wrongful death attorney

Wrongful Death Lawsuits Filed by Parents Who Owe Child Support

January 31, 2018 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

In Florida wrongful death lawsuits, there are certain individuals who have the right to pursue such action, either as the personal administrator of the deceased or as dependent survivors of the deceased. These are generally, in order, spouses, minor children, dependent parents and dependent siblings. For anyone who owes child support, however, it should be noted that F.S. 409.25656 allows for garnishment of any personal injury or wrongful death damage award for certain outstanding obligations – including child support.

Laws and application vary from state-to-state, but a recent case out of Tennessee challenged similar provisions in that state’s laws.

Ultimately, the state’s highest court awarded a $100,000 settlement in a wrongful death car accident lawsuit to decedent’s husband, who had abandoned both his wife and child shortly after the child was born and who owed a total of $72,000 in child support to his four other unrelated children. That $100,000 settlement is to be garnished for the $72,000 in support, but plaintiff will still receive payment on the rest. Though a state law in Tennessee precludes spouses who abandon (by legal standards) their partners from collecting wrongful death damages for a partner’s death, that law was not in place at the time decedent in this case died. Continue reading ›

School Board, Teacher, Face Florida Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Teen’s Suicide

October 5, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

In most Florida wrongful death lawsuits, it’s often a simple matter to link defendant (the person alleged to be legally at-fault) with the conduct that resulted in death. For example: A drunk driver swerves off the road and slams into a tree, killing a passenger. The defendant’s negligent conduct caused the passenger’s death.

It can get complicated, though, when we’re dealing with liability for a loved one’s suicide. This is where that causal link (referred to in court as “causation”) becomes difficult to prove. A person who commits suicide is the direct cause of his or her own death. But the question becomes: Was defendant’s action or inaction a substantial factor in decedent’s suicide? Courts will also ask whether decedent’s actions were reasonably foreseeable. There are no hard-and-fast rules for when a defendant may be legally liable for someone else’s suicide, but we have noticed an increase in such cases.

Recently in Wakulla County, the parents of a 15-year-old who tragically committed suicide have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school and one of his middle school teachers. The lawsuit alleges the teacher and the school are party to blame for the teen’s death following allegations of inappropriate contact between the teacher and the 8th-grader. Continue reading ›

Amusement Park Wrongful Death Lawsuit Heads Back to Trial Court

August 23, 2017 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A defendant amusement park missed the deadline to seek compensation from the school of an 11-year-old girl killed in accident at the park, but it can still try to prove the school was partially negligent in a pending trial brought by the girl’s parents.

That’s according to a recent ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court. The decision was notable for the fact that it holds third-party claims against the government to the same standards for tort claim notice as first-party claims. In New Jersey, there is a 90-day deadline to file a notice – starting at the time of a victim’s death – to the defendant government agency and its subdivisions. Still, it’s a disappointing outcome for the plaintiff parents because the ruling will allow defendant amusement park to present evidence of the school’s potential liability, which could reduce its own liability and ultimately reduce damages awarded to plaintiffs.

The tragic events that spurred this case began in 2011, when the girl was on a school field trip hosted for honor roll students. The trip was organized by the school. She died after falling approximately 150 feet from a large Ferris wheel. Two years after the fifth-grader’s death, within the statute of limitations for wrongful death cases, her parents filed their wrongful death lawsuit. Continue reading ›

Metro. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v. Estate of Benson – Homeowners’ Insurance and Intentional Acts of Harm

December 17, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

Homeowners’ insurance is intended to provide compensation to those injured by members of the household. Usually, this coverage extends to incidents that occur in the home, on the property and sometimes out on the street (though incidents involving motor vehicles are generally excluded).

However, almost all homeowners’ insurance policies have some provision that excludes coverage for intentional acts. That is, if an insured acted with some specific intent to injure the victim, the resulting injury will not be covered under the policy. Many courts have held the intention of the insured is a question of fact for a jury, though sometimes there is substantial evidence and intent to harm (or lack thereof) is clear.

There may be some cases, however, where even intentional criminal acts could be covered. For example, if the perpetrator was acting in self-defense and used more force than was actually needed, coverage might be extended. Same for actions for which the accused lacks the mental capacity to act rationally. But it will all depend on the specific language in the policy. Continue reading ›

Bicycle Injuries Doubled From 1998 to 2013, Analysis Shows

September 26, 2015 | Associates and Bruce L. Scheiner

A new study, conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), reveals bicycling injuries in the U.S. have risen astronomically in the last 15 years.

Sifting through the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System data, researchers wanted to find out more about trends in adult cycling injuries and related hospital admissions.

What they discovered was that in 2012-2013, there were 15,427 hospital admissions for bicycle injuries. That was a significant uptick than what was reported in 1998-1999, when there were 8,791 hospital admissions. Another revelation was that the age of cyclists has shifted dramatically. While the majority of victims used to be primarily children, we now see that figure has dropped dramatically. This is good. But the number of over-45 cyclists who suffer serious injury and death sharply rose. Continue reading ›