Nothing feels more devastating than losing a loved one, especially when that loss is caused by someone else’s negligence, carelessness, or otherwise wrongful act. After such a shocking event, you may want to seek counseling for your grief.
But can you use a wrongful death claim to pay for grief counseling? Read on to learn the answer.
What Is Wrongful Death?
A wrongful death lawsuit is filed when a person dies due to another party’s negligence, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness, or default. For example, if a nurse were to give a patient medicine that he or she is allergic to and the medicine kills the patient, then the patient’s family may have a wrongful death suit, assuming the allergies were noted on the patient’s medical files. These wrongful deaths can happen at work and even in the home.
These lawsuits can be filed in groups or as a single claim. The spouse, child, or parents of the deceased may bring a lawsuit forward. Adult children may file wrongful death suits on behalf of their parents, according to Texas law, but they cannot claim a wrongful death of a sibling.
Can My Claim Pay for Grief Counseling?
If you win a wrongful death suit, then you are entitled to use that money in several different ways. You may receive money for…
- The lost income the deceased otherwise would have earned
- Pain, suffering, and mental or emotional anguish
- Lost love, companionship, and comfort
- Lost services, care, support, advice, counsel, and maintenance the deceased would have provided
- Lost inheritance, including what would have been inherited had the deceased lived a full life expectancy
The money from a wrongful death claim can be used in a number of ways. Surviving spouses might use the money to pay mortgages and other expenses that the deceased would have usually paid or to get themselves help. As most plaintiffs wouldn’t be in grief counseling had their loved one not died, the counseling can be paid for with a wrongful death claim.
If you’re planning on filing a wrongful death claim, then let our law firm help you. Contact Attorney Joe Lucé at (972) 632-1300 or contact us online.