Wrongful Death of a Minor in Toledo

Losing a child is a traumatic experience for the family and friends of the deceased. It can be even harder to find closure if the death was caused due to the negligence of another person. If you had a child or loved one pass away, contact a compassionate attorney who has experience with cases involving the wrongful death of a minor in Toledo. A lawyer could see if you and your family are eligible for compensation for your unfortunate loss.

Wrongful Death of a Minor Claims

The wrongful death of a minor plays out differently in court compared to the wrongful death of an adult, because there are no economic damages. Since the individual was of such a young age, it is speculative to come up with an economic damage calculation. There is the loss of consortium and loss of relationship between the deceased child and their parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters. A person is going to have more individuals that are beneficiaries in a child wrongful death case. Also, a person is going to have jurors that are going to be more sympathetic to the death of the child, which is considered a tragic situation for anyone in the community.

Common Causes of Wrongful Deaths

Frequent causes of wrongful death claims of a minor could be car wrecks, trucking accidents, and medical malpractice situations.

A wrongful death due to medical malpractice could be when a child dies shortly after a medical professional fails to diagnose or perform routine surgery for an injury. For example, a child goes to the hospital with a pre-existing condition and the incorrect test is performed. The child may have needed an MRI or CAT Scan ordered to diagnose the injury, but the doctor did not order the test and was unable to diagnose the problem which caused the death.

Negligence

For the wrongful death of a minor in Toledo, there has to be an at-fault party. The most common theory to file a lawsuit in a wrongful death case is a negligence action. In a negligence action, a person has to show that a party violated the duty or standard of care and as a result, it caused the death.

An example would be a car accident where the child was the passenger in the car.

The car behind them had a duty to yield to oncoming traffic. The car failed to yield to oncoming traffic and as a result of the breach of the duty of care, the child died in the car accident.

In cases where there is not clear negligence or an at-fault party, a wrongful death case could not be brought to seek damages. Under Ohio law, a person would have a cause of action for wrongful death, either out of a negligent act, a reckless act, or an intentional act. An individual then would have to identify an at-fault party. Without an at-fault party, there could be a death but nobody would be held legally responsible.

Seeking Damages

The damages that are sought after the death of a minor are conscious pain and suffering, and loss of the relationship to the heirs.

Someone would look at the closeness of the relationship between various individuals, such as the mother, father, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and grandparents to see if there is any potential economic loss, which would be rare. The large amount of damages is for the loss of the relationship.

In the wrongful death of a minor in Toledo cases, it is best to contact an experienced attorney who could properly assess the amount of damages the at-fault party owes. Call today for a free case review.