However, a temporary amendment allows family members who file within a certain period of time to recover pain and suffering on behalf of the deceased through a survival action. These damages are paid to the deceased’s estate and are distributed to heirs or beneficiaries.
Q: How Do I Prove a Wrongful Death in California?
A: To successfully prove a wrongful death in California and recover compensation, you must prove that another party is at fault and liable for the individual’s death. The elements you must prove, in addition to showing that the individual is dead, include:
- The other party owed the deceased a reasonable duty of care for their safety.
- The party failed to uphold this duty, usually because of an act of negligence.
- This failure was a direct cause of the incident that led to the death.
- The individual’s death caused legally recognizable losses to you and other surviving family members.
Q: What Is the Wrongful Death Claim Cap in California?
A: The wrongful death claim cap in California only exists for medical malpractice claims, and there is no cap for economic or noneconomic damages for most other types of wrongful death claims. The current cap for noneconomic damages in wrongful death medical malpractice cases is $550,000, and this amount will increase every year. For wrongful death cases that are not malpractice claims, there is no cap, but noneconomic damages will reflect a fair and reasonable amount for the damages that a family and deceased individual suffered.
Compassionate and Effective Wrongful Death Attorneys
If you have lost a loved one because another party acted negligently, Easton & Easton, LLP, can help. Contact our firm today to determine if you have a viable claim.
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The superior client service Easton & Easton provides has earned the firm an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.
Easton & Easton is honored to have been chosen anew each year since 2014 by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers as one of the "Best Law Firms" for the Southern California Metro Area.
Easton & Easton is honored to have been chosen by the LA Times Reader's Choice Poll as "The Best Personal Injury Law Firm in Orange County" for 2018.
Doug and Brian Easton have been selected as Top 100 Trial Lawyers for California each year since 2014 — honors given to less than 1% of attorneys.
Doug and Matt Easton have each been chosen as one of The Best Lawyers in America for Plaintiff's Personal Injury Litigation. Best Lawyers lists attorneys who have earned selection through exemplary legal work that attracts the notice of their colleagues. Lawyers cannot buy their way onto this list.
Brian and Matt Easton were recently honored for their efforts in securing a $1,850,000 verdict for a client in 2016, which was selected as one of the Top 50 Personal Injury Verdicts in California by TopVerdict.com.
Doug and Brian have each been selected by Super Lawyers, an honor given to less than 5% of attorneys. Matt Easton has been selected among Super Lawyers' Up-and-Coming Top 25 in Orange County and Top 100 in Southern Califonia, an honor given to less than 1% of attorneys under 40 years old.
Easton & Easton is honored to have been chosen as one of the "10 Best Personal Injury Law Firms” in all of Southern California" each year Since 2015 based on client satisfaction — one of the highest honors we could ever hope to achieve.
Easton & Easton received the “People Love Us On Yelp” award in 2016 due to the exceptional client satisfaction reviews given by our clients over the years.
Doug and Matt Easton have each been featured as Premier 100 Trial Attorneys for California since 2015 — honors given to less than 1% of attorneys.
Brian and Matt Easton have each earned lifetime appointment to the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum — The Top Trial Lawyers in AmericaTM through the results achieved for their clients. This is an honor given to less than 1% of attorneys in the United States.
Doug Easton has held the “AV Preeminent” Rating for over 30 years and Matt Easton received this prestigious distinction in 2015. The "AV Preeminent" rating is the highest possible rating for both legal ability and ethical standards, and is based on the legal profession’s oldest peer review rating system, dating back to 1887.
Doug, Brian, and Matt Easton have all been chosen as one of the "10 Best" Personal Injury Attorneys in Southern California each year since 2015 based on client satisfaction, an honor given to less than 1% of personal injury attorneys - and Easton & Easton houses three of them.
Brian Easton was selected to the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) in 2015. ABOTA is one of the most premier associations of trial attorneys and judges, requiring a certain number of jury trials as lead counsel and approval by a majority vote of the ABOTA board.
Matt Easton has been selected each year since 2014 as one of the Top 40 Trial Lawyers Under 40 for California by The National Trial Lawyers — an honor given to less than 1% of attorneys.
Doug and Matt Easton have each been chosen as one of The Best Lawyers in America for Plaintiff's Personal Injury Litigation. Best Lawyers lists attorneys who have earned selection through exemplary legal work that attracts the notice of their colleagues. Lawyers cannot buy their way onto this list.
Both Doug and Matt Easton have been selected as Top Personal Injury Attorneys by Avvo with scores of 10 out of 10 based on their skill, experience, results, peer evaluations, and client reviews.
Matt Easton has been selected as one of the Top 10 Personal Injury Attorneys Under 40 in California for 2015 by the National Association of Personal Injury Attorneys — an honor given to less than 1% of personal injury attorneys under the age of 40.
Doug, Brian, and Matt Easton have all been selected by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel among the Nation's Top One Percent of Attorneys each year since 2017.
“We look for the human story behind every injury or wrongful death. We prepare our cases for trial; reaching out to the jury with the most compelling evidence possible for the best verdict possible. Insurance companies know this and come to the table prepared to negotiate in good faith. Call us to see how we can turn your story into fair compensation.”
