What Steps Do I Need to Take to File a Wrongful Death Claim in Virginia?

Fatal injuries can result from many different types of accidents, including a wide range of motor vehicle collisions, pedestrian and bicycle crashes, workplace accidents, and premises liability accidents like slips and falls or cases involving negligent security. According to data from the nonprofit corporation Drive Smart Virginia, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles identified a total of 907 fatalities in 2023 traffic collisions alone, and that number actually represents a decrease from the previous year. Other types of accidents and location-based incidents where individuals sustain injuries can also be fatal. When a fatality does occur, it is essential to understand more about Virginia wrongful death law and to determine your eligibility for filing a lawsuit.

Even if you are not eligible to file a wrongful death lawsuit yourself, you could be eligible to obtain damages from a wrongful death claim. At this point, you may be wondering: what steps do I need to take to file a wrongful death claim in Virginia? Our Richmond wrongful death lawyers can explain in more detail.

Determine Whether the Fatal Injury Constitutes a “Wrongful Death” 

In order to file a wrongful death lawsuit, you will need to be able to show that the deceased’s death — their fatal injury — constitutes a “wrongful death” under Virginia law. In short, a wrongful death according to the Virginia Code is one that has been “caused by the wrongful act, neglect or default” of someone else or another entity. In short, if the deceased had survived and would have been eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit, then the fatal injury is likely to give rise to a wrongful death claim.

Know Whether You Are One of the Parties Permitted to File a Lawsuit 

Next, you will need to determine whether you are a party who is eligible to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Virginia. Under Virginia law, only the “personal representative” of the deceased (i.e., the executor of the deceased’s estate) may file a wrongful death lawsuit as the named plaintiff. Yet even if you cannot actually file the lawsuit yourself, you may be eligible to receive damages if the personal representative files a claim and is awarded damages. Generally speaking, a surviving spouse, child, and grandchildren can all be eligible to receive damages. In circumstances where there is no surviving spouse, child, or grandchild, a surviving sibling or another relative may be eligible to recover damages.

Keep Track of the Statute of Limitations 

To file and receive damages in a wrongful death lawsuit, the claim must be filed before the statute of limitations runs out. Accordingly, it is critical to keep track of the timeline and the ticking clock. In most cases, a wrongful death lawsuit must be filed within two years from the date of the deceased’s death before the claim becomes time-barred by Virginia law.

 Contact a Richmond Wrongful Death Lawyer Today for Assistance

Filing a wrongful death claim in Virginia can be complicated, and it can be difficult to understand the relationship between eligibility to file a lawsuit and eligibility to receive damages. To be clear, those two things are not typically the same under Virginia law. To find out more about how wrongful death lawsuits work and the steps you must file in order to be the party who files a claim or one of the parties to receive damages, you should seek advice from one of the experienced Richmond wrongful death attorneys at Latham & Martin as soon as possible. We can speak with you today to learn more about the details of your loved one’s death and to assist you in moving forward with a wrongful death claim under Virginia law.

Sources:

law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter3/section8.01-50/

law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter4/section8.01-244/

drivesmartva.org/about-dsv/annual-report/#:~:text=The%20Virginia%20Department%20of%20Motor,most%20of%20them%20are%20preventable