What is a wrongful death action?

Stephen D. Phillips: He explains that a wrongful death action is a claim by the heirs of a person wrongfully killed, to compensate them for their pecuniary loss and loss of society.

Attorney Stephen D. Phillips · Wrongful Death · 59-second answer

Transcript

Automatically transcribed from the video’s audio and lightly edited.

A wrongful death action is a claim brought by the heirs of a deceased person who was wrongfully killed as a result of the negligence, malpractice, or a defective product. The reason for a wrongful death action is to compensate the heirs for their pecuniary loss. A pecuniary is a fancy word for their economic loss, the loss of income, benefits, or services as the decedent would have given them, but for their untimely death, as well as what’s called the loss of society. Loss of society is all those things which make us human. Companionship, friendship, protection, comfort, society, all of those things, the relationship unique and special between individuals of a family unit.

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