Partner W. Douglas Easton
What Our Clients Say
Coming out of my first auto accident as an adult, a very difficult and scary time to navigate and understand, I was so incredibly thankful to have been put in contact with Easton & Easton. I honestly was lost with how to handle paperwork, doctors, medical costs and what next steps were, and from the moment I spoke with Travis Easton and my case manager Katie, my mind was put at ease. They have made the entire process stress free for me as I recovered, and I am so grateful for them and their genuine care for my case. Communication from the start has been fantastic, especially making clear what my expectations for the entire process would look like, and I truly believe they have my best interest at heart. 100% I would recommend their firm for anyone that is needing representation! Read more…
My experience with Easton & Easton has been amazing! Gabriel Mendoza and my case manager Katie have been so helpful and taken so much stress off my plate. They’ve been super informative and honest and given me very clear expectations. They’ve taken such a terrible experience (my accident) and eased my mind about the outcome. I can’t thank them enough!! Read more…
Ive used them twice and never been disappointed. Read more…
The Easton & Easton Law Firm is amazing! The entire team is very helpful and caring. They were always there to answer all my questions. They directed me through the entire process and stayed with me every step of the way. This team is outstanding and were wonderful to work with. Because of the tremendous effort they put on my case they were able to win my difficult personal injury case. I couldn’t have asked for a better law firm to handle my case. They are the Best! Thank you for your patience, professionalism, & guidance! I definitely recommend this firm to handle your case. They go out of their way to fight for your rights. THANK YOU… Read more…
I could not be more pleased with the services provided by the Law Offices of W. Douglas Easton. The senior partner Mr. Easton took the time to meet with me and my wife while I was still in the hospital, where he gave my family hope that there was light at the end of a very long, and very dark tunnel. Matt Easton then worked my case, and because of his dedication, experience and expertise I received a settlement that was larger than I EVER thought possible. It was truly astounding! Matt and the entire team at Easton & Easton looked out for me throughout my recovery, and in the end they gave me my life back. Five stars is not enough. Thanks Matt! Thanks Easton & Easton! Read more…
Brian and everyone at Easton and Easton are simply the BEST at what they do. Brian is thorough, easy to talk to, and truly cares about his clients. If you want a family of attorneys with perseverance and determination to fight for you, give Easton and Easton a call. I am glad I did. Read more…
What an amazing law firm, talk about going above and beyond to make such a painful experience go so well. I have referred a co-worker and a family member to them as well and everyone had such a great experience as I had. Read more…
I can’t say enough amazing things about my experience with Travis Easton at Easton & Easton. Travis and his entire team (Katie, Amy, Dee, Michelle, & Araceli) are phenomenal. It provided me a lot of comfort to know I was being so well taken care of. I was especially impressed that every document for the case was perfectly written and specific to me. Nothing was generic, which shows the level of care and attention they put into each individual case. I had such a great experience and would highly recommend Travis Easton and his firm to anyone going through a personal injury. Travis took a bad situation and made the best of it for me. Thank you again, I’m forever grateful!!
-Allee
Retaining Easton and Easton was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! From the initial consultation to our final meeting, they were nothing short of exceptional. I was forced to retain their services after firing my previous attorney for not handling the case properly. I dealt with Gabriel and Brian (partner) exclusively throughout the case. They did as promised and were great communicators throughout the entire process. I will recommend them to anyone I know going through a personal injury case. They were ultimately able to untangle the mess caused by my previous lawyer and get a result that I was extremely happy with. Their staff is exceptional as well and provided top notch customer service. Amera was also extremely helpful and easy to deal with as well.
I was in a pretty bad car accident and decided to have Easton & Easton represent me, Travis Easton to be specific. Travis Easton and his paralegal made the whole process effortless. They were so understanding and helpful! The entire thing was a gigantic mess, yet Travis managed to make it run like clockwork. I would HIGHLY recommend Easton & Easton! If you are ever in need of a personal defense attorney Easton & Easton is the firm to represent you!
They are the best law firm in Orange County period. Choosing them to represent me was the best decision of my life.
My life changed in a matter of seconds after a catastrophic spinal cord injury that left me disabled. Brian Easton and his team worked on my case non stop for 3 years and provided me the justice I deserved. I couldn’t have been more content.
I was treated with utmost respect and I felt like I was being represented by a close family member. The responses to my questions were quick and clear. What E & E has done for me is phenomenal.
My sincere thanks to Brian, Matt, Travis, Doug, Gabriel and Amera. They are what they are because of their dedication to provide high quality and professional service to their clients.
Brian Easton and his team, Gabe Mendoza and Amera Hajali, helped me during a very difficult time in my life. I had a significant injury from a car accident, and wound up seeking out Easton & Easton when I was having difficulties getting help from my doctors. The Easton team took a lot of stress off of me while acting as my advocates to help me get the care I needed, and saw my case all the way through to a healthy settlement.
They are the BEST!
I have nothing but good things to say about Easton and Easton. Brian handled my case professionally and communicated with me effectively throughout the process. He made sure that the process was effortless and as hands free as possible. This was super important for my busy schedule. I highly recommend Easton and Easton if you are ever found in a situation that you need an attorney.
I would highly recommend Easton & Easton.
I was rear ended on my home and pushed into a semi-truck. I was not sure how to go about even using an attorney.
Brian, Gab and Amera were so good about helping me thru the process and representing me.
I was able to concentrate on getting myself better knowing they had my back, taking care of the details and keeping me informed along the way
The best Law firm by far. I would highly recommend Easton & Easton, LLP and ask for Gabriel Mendoza and staff. He and his colleagues did and exceptional service. Thank you for everything. Job well done!