People have been dying for centuries. Eventually, the legal system developed a way to assist those families in which a loved one has died unexpectedly. Today, a representative of the decedent can sue for damages.
The rule in states and provinces that follow the Lord Campbell Act
Personal injury lawyer in El Monte or Poway know that the claim must be brought by a designated beneficiary. Such a beneficiary has been named in a recognized statute. The closest loved ones belong to Class 1. Relatives in Class 1 are the first ones that gain permission to file a claim. That includes the spouses, the children, distant family members (also siblings of the decedent), grandparents, a domestic partner, and financial dependents. If there are no living members from Class 1, then those from Class 2 can file a claim.
Some locations use the loss to estate system.
Here, a claim must be filed by the decedent’s estate.
Note the exclusion of the more-distant relatives.
That would exclude from the court filing any former wife or husband. It would also exclude any step son or step daughter.
A closer look at what the legal system says about a decedent’s assets.
If they so choose, the relatives that win a portion of the estate owned by the decedent, can share some of their winnings with the more distant relatives. Still, the more distant relatives cannot order such sharing to take place.
In other words, the person that has the ability to pull the purse strings also has the largest amount of control over how the money in that purse gets spent. Before a loved one dies, if that same individual has left a will, then the dispersal of the money mentioned in that will must be followed by those that handle the decedent’s estate.
On the other hand, if someone dies unexpectedly and does not leave a will, the surviving family members that were closest to the deceased do have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit. That assumes, of course, that the unexpected death was caused by someone else’s negligence, or by someone else’s heinous act.
In either case, the person, or the group of people that receive funds from the decedent’s estate do have the power to alter the exact distribution of those same funds. For example, if some sibling has been overlooked in the deceased’s will, those that did enjoy a portion of the granted money can share a smaller portion with the overlooked sibling.
In the same way, those that get granted the money from a wrongful death lawsuit have the right to share some of that with any of the more distant relatives. That might include someone that was a stepson or a step daughter of the deceased.