Did your family ever need to come face to face with the sudden death of a loved one? If a member of your family died in an accident, that accidental occurrence might have been caused by someone else’s negligence. If that was the case, then you have the right to file a wrongful death claim.
Types of accidents that most often trigger the filing of such claims
A collision between two of more motor vehicles, causing a fatal injury to one or more passengers. An act of medical malpractice that results in a patient’s death. More recently, society has seen what can happen if a medical or other long term care facility lacks the necessary equipment and staff at the time of an emergency. Their failure to be properly prepared can be labelled as negligence.
Who can file a wrongful death claim?
That action can be taken by a spouse, an interdependent partner, a parent, a child, a sister or a brother. A former spouse cannot file the necessary papers. By the same token, a step child cannot present a claim, following the death of a step parent. If an accident has killed any adult with the right to present the filing papers, then a personal injury lawyer in Edmonton can make arrangements for the children to proceed with claiming their deserved compensation.
How should claims get presented to the court?
One member of the family must make that presentation on behalf of the entire family. Even if some of the relatives disagree about how any awarded compensation might get distributed, the court will refuse to accept more than a single claim from any given family.
If the deceased had a will, then the executor can submit the filing documents. If the executor refuses to do so, then any of those relatives with a right to file the proper papers can proceed with that same action.
Alberta rules governing bereavement claims
The judges in Alberta courts do not decide on the size of any compensation given to bereaved relatives. According to Alberta law, such compensation cannot exceed a given amount of money. For example, a bereaved child cannot receive more than $49,000.
Parents with a bereavement claim can expect to receive a larger compensation. According to Alberta law, grieving parents can receive no more than $82,000. If both parents are living, then the two of them must share that $82,000.
The distribution of the awarded funds
The court does not decide which relatives ought to receive a given portion of the money awarded to a family that has filed a wrongful death claim. The method chosen for distribution of such funds gets left to those that were closest to the deceased.